Certificate

As explained in .NET in Action, Second Edition

A certificate is a digitally signed credential that binds an identity to a public key for establishing authenticated secure connections.

A certificate enables HTTPS by securing communication between a client and service. Publicly exposed applications need a certificate from a trusted authority; development can use the .NET development certificate. section 9.3

Apply certificates according to the deployment environment:

• Install a trusted certificate for a publicly exposed service. section 9.3
• Run `dotnet dev-certs https --trust` to install a trusted development certificate. section 9.3
• Combine HTTPS certificates with `app.UseHttpsRedirection()` when HTTP requests should redirect to HTTPS. section 9.3

Development HTTPS

Install the development certificate with `dotnet dev-certs https --trust`, then verify that an HTTP request receives a 307 redirect with an HTTPS `Location` header. section 9.3

Figure 9.2 The threat model with the HTTP request and response highlighted

Shows the interception threat that HTTPS and certificates address. section 9.3

How .NET in Action, Second Edition covers it

How deep it goes

Explains trust requirements, development installation, and HTTPS redirection, but does not detail certificate internals.

Examples

Uses `dotnet dev-certs https --trust`, `app.UseHttpsRedirection()`, and a 307 redirect with an HTTPS location.

What you can do after

Operate/configure HTTPS in ASP.NET Core using development certificates, trusted production certificates, and redirection middleware.

How it connects

Connects certificates with HTTPS, HTTP, HTTPS redirection, trusted authorities, reverse proxies, and HSTS.

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Related concepts

• certification authorityproduced by · A certification authority is a trusted entity that verifies identities and issues digitally signed certificates binding public keys to identities or domains.
• public keyhas part · A public key is the openly distributable component of an asymmetric cryptographic key pair, used for encryption, authentication, or signature verification.
• self-signed certificateincludes · A self-signed certificate is a digital certificate whose signature is created by the same entity and key identified by the certificate rather than by a certificate authority.
• TLSused by · Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol that protects network communications through confidentiality, integrity, and authentication of communicating endpoints.
• mutual TLSused by · Mutual TLS is a Transport Layer Security configuration in which both communicating endpoints authenticate each other using digital certificates.
• public-key infrastructureused by · Public-key infrastructure is a framework of authorities, certificates, keys, policies, and procedures for establishing and managing public-key trust and digital identities.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of .NET in Action, Second Edition. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.