Department of Computer Science and Engineering

"Why Do I Need a Digital Certificate and How Do I Get One?"

In order to use the CSE Timesheet system, you will need to get a digital certificate and then have it verified by the CSE Department. This digital certificate will identify you to the CSE Timesheet system.

Generating a Digital Certificate.

In order to create your digital certificate, please follow the steps outlined below:

  1. Login to your CSE Unix or NT account.
  2. Run the 'getkey' application which is used to generate your certificate. The only difference in running the getkey application on Unix or NT is how it is started.

    On Unix:

      • run the 'subscribe' command and subscribe to the SSMS package. You will need to log out and back in in order for this to take effect
      • type 'getkey -X' at the Unix prompt

    On NT:

      • click on the 'Start' button
      • select 'Programs->Employee Tools->getkey

  3. Enter a password for your certificate and then click the Generate Key button. It a takes approximately 15-30 seconds for the tool to generate your digital certificate. It will print a message indicating that your certificate has been generated and it will display a 'fingerprint' for your certificate.
  4. Write down your 'fingerprint' since it is needed for the verification of your certificate.
  5. Click the Quit button to exit the application.

Verification of Digital Certificates.

When you use the getkey tool to generate a certificate, a file is written to your home directory, and an entry containing the certificate fingerprint is written to the CSE Departmental database.

The verification of your digital certificate is required to assure that the certificate was generated by you, and that you are who you say you are. For verification, you must bring the fingerprint from the certificate you generated and a photo ID to a CSE staff person. At this point in time there are 8 staff persons who are trained to verify certificates. To have your certificate verified you can either stop by the SOC lab (DL 894) and they will direct you to a staff person, or you can send email to help@cse.ohio-state.edu to arrange a specific time to stop by to have your certificate verified.


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