Linux- Security- Create System Certificate Bundle

What the certificate bundle creation Worklet does

This Automox Worklet™ creates a unified system certificate bundle on Linux endpoints by consolidating certificates from multiple distribution-specific directories. The Worklet scans standard certificate locations (/etc/ssl/certs/, /usr/share/ca-certificates/, /etc/pki/tls/certs/) and combines all trusted certificate authorities into a single bundle file.

The Worklet updates system-wide certificate trust settings to reference the unified bundle. Applications that rely on system SSL/TLS certificates will use this centralized trust store for all secure connection validation.

Why create unified certificate bundles on Linux endpoints

Linux distributions store certificate authorities in different locations based on package management systems. RHEL and CentOS use /etc/pki/tls/certs/, Debian and Ubuntu use /etc/ssl/certs/, and OpenSUSE uses /var/lib/ca-certificates/. Applications that cannot locate the correct distribution-specific certificate store will fail SSL/TLS connections with certificate validation errors.

Fragmented certificate stores cause production outages when applications attempt HTTPS connections to external services, APIs, or internal infrastructure. Development teams waste time troubleshooting certificate errors across different Linux distributions, implementing distribution-specific workarounds that break when endpoints are migrated or updated.

A unified certificate bundle standardizes trust configuration across all Linux endpoints regardless of distribution. You eliminate certificate-related connection failures, reduce troubleshooting time, and maintain consistent security policies for SSL/TLS validation across heterogeneous Linux environments.

How certificate bundle consolidation works

1. Evaluation phase: The Worklet identifies the Linux distribution and checks for existing certificate bundle locations. It verifies whether a unified bundle already exists and scans all distribution-specific certificate directories to catalog available certificate authorities.

2. Remediation phase: The Worklet reads all certificate files from distribution-specific locations and concatenates them into a single bundle file at /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt. It updates system certificate trust configuration using update-ca-certificates or update-ca-trust commands depending on the distribution, then verifies the bundle contains valid certificates.

Certificate bundle creation requirements

• Linux operating system (RHEL, CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, or compatible distributions)

• Root or sudo privileges for writing to system certificate directories

• Existing certificate authorities installed through distribution package managers

• ca-certificates package installed (Debian/Ubuntu) or ca-certificates bundle package (RHEL/CentOS)

Expected SSL/TLS trust configuration after bundle creation

After the Worklet completes, your Linux endpoints will have a unified certificate bundle at /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt containing all trusted certificate authorities. Applications that previously failed SSL/TLS validation due to distribution-specific certificate path issues will successfully establish secure connections.

System-wide SSL/TLS operations will reference the centralized bundle for certificate validation. You can verify successful configuration by testing HTTPS connections to external services using curl, wget, or application-specific SSL clients. Future certificate updates through package managers will automatically refresh the unified bundle through standard distribution update mechanisms.

How to validate linux- security- create system certificate bundle changes

1. Run this Worklet on a pilot Linux endpoint and review evaluation output for linux- security- create system certificate bundle.

2. Confirm Automox activity logs show successful completion and exit code 0.

3. Verify endpoint state using checks aligned to evaluation script logic, such as set, exit, break.

4. Validate remediation effects from script operations such as set, break, exit, then rerun evaluation for compliance.

For technical validation, compare endpoint state to the Worklet evaluation logic and remediation flow for linux- security- create system certificate bundle. This supports repeatable security workflows, faster change control review, and auditable compliance evidence.

Useful script references for this Worklet include evaluation operations such as set, exit, break and remediation operations such as set, break, exit. Use these indicators to verify that endpoint changes match intended policy outcomes.