Preparing Your System: Activating HTTPS

Activation of a secure (HTTPS) communications channel for the IIS Web server is strongly recommended to run CygNet Bridge. Although CygNet Bridge will operate with HTTP, the software default selection is to use HTTPS host-client communication. Selecting to use HTTP instead is not a secure option, and is not a safe choice for production environments. When you activate and use the HTTPS protocol, HTTPS traffic is encrypted from end to end, helping to ensure that data transmitted between the web server and your CygNet installation is more secure. To provide HTTPS, you must install an SSL certificate and configure HTTPS for your system.

Important: If you host multiple sites or install CygNet Bridge on an IIS Web server that also runs non-CygNet Bridge sites, additional configuration steps are required to ensure that the site port bindings do not collide with one another. Refer to Microsoft IIS online documentation for more information on these advanced configuration steps.

Activate HTTPS

Prior to installing CygNet Bridge or associated products, complete the following tasks, as appropriate to your operating system, to activate HTTPS for the server where you will be installing CygNet Bridge.

Refer to Microsoft online documentation for information beyond the scope of this document.

Import an SSL Certificate

Note: CygNet Bridge does not support self-signed SSL certificates; they are not secure.

  1. Log in to the machine where you will be installing CygNet Bridge, using Administrative privileges.
  2. Open IIS Manager. Depending on your software version, IIS Manager might be found under Start > Administrative Tools.
  3. In IIS Manager, do the following.
    1. In the Connections pane, click to select the name of the server where you will be hosting the CygNet Bridge software.
    2. In the Home pane, under Features View, double-click Server Certificates.
    3. In the Actions pane, click Import and complete the fields appearing in the resultant dialog box.

Configure HTTPS Bindings

  1. Log in to the machine where you will be installing CygNet Bridge, using Administrative privileges.
  2. Open IIS Manager. Depending on your software version, IIS Manager might be found under Start > Administrative Tools.
  3. In IIS Manager, do the following to configure your site bindings.
    1. In the Connections pane, click to select the CygNet Bridge website root directory.
    2. In the Actions pane, click Bindings to access the Site Bindings dialog box.
    3. In the Site Bindings dialog box, click Add and then do the following.
      1. Click to access the Type menu, and select https.
        1. Provide an IP address
        2. Confirm port 443 is selected.
        3. Optionally specify a host name.
      2. Click to access the SSL certificate menu, and select the SSL certificate to use.
        1. Click OK.
        2. Select the default HTTP entry on port 80 and then click Remove.
        3. When asked if you are sure that you want to remove the selected binding, click Yes and then Close.
  4. In IIS Manager, do the following to configure your CygNet Bridge website to require SSL communication.
    1. In the Connections pane, click to select the CygNet Bridge website root directory.
    2. In the Home pane, under Features View, double-click SSL Settings.
      1. Check the Require SSL box.
      2. Click Apply.
  5. Test access to your secured site from outside of your firewall to verify your settings.