Using the cf CLI with a self-signed certificate

This topic describes how developers use the Cloud Foundry Command Line Interface (cf CLI) to communicate securely with a Cloud Foundry deployment that uses a self-signed certificate.

You can use the cf CLI to communicate securely with a Cloud Foundry deployment without specifying --skip-ssl-validation under the following conditions:

The deployment uses a self-signed certificate.
The deployment uses a certificate that is signed by a self-signed certificate authority (CA), or by an intermediate certificate that is also signed by a self-signed CA.

Before following the procedure below, the developer must obtain either the self-signed certificate or the intermediate and CA certificate(s) used to sign the deployment’s certificate. The developer can obtain these certificates from the Tanzu Operations Manager operator.

Installing the certificate on physical machines

The certificates you must insert into your local trust store vary depending on the configuration of your deployment:

If the deployment uses a self-signed certificate, you must insert the self-signed certificate into your local trust store.
If the deployment uses a certificate signed by a self-signed CA, or a certificate signed by a certificate that is signed by a self-signed CA, you must insert the self-signed certificate and any intermediate certificates into your local trust store.

Installing the Certificate on macOS X

To place the certificate file server.crt into your local trust store for macOS X:

Run:

sudo security add-trusted-cert -d -r trustRoot -k /Library/Keychains/System.keychain server.crt

Installing the certificate on Linux

To place the certificate file server.crt into your trust store for Linux:

Run one of the following commands, depending on your Linux distribution:
- For Debian, Ubuntu, or Gentoo, run:
```
cat server.crt >> /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
```
- For Fedora or RHEL, run:
```
cat server.crt >> /etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt
```

The previous examples set the certificate permanently on your machine across all users and require sudo permissions. To set the certificate only in your current terminal or script, run one of these commands:

Option 1:
```
export SSL_CERT_FILE=PATH-TO-SERVER.crt
```
Where PATH-TO-SERVER.crt is the filepath of the server.crt certificate file.
Option 2:
```
export SSL_CERT_DIR=PATH-TO-SERVER-DIRECTORY
```
Where PATH-TO-SERVER-DIRECTORY is the directory of the server.crt certificate file.

Installing the certificate on Windows

To place the certificate file server.crt into your local trust store for Windows:

Right-click the certificate file.
Click Install Certificate.
Choose to install the certificate as the Current User or Local Machine.
From the certification store list, select Trusted Root Certification Authorities.