X.509 certificate
An X.509 certificate is a standardized, digitally signed data structure that binds an identity to a public key and contains related metadata.
MongoDB 8.0 in Action, Third Edition
An X.509 certificate is a standardized digital certificate that binds an identity to a public key for authenticated cryptographic communication.
- How it is used
- Provides certificate-based authentication for MongoDB clients and cluster nodes, especially in high-trust environments.
- How deep it goes
- Explains PKI, encryption, digital signatures, mutual authentication, and deployment choices but stops short of configuration procedures.
- Examples
- Uses finance, health care, and government as high-trust deployment contexts.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate X.509 against password, federated, cloud-identity, and directory-based authentication requirements.
Read how MongoDB 8.0 in Action, Third Edition explains X.509 certificate →
Acing the Certified Kubernetes Administrator Exam, Second Edition
An X.509 certificate is a standardized digital certificate format used to bind an identity to a public key.
- How it is used
- Authenticates human kubectl requests before RBAC evaluates access to Kubernetes API resources.
- How deep it goes
- Explains signed certificates, kubeconfig storage, certificate authorities, API verification, and the distinction from Service Account tokens.
- Examples
- Uses kubectl access to list kube-system pods and illustrates certificate-based API access alongside token-based access.
- What you can do after
- Operate kubectl with certificate-based user authentication and distinguish it from pod authentication using Service Account tokens.
Google Anthos in Action
An X.509 certificate is a public-key certificate conforming to the X.509 standard format.
- How it is used
- Provides workload identity and certificate-based security for service-to-service communication in an Istio service mesh.
- How deep it goes
- Explains certificate purpose, CA configuration options, protocol use, and automated rotation, but not certificate fields or encoding internals.
- Examples
- Uses self-signed roots, administrator-specified roots, delegated CA signing certificates, and automated workload certificate rotation.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure Istio certificate authorities and understand how issued certificates enable workload identity and mutual TLS.
Read how Google Anthos in Action explains X.509 certificate →
Related concepts
- TLSuses · Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol that protects network communications through confidentiality, integrity, and authentication of communicating endpoints.
- certificate-based authenticationused by · Certificate-based authentication verifies an identity using a signed digital certificate presented by the requesting client.
- certificatekind of · A digital certificate is a digitally signed credential that binds an identity to a public key and supports authentication or secure communication.
- authenticationimplements · Authentication is the process of establishing or verifying the identity of a user, service, device, or other communicating entity.
- public-key infrastructureuses · Public-key infrastructure is a framework of authorities, certificates, keys, policies, and procedures for establishing and managing public-key trust and digital identities.
These guides are generated from the text of Manning books by Manning's knowledge graph and link to the sections they draw on. The full books are available on liveBook and at manning.com.