Enabling SSL/TLS Encryption for MS SQL Backend in Applications Manager

The following steps help you establish a secure connection between the MS SQL database and Applications Manager.

Prerequisites

1. A valid SSL certificate in .cer / .crt / .pem format that is not expiring soon is required. Obtain this certificate file from your SQL Server administrator before proceeding.
2. The Common Name (CN) in the Subject field of the certificate must be the same as the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the device on which the MS SQL Server is installed.
   • Example of a valid CN: sqlserver.domain.com
   • Example of an invalid CN: sqlserver (short hostname - will cause SSL validation failure)
3. SSL/TLS must already be enabled and configured on the SQL Server with the certificate associated with it.

Step 1: Import the certificate into Applications Manager

1. Copy the SSL certificate file obtained from your SQL Server administrator.

2. Paste the certificate file inside the following folder:

   <AppManager_Home>\conf

3. Open Command Prompt and navigate to:

   <AppManager_Home>\bin

4. Run the following command, replacing the filename with your certificate file name:

   For Windows: importCertificate.bat mssql.cer
For Linux: importCertificate.sh mssql.cer

Note: MSSQL SSL will be enabled only if the certificate CN and the value configured in database_params.conf in the next step are the same.

Step 2: Update database_params.conf

1. Navigate to the following folder:

   <AppManager_Home>\conf

2. Open database_params.conf in a text editor.

3. Update the JDBC URL with the following parameters:

   encrypt=true;trustServerCertificate=false;hostNameInCertificate=<FQDN_of_SQL_Server>

4. Example of a complete URL:

   url=jdbc:sqlserver://localhost:1433;databaseName=<DBName>;encrypt=true;trustServerCertificate=false;hostNameInCertificate=sqlserver.domain.com

Important: The value of hostNameInCertificate must match the CN of the certificate exactly. Always use the FQDN - using a short hostname will cause SSL validation to fail.

Step 3: Restart Applications Manager

Restart Applications Manager for all the changes to take effect.