Proxy Server HTTP Challenge Handling for Domain Certificate Renewal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cloud service providers face challenges in automating HTTP-based domain certificate challenges due to domains being hosted and managed by cloud service providers, leading to manual updates and potential service outages from expired certificates.
Innovation Solution
A certificate management service utilizes a proxy server to intercept requests for domain verification, allowing the proxy server to respond with the challenge string instead of forwarding the request to the host, thereby automating the HTTP-based challenge process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a certificate management service requests a certificate utilizing an HTTP-based challenge, then the certificate authority can verify domain ownership, but the process is time-consuming and cannot be automated when the domain is hosted by a cloud service provider
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a proxy server as an intermediary between the certificate authority and the domain host. The proxy server receives HTTP-based challenge requests from the certificate authority, automatically responds with the challenge string, and thereby enables automated domain verification without requiring manual intervention or forwarding requests to the actual domain host.
Solution Approach 2:
The proxy server is pre-configured with the challenge string before the certificate authority sends the verification request. This preliminary preparation allows the proxy server to immediately respond to the challenge when it arrives, eliminating the time delay associated with generating or retrieving the challenge string during the verification process.
2Reliability
If manual updates are performed for domain certificates, then certificate procurement can be completed, but manual intervention is required and service outages may occur from expired certificates
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service automation where the proxy server automatically handles HTTP-based challenge responses for certificate verification. The certificate management service can initiate certificate procurement and renewal processes without human intervention, as the proxy server autonomously responds to certificate authority challenges, eliminating the need for manual updates and reducing the risk of service outages from expired certificates.
3Extent of automation
If the proxy server intercepts the challenge request and responds directly, then automation is achieved, but the request is not forwarded to the actual domain host
Solution Approach 1:
The proxy server serves as a dedicated intermediary component that handles the complexity of HTTP challenge response automation. By centralizing this function in the proxy server rather than requiring configuration changes at the domain host or certificate management service, the patent achieves high automation while managing device complexity through a specialized intermediary component.
Data Source
AI summary
According to certain implementations, a certificate management service of a cloud service provider requests a certificate for a domain from a certificate authority utilizing an HTTP-based challenge. The certificate authority responds with a challenge string and a subdirectory within the domain. The challenge string and subdirectory within the domain are sent from the certificate management service to a proxy server of the cloud service provider that manages a flow of data to a host that hosts the domain. When the certificate authority sends a request to the subdirectory within the domain, the request is intercepted at the proxy server. Instead of forwarding the request to the host that hosts the domain, the proxy server responds to the certificate authority with the challenge string. This verifies ownership of the domain, which is required to obtain the certificate for the domain.