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SSL Certificate Error

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When you're integrating APIs into your projects, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) validation plays a crucial role in ensuring secure communications. However, there are instances when SSL certificate issues, such as misconfigurations or expired certificates, can stall your integration testing and delay project. Specifically, for developers working with 3rd party APIs like the Salesforce's Sandbox APIs (or Commerce Cloud, Demandware, ServiceNow, etc), these issues are common because of misconfigurations. These issues may come irrespective to any programming language, be it Python, Java, Android, or IOS/Swift. In this article, we'll explore how disabling SSL validation, under controlled circumstances, can help your team move faster.

Understanding SSL Validation​

SSL certificates are digital passports that provide authentication for a website or API endpoint, establishing a secure connection between the client and the server. The validation process involves several checks, including:

  1. Certificate Expiry: Ensuring the certificate is current and not expired.
  2. Common Name (CN) Match: Verifying that the domain name on the certificate matches the domain being accessed.
  3. Certificate Authority (CA) Trust: Checking that the certificate is issued by a trusted authority.

When integrating APIs, and shipping software to production these validations are vital for security. However, there are circumstances, especially in development and testing environments, where bypassing them temporarily can expedite the integration process.

Ignore SSL Issues with Beeceptor​

For developers grappling with SSL certificate challenges, Beeceptor is a critical solution using its HTTP proxy feature. At its core, Beeceptor acts as an intermediary between your application and the external API, allowing you to intercept and inspect HTTP requests and responses on the fly.

Beeceptor's HTTP proxy feature includes an "Ignore SSL Errors" option, designed specifically to address and bypass issues like expired certificates and CN mismatches. Using this you can ensure a smooth integration & testing, without being impeded by SSL roadblocks.

Configuring Beeceptor to Disable SSL Validation​

Setting up Beeceptor to bypass SSL validation is straightforward:

  1. Navigate to your Beeceptor and create a new endpoint.
  2. In the endpoint settings, select the "Proxy Setup". This opens a Proxy Setup popup. Enter your target domain or the domain with SSL cert issues.
  3. Enable "Ignore SSL Error" checkbox. Save the configuration.
  4. With Beeceptor configured, route your API requests through the Beeceptor endpoint. You'll find that SSL validation issues no longer hinder your testing!

Here is a list of common SSL issues, Beeceptor starts ignoring.

  • Expired SSL Certificates: No more being blocked by a clock.
  • Common Name Mismatches: Beeceptor understands that a name is just a name.
  • Self-signed Certificates: Perfect for testing environments where formal CA-signed certificates aren't necessary.
  • Certificate Authority (CA) Not Recognized: Beeceptor doesn't judge a certificate by its issuer.

Production Setup & Advice​

Remember, while disabling SSL validation can be beneficial during testing, always ensure that proper SSL validations are in place for your production environments to maintain security. Happy integrating!