Walkthrough: Configuring Web Services to Use SSL (SOAP and OData)

Article
09/30/2015

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a cryptographic protocol that helps provide security and data integrity for data communications over a network. By encrypting your Microsoft Dynamics NAV web services using SSL, you make your data and the network more secure and more reliable.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web Services and SSL

Microsoft Dynamics NAV supports SSL authentication for SOAP and OData web services. The server authenticates itself to the client, but the client does not authenticate itself to the server. When the web service client connects to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance, the server replies by sending its digital certificate to the client. This certificate contains the server's public encryption key and the name of the authority that granted the certificate. The client verifies the certificate using the authority's public key.

About This Walkthrough

This walkthrough illustrates the following tasks:

Configuring Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web Services to Use SSL
Obtaining an SSL Certificate
Importing the SSL Certificate into the Local Computer Store of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server computer
Granting Permissions to the Certificate's Private Key to Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server
Obtaining the Certificate's Thumbprint
Configuring the Access Control List and the Web Services Ports for SSL
Verifying the Configuration
Restart the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server Instance

Prerequisites

To complete this walkthrough, you will need:

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 with a developer license.
The makecert.exe tool (Certificate Creation Tool) for creating SSL certificates.

The makecert.exe generates certificates for testing purposes. It is available with Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft Windows SDK. For more information, see Certificate Creation Tool (Makecert.exe) in the MSDN Library.

Note

The makecert.exe tool is only required if you do not already have an SSL certificate and you want to create a certificate for test purposes.

Story

Victor, who is a business systems developer at CRONUS International Ltd., knows that his implementation of web services applications for Microsoft Dynamics NAV is unlikely to pass a company security audit unless he encrypts sensitive data that is transmitted over the company intranet. He decides to protect web services communication with SSL.

Configuring Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web Services to Use SSL

The first step is to prepare Microsoft Dynamics NAV to use SSL. This involves configuring the relevant Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance to specify SSL.

You can configure Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instances with the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server Administration Tool or Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows PowerShell Cmdlets. For more information, see Managing Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server Instances.

The following procedure uses Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server Administration tool to configure the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance.

To configure the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance to use SSL

Choose the Start button, and in the Search programs and files box, type Microsoft Dynamics NAV Administration, and then choose the related link.
In Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server Administration tool, in the left pane, under Console Root, expand the node for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server computer. This is typically named Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Local), which is the local computer.

The Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instances on the computer appear in the left pane and center panes.
In the left pane, choose the relevant instance to display settings for that instance in the center pane.
At the bottom of the center pane, choose Edit.
To configure SOAP web services to use SSL, expand the SOAP Web Services tab, and then select the Enable SSL option.

Make a note of the port that is used by SOAP web services. You will need the port number later on in this walkthrough.
To configure OData web services to use SSL, expand the OData Web Services tab, and then select the Enable SSL option.

Make a note of the port that is used by OData web services. You will need the port number later on in this walkthrough.
Choose Save at the bottom of the center pane.
In the right pane, under Actions, choose Login Account.
Make a note of the service account information. You will need this information later on in this walkthrough.

Obtaining an SSL Certificate

The certificate is a file that Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server uses to prove its identity and establish a trusted connection with the client that is trying to connect. In a production environment, you obtain an SSL certificate from a certification authority. Some large organizations may have their own certification authorities, and other organizations can request a certificate from a third-party organization. In a test environment, if you do not have certificate, then you can create your own test certificate by using the makecert.exe tool as described in the following procedure.

In the following procedure, you use the makecert.exe tool to create a test certificate file (.cer) with a private key file (.pvk), and then generate a personal information file (.pfx) from the two files. You will use the .pxf in the next procedure for importing the certificate on the computer running Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server.

Note

If you have a certificate, then you can skip this procedure and continue to Importing the SSL Certificate into the Local Computer Store of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server computer.

To create a test SSL certificate using the makecert.exe tool

On the computer that is installed with Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 or Windows SDK, create a folder called My Certificates for working with and storing certificates.

You can work on the same computer that is running Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server or a different computer.

Open the command prompt as follows:

If your computer is installed with	Then
Microsoft Visual Studio 2012	Choose the Start button, choose All Programs. Choose Microsoft Visual Studio, choose Visual Studio Tools, and then right-click Visual Studio Command Prompt and choose Run as Administrator.
Microsoft Windows SDK	Choose the Start button, choose All Programs. Choose Microsoft Windows SDK, choose Microsoft Windows SDK, and then right-click Windows SDK Command Prompt and choose Run as Administrator.

At the command prompt, change to the folder that you created for the certificates. For example, type cd\My Certificates, and then press Enter.
To create the SSL certificate with a private key file, type the following command.
```
makecert -r -pe -n "CN=Nav Test Cert" -b 01/01/2015 -e 01/01/2016 -sv NavTestCert.pvk NavTestCert.cer
```
A certificate file called NavTestCert.cer and a private key file called NavTestCert.pvk are created in the temporary folder.

