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Configuring the PKCS#11 Provider

The Securosys PKCS#11 provider v2.2.2 or later is already integrated into FortiGate (no installation needed).

However a valid configuration file and secrets have to be prepared and tested in advance, to be loaded then to the FortiGate via CLI or GUI.

Therefore the PKCS#11 provider installation, configuration and connectivity setup including permanent secret retrieval has to be prepared on a separate client machine (preferably Linux) before the configuration and secrets can be loaded to FortiGate.

warning

The FortiGate assumes that the configuration file primus.cfg and secrets are consistent and correct!

PKCS#11 Provider Installation on Client Machine​

Install the PKCS#11 provider on a Linux machine according pkcs#11 Provider Installation Guide

  • For FortiGate with
    • FortiOS v7.2.8 Special Build 8993 install the Securosys PKCS#11 Provider v2.2.2
    • FortiOS v7.2.8 Special Build 9127 and newer install the Securosys PKCS#11 Provider v2.2.4 or newer

Prepare Provider Configuration​

Currently, the FortiGate implementation has the following configuration restrictions:

  • FortiGate can only address one single redundant partition (clustered; different partitions are not supported)
  • Logging must be disabled (write_log_file = false; write_syslog = false;)
  • Establish all connections on initialization for latency optimization (connect_on_init = true;)
  • DNS is currently not supported in the configuration file (host = "a.b.c.d"), use IP addresses instead

Configure the file /etc/primus.cfg with your HSM connectivity parameters.
For details consult pkcs#11 Provider Configuration Guide.

  1. Adjust the global and log configuration section according to the highlighted lines:
…
/*--- GLOBAL CONFIGURATION SECTION ----------------------------------------*/
primus:
{
  wait_delay = 250; /* in ms*/
  wait_max_tries = 5;
  connect_on_init = true;
  
  /*--- HSM CONFIGURATION SECTION -----------------------------------------*/
…
  /*--- LOG CONFIGURATION SECTION -----------------------------------------*/
  log:
  {
    file                = "/tmp/primus.log"; 
    write_log_file      = false;
    write_syslog        = false;
    trace_linenumber    = false;
    trace_timestamp     = true;
    trace_function      = true;
    trace_inout         = false;
    trace_pid           = true;
    trace_filename      = false;
    trace_mask          = 0x00;
    trace_level         = 0; /* 0-7 log level details */
  }; /* end log */

Retrieve the Permanent Secret​

Retrieve the blinded permanent secret with ppin tool:
For details see Permanent Secret Management

ppin -ae <HSM_USERNAME> <setupPassword> <PKCS11Password>

In case of failure see the section Troubleshooting

In case of failure, see the troubleshooting section.

Testing the Cluster Connectivity​

  1. Ensure propere testing of the connectivity to all clustered devices with the ppin tool:
ppin -t
Load config file: '/etc/primus/primus.cfg'

hsm0: Connect to '82.197.162.10' on port 2410, firmware: RX-3.1.0-T 
    slot0 (id=0), user=PRIMUSDEV368: OK

hsm1: Connect to '82.197.162.10' on port 2411, firmware: RP-3.1.0-T 
    slot0 (id=0), user=PRIMUSDEV368: OK

Number of tested HSMs: 2 (number of partitions: 2)

Number of failures: 0

Continue with step 3: FortiGate Configuration.