WebMatrix Beta – Testing With ‘Real’ Certificates

In my last post, one of the tips I described was how to configure a WebMatrix site to use the built-in test SSL certificate.  If you enable SSL for a site within WebMatrix and browse to it using the link in the UI, you’ll probably receive a glaring browser warning along these lines:

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These browser warnings are important notifications for live, production sites, but for the development environment the warning is really distracting.  Here are some instructions to configure a trusted certificate environment.

Step 1: Trusting the IIS Express Development Certificate

From the Start Menu in Vista/Win7:

  • Type MMC in the Search text box and press enter
  • Click File – Add/Remove Snap-in in the MMC window
  • Select Certificates from the Available snap-ins list
  • Click Add
  • Select Computer Account and Local Computer within the configuration wizard and click Finish
  • Click OK
  • From the Console Root in the treeview, expand the Certificates (Local Computer) node
  • Navigate to Personal then Certificates

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  • Select the IIS Express Development Certificate
  • Right click on the certificate and select Copy
  • Navigate to the Trusted Root Certification Authorities node then Certificates
  • Right click in the middle pane and select Paste

For XP/Windows 2003, follow the same instructions but start MMC from Run in the Start Menu.

Step 2:  Testing the Trusted Certificate

Now that the test certificate is trusted by this client machine, try to browse to the site.  The site content should show with out a warning.  In the case of Internet Explorer, you’ll see a little lock icon in the address bar.

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Summary:

Now you can test and validate a trusted SSL site experience using WebMatrix during the development process. 

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