Tip

If you are working on the computer running Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server, you can use the following command to create and install the certificate, so you can skip the next procedure for importing the certificate. makecert -r -pe -n "CN=NavTestCert" -b 01/01/2015 -e 01/01/2016 -ss my -sr localmachine -sky exchange
To generate a personal information exchange (.pfx) file from the NavTestCert.cer and NavTestCert.pvk files, type the following command. Substitute mypassword with a password of your own.
```
pvk2pfx -pvk NavTestCert.pvk -spc NavTestCert.cer -pfx NavTestCert.pfx -po mypassword
```
This creates a file called NavTestCert.pfx file in the temporary folder. The file is assigned a password of by the po option. You will use this password when you import the certificate into the local machine.
If you are not working on the computer running Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server, then copy the .pfx to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server computer.

Important

To avoid validation errors, make sure that the certificate that you create and self-sign has the same name as the host name, which is accessed from all the remote machines. The machine name is specified in “CN=<machine name>”. If you use the http://hostname:Port/NAVserver/ link to access your Microsoft Dynamics NAV service, then you should specify the –n “CN=hostname” flag to the makecert command instead.

Importing the SSL Certificate into the Local Computer Store of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server computer

Once you obtain a certificate, you must import it into the local computer store on the computer running Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server. The certificate file will have the extension .cer or .pfx.

To import an SSL certificate into the local computer store

On the computer running Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server, choose Start, and then choose Run.
In the Open box, type mmc, and then choose OK.

Note

This procedure assumes that you do not already have the Certificates snap-in installed in Microsoft Management Console. If the Certificates snap-in is already installed, skip steps 3 to 7 and go to step 8.
On the File menu, choose Add/Remove Snap-in.
In the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box, choose Certificates, and then choose Add.
In the Certificates snap-in dialog box, choose Computer account, and then choose Next.
In the Select Computer dialog box, choose Local computer, and then choose Finish.
In the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box, choose OK.
In the left pane of the console, double-click and expand the Certificates (Local Computer).
Right-click Personal, point to All Tasks, and then choose Import.
On the Welcome to the Certificate Import Wizard page, choose Next.
On the File to Import page, choose Browse, locate your certificate file, for example NavTestCert.pfx.

If the certificate is in a personal information exchange file (.pfx), set the box next to File name to Personal Information Exchange (*.pfx;*.p12), and then browse for the certificate file.
Select the certificate file, and then choose Open, and then choose Next.
If prompted for a password, type the password on the Password page, and then choose Next.
On the Certificate Store page, choose Place all certificates in the following store, and then choose Next.
Choose Finish, and then choose OK to confirm that the import was successful.

Granting Permissions to the Certificate's Private Key to Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server

If the certificate has a private key, then you must give the service account of Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server access to the private key.

To grant access to the certificate’s private key to the service account for Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server

In the left pane of MMC, expand the Certificates (Local Computer) node, expand the Personal node, and then choose the Certificates folder.
In the center pane, right-click the certificate that you imported, choose All Tasks, and then choose Manage Private Keys.
In the Permissions for private keys dialog box, choose Add.
In the Select Users, Computers, Service Accounts, or Groups dialog box, in the Enter the object names to select box, type the name of the service account for Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server, and then choose OK.
On the Security tab, under Allow, select Full Control and Read, and then choose OK.

Obtaining the Certificate's Thumbprint

The thumbprint is a string of hexadecimal characters that identifies the certificate. You use the thumbprint when you configure the web service's port to use the certificate. To perform this task, you continue working in the Certificates snap-in in Microsoft Management Console.

To obtain the certificate's thumbprint

In the left pane under Console Root, expand the Certificates (Local Computer) node, expand the Personal folder, and then choose the Certificates folder

The center pane displays all the certificates.
Right-click the certificate that you imported, and then choose Open.
In the Certificate dialog box, choose the Details tab.
Scroll through the list of fields, and then choose Thumbprint.
Copy the hexadecimal characters from the box, and then paste them in a text editor, such as Notepad. These characters make up the thumbprint.
In the text editor, delete all spaces from the thumbprint string.

For example, if the thumbprint is c0 d0 f2 70 95 b0 3d 43 17 e2 19 84 10 24 32 8c ef 24 87 79, then change it to c0d0f27095b03d4317e219841024328cef248779.
Keep the file open or save it. You will use the thumbprint later on.

Configuring the Access Control List and the Web Services Ports for SSL

An access control list (ACL) is part of the Windows security infrastructure and features. The ACL controls who can access resources on a computer. For more information, see Access Control Lists.

Note

These procedures use the netsh tool (netsh.exe) for configuring the HTTP server. The netsh tool is supplied with Windows. By default the netsh tool is located in the c:\Windows\System32 folder.

