Client Certificate Authentication in IIS 6

Client certificates are a cool technology that, once setup, eliminate the need to use your password on your own website from your own devices.

This article wont run through the entire procedure for setting up a web server, Windows domain, file permissions, server certificates, or a certificate authority.  I just want to convey some of the configuration pitfalls that exist in IIS 6.

Step 1: Enable Client Certificate Mapping

The IIS Secure Communciations dialog box
Start with these settings.

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Installing APCUPSD for Windows

Apcupsd Setup wizard, Choose Components dialog
The Setup Wizard

What’s big and slow and rarely ever useful?  For one thing, the software that comes with every desktop-grade Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) made by APC.  This isn’t news.  I know APC would like nothing more than to have me buy a more expensive piece of hardware that I don’t need, just to get the useful software that I do need.

Enter APCUPSD with USB support for Windows.  It’s free.  It’s open source.  It’s probably not supported by APC, but if you’ve ever tried to get tech support for a desktop-grade APC unit that was connected to a server, you already know APC isn’t going to help you with computer problems.  This free piece of software makes my UPS more useful than just a battery with a power switch.  Now I can have my server send a text message to my mobile phone whenever a blackout strikes my area.  I can see live power management statistics from any web browser in the world, including the one on my phone.  I have fewer things to monitor with regard to uptime, and I love it.

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