Download a self-signed certificate from the browser

The advantage of downloading and importing a self-signed certificate is to circumvent the browser warning.

In a secure environment, it is never appropriate to download and import a self-signed certificate, unless you have validated the certificate and know and trust the specific appliance.

In a lower security environment, it might be acceptable to download and import the appliance certificate if you know and trust the certificate originator. However, this is not a recommended practice.

Microsoft Internet Explorer and Google Chrome share a common certificate store. A certificate downloaded with Internet Explorer can be imported with Google Chrome as well as Internet Explorer. Likewise, a certificate downloaded with Google Chrome can also be imported by both browsers. Mozilla Firefox has its own certificate store, and must be downloaded and imported with that browser only.

The procedures for downloading and importing a self-signed certificate differ with each browser. The following steps use Microsoft Internet Explorer as an example.