Troubleshooting: AD Test Connection Fails With 'The Server Is Not Operational' When Using SSL

Version Affected: All
 
 

Overview

Testing an Active Directory data store connection with Connection Mode set to SSL can fail with the message The server is not operational., even though the same test shows Connection Successful. when Connection Mode is set to Standard.
 

Cause

SSL is not set up correctly on the Active Directory domain controller.

Resolution:

1. Confirm the SSL certificate is stored in the correct location of the domain controller's certificate store. When adding the Certificates snap-in to open the store, select the Service account radio button, then Local Computer, then Active Directory Domain Services from the combo box -- the certificate should appear under the resulting NTDS\Personal store.
2. Confirm every certificate authority (CA) in the certificate's chain is stored in the correct location: the root CA under Trusted Root Certification Authorities, and every intermediate CA under Intermediate Certification Authorities.
3. Confirm the certificate's Issued To value matches the domain controller's fully qualified domain name (FQDN), or that the FQDN's root domain is covered by a wildcard entry in the certificate's Subject Alternative Name (SAN) field. For example, if the FQDN is secauthprod.secureauth.com, the certificate needs either that value in Issued To, or one of the following in its SAN field:

DNS Name=secauthprod.secureauth.com

or

DNS Name=*.secureauth.com

SecureAuth Knowledge Base Articles provide information based on specific use cases and may not apply to all appliances or configurations. Be advised that these instructions could cause harm to the environment if not followed correctly or if they do not apply to the current use case.

Customers are responsible for their own due diligence prior to utilizing this information and agree that SecureAuth is not liable for any issues caused by misconfiguration directly or indirectly related to SecureAuth products.