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title titleSuffix description author ms.service ms.topic ms.date ms.author
Generate & export certificates for P2S: MakeCert
Azure VPN Gateway
Learn how to create a self-signed root certificate, export a public key, and generate client certificates using MakeCert.
cherylmc
vpn-gateway
how-to
06/24/2024
cherylmc

Generate and export certificates for Point-to-Site connections using MakeCert

This article shows you how to create a self-signed root certificate and generate client certificates using MakeCert. The steps in this article help you create .pfx and .cer files. If you're looking for different certificate instructions, see PowerShell - .pfx and .cer certificate files or Linux- OpenSSL - .pem certificate files.

We recommend using the Windows 10 or later PowerShell steps to create your certificates. We provide these MakeCert instructions as an optional method. The certificates that you generate using either method can be installed on any supported client operating system. MakeCert has the following limitation:

  • MakeCert is deprecated. This means that this tool could be removed at any point. Certificates that you already generated using MakeCert won't be affected if MakeCert is no longer available. MakeCert is only used to generate the certificates, not as a validating mechanism.

Create a self-signed root certificate

The following steps show you how to create a self-signed certificate using MakeCert. These steps aren't deployment-model specific. They're valid for both Resource Manager and classic.

  1. Download and install MakeCert.

  2. After installation, you can typically find the makecert.exe utility under this path: 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin<arch>'. However, it's possible that it was installed to another location. Open a command prompt as administrator and navigate to the location of the MakeCert utility. You can use the following example, adjusting for the proper location:

    cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\x64

  3. Create and install a certificate in the Personal certificate store on your computer. The following example creates a corresponding .cer file that you upload to Azure when configuring P2S. Replace 'P2SRootCert' and 'P2SRootCert.cer' with the name that you want to use for the certificate. The certificate is located in your 'Certificates - Current User\Personal\Certificates'.

    makecert -sky exchange -r -n "CN=P2SRootCert" -pe -a sha256 -len 2048 -ss My

Export the public key (.cer)

[!INCLUDE Export public key]

The exported.cer file must be uploaded to Azure. For instructions, see Configure a Point-to-Site connection. To add an additional trusted root certificate, see this section of the article.

Export the self-signed certificate and private key to store it (optional)

You might want to export the self-signed root certificate and store it safely. You can later install it on another computer and generate more client certificates, or export another .cer file. To export the self-signed root certificate as a .pfx, select the root certificate and use the same steps as described in Export a client certificate.

Create and install client certificates

You don't install the self-signed certificate directly on the client computer. You need to generate a client certificate from the self-signed certificate. You then export and install the client certificate to the client computer. The following steps aren't deployment-model specific. They're valid for both Resource Manager and classic.

Generate a client certificate

Each client computer that connects to a VNet using Point-to-Site must have a client certificate installed. You generate a client certificate from the self-signed root certificate, and then export and install the client certificate. If the client certificate isn't installed, authentication fails.

The following steps walk you through generating a client certificate from a self-signed root certificate. You can generate multiple client certificates from the same root certificate. When you generate client certificates using the following steps, the client certificate is automatically installed on the computer that you used to generate the certificate. If you want to install a client certificate on another client computer, you can export the certificate.

  1. On the same computer that you used to create the self-signed certificate, open a command prompt as administrator.

  2. Modify and run the sample to generate a client certificate.

    • Change "P2SRootCert" to the name of the self-signed root that you're generating the client certificate from. Make sure you're using the name of the root certificate, which is whatever the 'CN=' value was that you specified when you created the self-signed root.
    • Change P2SChildCert to the name you want to generate a client certificate to be.

    If you run the following example without modifying it, the result is a client certificate named P2SChildcert in your Personal certificate store that was generated from root certificate P2SRootCert.

    makecert.exe -n "CN=P2SChildCert" -pe -sky exchange -m 96 -ss My -in "P2SRootCert" -is my -a sha256

Export a client certificate

[!INCLUDE Export client certificate]

Install an exported client certificate

To install a client certificate, see Install a client certificate.

Next steps

Continue with your Point-to-Site configuration.

For P2S troubleshooting information, Troubleshooting Azure point-to-site connections.