Generating a Public and Private Key Pair

Every digital certificate has a pair consisting of an associated private key and public key. You must generate a public and private key pair to use digital certificates. A larger key pair is more secure than a smaller key pair. The available sizes, in bits, are as follows:

• 512
• 1024
• 2048

Generating public and private key pairs can be performed in the CLI operational mode only. The sample configuration in Table 43 generates a public and private key pair of 1024 bits for the certificate ID local-verisign.

To generate a public and private key pair:

1. Enter the CLI operational mode.
2. Perform the tasks described in Table 43.
3. Go on to Generating and Enrolling a Local Digital Certificate.

Table 43: Generating a Public and Private Key Pair