To configure the ACL

On the computer running Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server, open a command prompt as an administrator as follows:
1. From the Start menu, choose All Programs, and then choose Accessories.
2. Right-click Command Prompt, and then choose Run as administrator.
At the command prompt, type the following command to change to the Windows\System32 directory.
```
cd\Windows\System32
```
To view the ACL for the web services ports to determine if any entries are already using the relevant host name and port, type the following command:
```
netsh http show urlacl
```
Each entry is listed by the Reserved URL field, which has the format http://hostname:port. hostname is the name of the computer running the service and port is the port number the service runs on. A '+' (plus sign) in the Reserved URL field represents localhost, which indicates the computer that you are working on.

By default, SOAP and OData web services in Microsoft Dynamics NAV use ports 7047 and 7048, respectively, and connect to a Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance namedDynamicsNAV90. The default reserved URL entries for these services are: http://+:7047/DynamicsNAV90/ and http://+:7048/DynamicsNAV90/.
You must delete any entries that use the same port as the SOAP or OData web services.

To delete an entry, type the following command:
```
netsh http delete urlacl url=http://hostname:Port/NAVserver/
```
Substitute Port with the port number of the SOAP or OData web service and NAVserver with the name of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance.

For example, to delete the default entries for SOAP and OData, use the following two commands:
```
netsh http delete urlacl url=http://+:7047/DynamicsNAV90/

netsh http delete urlacl url=http://+:7048/DynamicsNAV90/
```

To register the ports for the SOAP and OData web service with https, type the following command for each service:

netsh http add urlacl url=https://hostname:port/navserver user=DOMAIN\user

Substitute the following options with the proper values:

Option	Description
`hostname`	The name of the computer running Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server. Use `+` for localhost.
`port`	The port that is used by the web service.
`navserver`	The name of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance to use with the web service. The default is DynamicsNAV90.
`DOMAIN\username`	The domain and user name of the service account for Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server. If the service account for Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server is Network Service, then use "NT AUTHORITY\NETWORKSERVICE".

For example, if the service account for Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server has the domain ABC and the user name xyz, and then the command for the SOAP web service is as follows:

netsh http add urlacl url=https://+:7047/DynamicsNAV90 user="NT AUTHORITY\NETWORKSERVICE"

If the service account for Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server is Network Service, then the command is as follows:

netsh http add urlacl url=https://+:7047/DynamicsNAV90 user="NT AUTHORITY\NETWORKSERVICE"

To verify that your port has been registered, repeat step 3.

To configure the port to use the SSL certificate

At the command prompt, type the following command to view the current port configurations:
```
netsh http show sslcert
```
All port bindings to SSL certificates are listed. Each entry is indicated by the IP:port field, where IP is the IP address that uses the port (0.0.0.0 indicates all IP addresses) and port is the port number.
If SSL is already configured on the address and port that you want to use for SOAP or OData web services, then use the following command to delete the entry:
```
netsh http delete ssl ipport=ipaddress:port
```
Substitute ipaddress and port with the IP address and port number of the entry that you want to delete.

For example, to delete the entry on the default SOAP port, use the following command:
```
netsh http delete ssl ipport=0.0.0.0:7047
```

To bind an SSL certificate to the SOAP or OData web service port, use the following command:

netsh http add sslcert ipport=ipaddress:port certhash=thumbprint appid={id}

Substitute the following options with the proper values:

Option	Description
`ipaddress`	The IP address that can use the web service. Use `0.0.0.0` to include all IP addresses.
`port`	The port that is used by the web service.
`thumbprint`	The certificate thumbprint that you pasted to NotePad previously.
`id`	A 32-digit hexadecimal number that identifies the Microsoft Dynamics NAV application. The id must be in the format {NNNNNNNN-NNNN-NNNN-NNNN-NNNNNNNNNNNN). If you do not know the appid, then use any value, such as {00112233-4455-6677-8899-AABBCCDDEEFF}.

For example, the following command binds a certificate that has the thumbprint c0d0f27095b03d4317e219841024328cef248779 to port 7047 for all IP addresses:

netsh http add sslcert ipport=0.0.0.0:7047 certhash=c0d0f27095b03d4317e219841024328cef248779 appid={00112233-4455-6677-8899-AABBCCDDEEFF}

Restart the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server Instance

You can use the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server Administration Tool to restart the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance.

To restart Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server

In Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server Administration tool, in the left pane, under Console Root, choose the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server computer.
In the center pane, choose the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance that you have configured, and then in the right pane under Actions, choose Restart.
After the instance restarts, close Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server Administration tool.

Verifying the Configuration

You should now be able to use web services that are encrypted with SSL. To verify this, type the following URL in the address bar for your browser.

https://localhost:7047/DynamicsNAV90/WS/services

The page lists any web services that have been published.

Next Steps

You can now try out any other SOAP web service and OData walkthroughs with SSL. The only change that is required for using these walkthrough with SSL is that you use "https" instead of "http" in your URLs.

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