How To Install Certificate On Android Phone

One of the questions we're most often asked is, "how do I download and install my Digital Document to my phone?" If you want to encrypt emails or cosign to corporate networks using your mobile device, installing the certificate tin be a bit of a barrier. Fortunately, Digital Certificates are compatible with virtually of the leading mobile operating systems, so information technology's piece of cake to implement and enforce the same security policies, even on mobile devices.

Yous tin can view the total 'how-to' video here or continue reading for the in-depth guide.

Note: This mail is about how to install certificates onto devices. If y'all're looking for data nearly what mobile certificates can be used for, delight visit our mobile page.

The method involved in installing Digital Certificates onto your mobile device will vary by operating system. To assistance you support mobile devices in your workplace, we've put together a user guide that walks through how to install a Digital Document or PKCS#12 file onto an Android phone. The overall process is really unproblematic; let'due south take a look now:

A couple things before we get started...

This example will show you how to install a PKCS#12 (as opposed to other file types) onto an Android device, which is our recommended choice as the file type is hands accustomed and provides the simplest installation experience for the end user.
I'm running through this using a GlobalSign Digital Certificate and GlobalSign's document issuance process, just the general steps should exist the aforementioned regardless of the supplier and issuing Certificate Authority.

At that place are two main parts to downloading and installing a document on an Android device - downloading the PKCS#12 or .pfx file onto the Android and adding it to the device's "credential store". We will take you through the steps involved in each part now. Permit's get rolling!

How to Download a Certificate onto Your Android Device

Pace 1 - Open Certificate Pick Upwards Email on Android Device

Certificate delivery is completed using an over-the-air enrollment method, where the certificate enrollment is delivered directly to your Android device, via email using the electronic mail address you specified during the registration process.

Digital Certificate Installation Email GlobalSign

Click the link in your certificate pick up email.

Stride ii - Enter Certificate Selection-Up Password

Click on the enrollment link in the email. Next, you volition exist prompted to enter the 1-time certificate password you created (or an ambassador created for you lot), during the certificate ordering process.

create a pkcs12 passphrase globalsign

Enter your certificate pick upwardly password when prompted.

Pace 3 - Create a PKCS#12 Passphrase

Next, create the password you will use when you lot install the certificate onto your device (covered in the next section). Our system asks that your password is no less than 12 characters and is merely alpha-numeric. That means no special characters. Make sure you read our subscriber agreement and click 'I concur' to proceed.

Create the password y'all will utilize during the install process.

Step 4 - Download the Certificate onto Your Device

Afterwards your certificate has been generated, y'all will be prompted to download the certificate to your device. The file volition appear in the 'downloads' folder on your device.

download a certificate onto your android device globalsign

Download the certificate onto your device.

Step 5 – Name Your Certificate

name your device certificate globalsign

Requite your certificate a name then you can easily detect information technology in your certificate store later.

How to Add a Certificate to Your Android 'Device Credentials'

At this signal y'all may have a alert on your phone maxim 'network may be monitored by a trusted tertiary party'. Technically what Android is saying here is 'if a malicious or compromised certificate is being installed here so it's possible someone is monitoring you.' So the warning is made a little scarier than it needs to exist considering a certificate doesn't have to be genuinely malicious to trigger the warning. In the Android programmer customs people are calling for this feature to be removed. So fear not, let's move onto the side by side step.

To complete the install and remove that pesky warning, y'all need to add together the certificate to your device'due south security credentials.

Step vi - Navigate to Settings > Security

Select "Install from device storage" from your security settings to get the document file from the 'downloads' folder of your device.

install certificate from phone storage on Android globalsign

Select "install from telephone storage" to find your recently downloaded certificate.

Step seven - Locate Your Downloaded Certificate File

You should be able to find the 'downloads' folder in the left paw menu as soon as you lot click on 'Install from device storage'.

downloads folder installation fof certificate on android device

If you lot can't find information technology, y'all tin can navigate there past clicking "Internal storage" from the list of locations in the "Open from" window. So navigate to the "Download" folder and select your certificate .pfx file.

download folder in internal storage of phone

Step 8 - Enter Your PKCS#12 Passphrase

Enter the password yous created in Step three above.

enter your pkcs#12 passphrase for installation of certificate on android device globalsign

Enter the PKCS#12 passphrase you created earlier.

Footstep 9 - Adapt Certificate Settings

Now that the certificate has been added to your device's credentials, y'all can prepare the certificate proper noun and its employ - VPN and Apps or Wi-Fi depending on where you plan on using the document to authenticate.

Fiddling is known almost why this option is given. A certificate should always be able to do both. My advice is to pick the one which is closest to what you want to exercise with your certificate, but it won't matter which ane you chose as you should still be able to authenticate into both services with an X.509 document from GlobalSign.

set your certificate name and purpose in the android certificate installation instructions

Set your certificate name and purpose.

Installation consummate!

The certificate is now successfully downloaded onto your Android device. You tin at present apply it as an authentication gene for connecting to VPN clients, Wi-Fi, email and other corporate apps, as well as for digitally signing and encrypting emails (S/MIME).