Specifications

PERFORMING DOWNLOADS
File Authentication Requirements
VX 520 R
EFERENCE GUIDE 111
• Application files other than executables (for example, font and data files) may
also require logical security under file authentication. In these cases, each
protected non-executable file also requires a corresponding signature file.
• Digital certificates (*.crt) and signature files (*.p7s) are required to
authenticate both application files and operating system files, which must be
downloaded into the RAM of the target file group.
• Certificate files are deleted from application memory after they are
authenticated. If a certificate is not authenticated, it is retained in terminal
memory.
• If the *FA variable in the CONFIG.SYS file of the target group is set to 1,
signature files are redirected to the same location where the application file it
authenticates is stored. If *FA is 0, signature files are deleted from RAM when
the file authentication process is complete.
File Authentication
Process During an
Application
Download
In the following example of a typical file authentication process, assume the
following:
• An application is being downloaded to prepare a VX 520 deployment terminal
for deployment. That is, a sponsor certificate and a signer certificate download
in batch mode to GID1 RAM of the receiving terminal, together with the
application to authenticate.
• A signature file is generated for each executable that comprises the
application on the download computer using the VeriShield File Signing Tool,
with the signer certificate, signer private key, and signer password as required
inputs. These signature files are also downloaded to the receiving terminal.
In a typical batch application download, file authentication proceeds as follows:
1 All certificate files (*.crt), signature files (*.p7s), and application files
(*.out, *.lib, *.fon, *.vft, *.dat, and so on) download to the VX 520
deployment terminal in batch mode.
2 When the terminal restarts after the download, the file authentication module
searches the RAM-based file system for the following two file types:
• Authenticated certificate files (*.crt) to add to the permanent certificate
tree.
• Signature files (*.p7s) that authenticate corresponding target application
files.
Certificate files and signature files can download into the RAM of any file
group. For this reason, the file authentication module searches through the
entire file system (all file groups) for new files with these filename extensions
each time the terminal restarts.