139665 - soltrus.com - soltrus Certificate Authority doesn't support N6: Cannot install digital certificate

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Tech Evangelism Graveyard :: English US, defect, P2)

Description

[jim-patterson]

I bought a digital certificate to sign/encrypt e-mail but Mozilla doesn't want
to install it through the vendor's web site (URL above). I go through the
process and enter the PID that was sent, but even though it appears to work,
when I go to the "Your Certificates" tab under Preferences (Privacy &
Security/Certificates, "Manage Certificates" button), it doesn't show up.

I did notice that the vendor (Soltrus, a Verisign affiliate in Canada) doesn't
claim to support Netscape 6 or Mozilla. However, where else can I get a
certificate that is traceable to a registered authority? 

Workaround: after several attempts using the simple method, I succeeded using a
different method. Instead of using the "Pickup ID" button, I clicked on
"Search". This located my ID. I clicked on my name on that page to get details,
then clicked on "DOWNLOAD". I choose "My ID for Netscape
Communicator/Navigator". This leads to a dialog much like the one from "Pickup
ID" but, for some reason, it works. The ID now shows up in "Your Certificates"
and I can select it for signing and encryption from the mail client.

Comment 1

[Stephane Saux]

Verisign and Thawte provides digital ids that worked for me. It appears to be a
bug on the server side, since the certificate that is produced can be loaded in
the browser.

Comment 2

[jim-patterson]

You're right; Verisign's procedure seems to work for me too. I have sent E-mail
to Soltrus to see if they are aware of the issue with their site. 

Neither Verisign or Soltrus claim to support Netscape 6 or Mozilla (though
Verisign at least seems to work). Should this be raised as an evangelism issue?
Anyone wanting to do secure E-mail needs to access these sites, and lack of
official support is going to disuade them.

Comment 3

[Stephane Saux]

Moving to tech evangelism.

Comment 4

[Bob Clary [:bc] (inactive)]

jim, did you ever resolve this issue?

Comment 5

[jim-patterson]

No, it's still unresolved. I haven't tried again because re-testing the problem
with Soltrus would involve handing over another $19.95+tax since (unlike
Verisign) they don't hand out trial certificates. Mind you, that's Canadian
dollars but still money wasted as far as I can tell. 

I never got any reply from Soltrus, as far as I can recall. 

Comment 6

[Bob Clary [:bc] (inactive)]

Confirm per Jim's comments. 

Jim, We will try to do what we can but from your experience it doesn't look too
good for getting a response. Perhaps there is a Better Business Bureau in
Candada that you can report them to.

Comment 7

[Bob Clary [:bc] (inactive)]

tech evang june 2003 reorg

Comment 8

[Philip Shuman]

I am having a similar problem with Mozilla 1.6a and VeriSign. Their website
https://digitalid.verisign.com/cgi-bin/sophia.exe sends a multipart mime page
with my application/x-x509-user-cert certificate and then the text/html saying
it has successfully loaded. My browser prompts me for my password to manage my
certs, but the new cert never shows up in my list.

Comment 9

[Derek Shaw]

I've been a long-term user of certs from Verisign.  After 11 or 12 purchases
from Soltrus I've given up on them and gone back to buying from Verisign.  Its
only fractionally more expensive, and it always works, so my clients save money.

I'm actually posting to plead for help elevating the bugs 
http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=135636  and
http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=149876 
to some action.  It's a measure of my desperation that I even thought of doing this.

Any help with getting encryption as easy to use in Mozilla as it was in NS 4.x
is greatly appreciated!

d.

Comment 10

[Anita]

Attachment: ID Democrat comes up when I double click to bring my ID up

Comment 11

[Chris Lawson (gone)]

INCOMPLETE due to lack of activity since the end of 2009.

If someone is willing to investigate the issues raised in this bug to determine whether they still exist, *and* work with the site in question to fix any existing issues, please feel free to re-open and assign to yourself.

Sorry for the bugspam; filter on "NO MORE PRE-2010 TE BUGS" to remove.