Question

How do I enable HTTPS in FTK Central using a valid web certificate?

 

Prerequisites

  • A Certificate archive, in password-protected PFX format, whose "Issued To" name either matches the base URL of the FTK Central website or has a domain wildcard.

Note: The password cannot contain certain characters, such as quotes, for it to work in the XML config file.

 

Answer

Using the FTK Central Configuration Tool (Preferred)

  1. Place your PFX file in an easy to find location, like "[drive]:\Program Files\AccessData\Certificates\"
  2. Open the FTK Central Configuration Tool
  3. Confirm the HTTPS is checked
  4. Next the PFX Certificate field, browse to your certificate and enter the password when prompted
  5. Restart the AccessData Exterro Self Host Service service


Manually Editing the Config File

  1. Place your PFX file in an easy to find location, like "[drive]:\Program Files\AccessData\Certificates\"
  2. Navigate to the FTK Central bin folder (typically "[drive]:\Program Files\AccessData\Forensic Tools\<version>\bin\")
  3. Open ADG.WeblabSelfHost.exe.config in a text editor
  4. In the appSettings section, find and change the value of the https key to true, as shown below:
    <add key="https" value="true" />
  5. Find and change the value of the certificateFileName key to the full path to your PFX file, as shown below:
    <add key="certificateFileName" value="C:\Program Files\AccessData\Certificates\myCertificate.pfx" />
  6. Find and change the value of the certificatePassword key to the password for your PFX file, as shown below:
    <add key="certificatePassword" value="myPassword" />
    Note: The password string will be encrypted when the "AccessData Exterro Self Host Service" is restarted
  7. Restart the AccessData Exterro Self Host Service service