SSL Certificates Download Page

Note on ipsCA secured websites: ipsCA provides free SSL certificates for .edu domains.  As a result, some websites at N.C. State University use them.  The ipsCA root certificate expired 12/29/2009.  This causes the "Untrusted Connection", "can't verify the identity of the website" and "Certificate Problem" errors with web browsers when you connect to a site secured by the ipsCA certificate authority.  SSL Certificates do expire, this is not a bad thing.  To see if your browser needs an update visit the ipsCA site to see if you get a certificate error.  Rather than creating an exception or ignoring the certificate warnings, update your browser with the new ipsCA root certificate. 

Follow the instructions below to update your browser:

Firefox on OS X or Windows:
  icon
    1)   Download the ipsCA Certificate bundle from ipsCA.
    2)  Check the box to "Trust this CA to identify websites" and choose OK.
    3)  Exit Firefox and restart it for the changes to take affect.


appleSafari on OS X:icon
    1)  Download the ipsCA Certificate bundle from ipsCA.
    2)  Open the downloaded .crt file to launch Keychain.
    3)  Choose to Add the certificate to the System keychain instead of login keychain.
    4)  Enter your password when prompted.
    5)  Choose "Always Trust" to add the new ipsCA Global CA Root.
    6)  Enter your password when prompted.
    7)  Quit the Keychain application


Safari on iPhone:iphone
    1)  Download the ipsCA root Certificate from ipsCA
    2)  Choose to install the certificate as a trusted root CA.
    3)  Choose "Install Now" to create the profile.



windows iconInternet Explorer on Windows:icon
Internet Explorer doesn't need a root certificate update if Windows patches are up to date.
Internet Explorer uses the certificate store of the Windows operating system.  This is updated using Windows Update and choosing the
optional updates.  If you have not installed the November 2009 root certificate update, you will see certificate errors when accessing a site
secured with an ipsCA certificate.  Use Windows Update to update your root certificates or download and install rootsupd.exe from Microsoft.



Safari on Windows:icon
Safari 4.0.4 and later don't need a root certificate update if Windows patches are up to date.
Safari uses the certificate store of the Windows operating system.  This is updated using Windows Update and choosing the optional updates.
If you have not installed the November 2009 root certificate update, you will see certificate errors when accessing a site secured with an
ipsCA certificate.  Use Windows Update to update your root certificates or download and install rootsupd.exe from Microsoft.


Opera on Windows:icon

    1)   Download the ipsCA root Certificate from ipsCA and save it as a file.
    2)   In Opera, open the Tools | Preferences... menu.
    3)   Go to the Advanced Tab and select the Security category.
    4)   Click the "Manage Certificates..." button.
    5)   Click on the "Authorities" tab and choose "Import..."
    6)   Browse to the file you saved and click "Open".
    7)   Click "View" to see details of the certificate.
    8)   Uncheck the box labeled "Warn me before using this certificate" and click "OK"
    9)   Click "Install" to add the new ipsCA Level 1 CA certificate.
    10) Click "OK" to confirm you want to add the new certificate.

Chrome on Windows:icon
Chrome doesn't need a root certificate update if Windows patches are up to date.
Chrome uses the certificate store of the Windows operating system.  This is updated using Windows Update and choosing the optional updates.
If you have not installed the November 2009 root certificate update, you will see certificate errors when accessing a site secured with an
ipsCA certificate.  Use Windows Update to update your root certificates or download and install rootsupd.exe from Microsoft.


SSL Certificates are used in many applications as a means of verifying the identity or authenticity of a program, user or machine. The use most people see is in verifying the identity of web servers for secure (https) sessions.

NCSU has a campus CA certificate.

The old ITD certificate is here.

Both the certificates listed above are valid and used for NCSU operated websites.


Send questions or comments to security@help.ncsu.edu

Last updated 19 July 2011 by tsg