OLD SSL Reference
- We are migrating this SSL Reference into the format described in the MDN Style Guide. If you are inclined to help with this migration, your help would be very much appreciated.
- Upgraded documentation may be found in the Current NSS Reference
SSL Reference
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
Writer: Sean Cotter
Manager: Wan-Teh Chang
Chapter 1 Overview of an SSL Application
SSL and related APIs allow compliant applications to configure sockets for authenticated, tamper-proof, and encrypted communications. This chapter introduces some of the basic SSL functions. Chapter 2, "Getting Started With SSL" illustrates their use in sample client and server applications.
Chapter 2 Getting Started With SSL
This chapter describes how to set up your environment, including certificate and key databases, to run the NSS sample code. The sample code and makefiles are available via LXR in the SSLSamples directory.
- SSL, PKCS #11, and the Default Security Databases
- Setting Up the Certificate and Key Databases
- Building NSS Programs
Chapter 3 Selected SSL Types and Structures
This chapter describes some of the most important types and structures used with the functions described in the rest of this document, and how to manage the memory used for them. Additional types are described with the functions that use them or in the header files.
Chapter 4 SSL Functions
This chapter describes the core SSL functions.
Chapter 5 Certificate Functions
This chapter describes the functions and related types used to work with a certificate database such as the cert7.db database provided with Communicator.
Chapter 6 Key Functions
This chapter describes two functions used to manipulate private keys and key databases such as the key3.db database provided with Communicator.
Chapter 7 PKCS #11 Functions
This chapter describes the core PKCS #11 functions that an application needs for communicating with cryptographic modules. In particular, these functions are used for obtaining certificates, keys, and passwords.
- PK11_FindCertFromNickname
- PK11_FindKeyByAnyCert
- PK11_GetSlotName
- PK11_GetTokenName
- PK11_IsHW
- PK11_IsPresent
- PK11_IsReadOnly
- PK11_SetPasswordFunc
Chapter 8 NSS and SSL Error Codes
NSS error codes are retrieved using the NSPR function PR_GetError. In addition to the error codes defined by NSPR, PR_GetError retrieves the error codes described in this chapter.