# ssl\_cert

**URL:** <https://discourse.chef.io/t/ssl-cert/1618>\
**Category:** Chef Infra (archive)\
**Created:** [November 16, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/ssl-cert/1618 "2010-11-16T18:23:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Matt\_Matson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/matt_matson/32/866_2.png) [@Matt\_Matson](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Matt_Matson)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/ssl-cert/1618/1 "2010-11-16T18:23:25Z")

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I see intructions on how to generate (using rake) an ssl\_cert and use it on  
a per cookbook level. Is there a way to force each client to use the  
keypair for everything without having to deal with it in each cookbook?  
What is the best practice for using ssl certs?

Thanks!

–  
Matt Matson  
[m2matson@gmail.com](mailto:m2matson@gmail.com)

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**Author:** ![Joshua\_Timberman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/joshua_timberman/32/424_2.png) [@Joshua\_Timberman](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Joshua_Timberman)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/ssl-cert/1618/2 "2010-11-16T21:45:02Z")

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Hello!

On Nov 16, 2010, at 11:23 AM, Matt Matson wrote:

> I see intructions on how to generate (using rake) an ssl\_cert and use it on a per cookbook level. Is there a way to force each client to use the keypair for everything without having to deal with it in each cookbook? What is the best practice for using ssl certs?

The general idea with that rake task is that when you need a self-signed SSL certificate (such as for internal servers or testing), you generate the appropriately named certificate, then copy the files from the certificates directory into the cookbook "files/default" directory of the cookbook where it is needed. Then write in the recipe a cookbook\_file resource that uses the certificate generated.

* * *

Opscode, Inc  
Joshua Timberman, Technical Evangelist  
IRC, Skype, Twitter, Github: jtimberman

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