Website server certificate problem

[RolnCode3]

Trying to visit https://chart.donhr.navy.mil/index.asp

I can get to it in Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. IE8 will NOT let me get to it. It takes me to a "server certificate problem" page. I click on the "take me there anyways link" and it then times out and gives me a network connection problem.

The reason I'm desperate to try IE8 is that once I get to the site and login, there's an internal site that none of those other browsers can pull up, and the help FAQ says that IE is the best for that particular page. The FAQ also just says "use a different browser if you're having problems". Nice.

Personally I think the Navy should do something about the difficulty people have with their site. The manual method of submitting an application is cumbersome and a last resort.

Can anyone tell me how to view and import the certificate in IE8 from that page? I don't even see a lock icon on the address bar. This is totally frustrating. Thanks and Merry Christmas.

 

[shaft]

Give IE Tab a try, its an add on for firefox. You can install it, then go to the page you are trying to reach, right click on the tab and select switch rendering engine to IE. It works great and use it all the time for IE only sites.

 

[poltergeisty]

Make sure your date in the computer is set correctly. I would have a look at your cookie setting in IE to make sure third party cookies get through.

Install this addon for Firefox and you will learn that the certificate has been seen consistently for 292 days. Tried to check out the encryption used with this site fails. I know they use RC4 -128 https://www.ssllabs.com/ssldb/index.html

I've tried portable internet explorer and my install of IE and I get the same error. Tried IE tab and the problem still exists.

Tried changing settings to no avail. The cert is attached, but it will most likely be no use.
Call DOD and tell them to fix their crappy site! :lol:

To import a cert got to tools | Internet Options | Content.

 

[poltergeisty]

The thing redirects to a local IP address of 192.48.215.70. They have a serious problem over there.

https://chart.donhr.navy.mil/contactusI.aspx

 

[mike_s104]

The cert is just not signed by someone like Thawte. There are a few other DoD sites that are the same way. I've ran into them when applying for job openings.

 

[kb2vxa]

My Firefox had no trouble getting there, you just have to know how to use certificates. Don't ask, if I tell I'll have to kill you.

 

[poltergeisty]

He needs to use IE. Read the post again. :lol:

 

[bezking]

Make sure your date in the computer is set correctly. I would have a look at your cookie setting in IE to make sure third party cookies get through.

Install this addon for Firefox and you will learn that the certificate has been seen consistently for 292 days. Tried to check out the encryption used with this site fails. I know they use RC4 -128 https://www.ssllabs.com/ssldb/index.html

I've tried portable internet explorer and my install of IE and I get the same error. Tried IE tab and the problem still exists.

Tried changing settings to no avail. The cert is attached, but it will most likely be no use.
Call DOD and tell them to fix their crappy site! :lol:

To import a cert got to tools | Internet Options | Content.

That's no RFC1918 address. Had it started with 192.168 we would have a problem

To the OP, all the major browsers will allow you to override the warning. You just have to find it.

 

[RolnCode3]

That's no RFC1918 address. Had it started with 192.168 we would have a problem

To the OP, all the major browsers will allow you to override the warning. You just have to find it.

OK. That's what I was looking for. I have overridden it in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. But I can't figure out how to do it in IE so that I can continue on to the site. I just get sent to a network connectivity problem page.

Can anyone tell me how to bypass the problem in IE?

I have imported the server certificate while running IE as an administrator and the certificate still won't work. I'm at a loss. I'm going to try logging in with Firefox and then turning to IETab for the internal site. See what happens.

My Firefox had no trouble getting there, you just have to know how to use certificates. Don't ask, if I tell I'll have to kill you.

As poltergeisty said, I'm trying to get there in IE because there's an internal webpage that won't load in any of the other browsers, but the Navy faq's say that IE works best. I'm hoping that it will, but still have no guarantees.

 

[RolnCode3]

IE Tab didn't fare any better. I logged in in Firefox and then tried different internal pages in IETab. I get a popup to continue and even get the opportunity to install the certificate. I tried both and still get the connectivity problem page.

 

[bezking]

Can you post a screenshot of IE displaying this error? Thanks!

 

[kb2vxa]

"He needs to use IE."

Why does he need to use IE when Firefox is fully integrated to use the IE rendering engine? If he wants to switch rendering engines entirely a click on the IE Tab Plus icon (the little fiery fox) on the bottom toolbar that appears when the extension is installed will do it.

"Read the post again."

I read and understood it and having used Firefox and a few useful add-ons for years I understand that too. Now how do you think I got it to work for me not having used IE for as long as I've used Firefox? Before you say it, no, I never switched rendering engines, I do it all from within Firefox.

> Don't ask, if I tell I'll have to kill you.
So now oh noisy one, tell me where in Joisey you live and make things easy on yourself. Now that I have to kill you if I have to track you down I'll torture you and you'll die in agony. (;->)

 

[RolnCode3]

Can you post a screenshot of IE displaying this error? Thanks!

You bet. I put the URL in and get the first error. Click on "Continue to this website (not recommended)" and get the second error. Every time. Whether I work directly in IE or login through Firefox and then render in IETab. When I click on "diagnose problem" I just get a vague error that the problem cannot be diagnosed.

Again, the only reason I'm trying to use IE is in the hopes that the internal website (after I login) will work, because all of the other browsers give me a bad request error when I go to the very last page of the application.

@kb2vxa : I feel like you're angry at me or something. If you can get to the site in IE8 please tell me what I am doing wrong.

 

[RolnCode3]

In IETab, I get these two. I click yes in "security alert" and it takes me to the second page.

 

[eorange]

Certificates from web sites don't mean anything unless your browser trusts them. "Trust" means that the certificate issued from a website shares a common (mathematical) ancestry with special certificates that are built into your browser.

These special certificates are called root certificates, and are issued by major certifying authorities like VeriSign and Thawte (and others that your browser maker deems worthy). These are the same companies that issue SSL certificates to web sites. This is how trust is established between your browser and websites that present SSL certificates.

I could make and certify my own "microsoft.com" SSL certtificate, and publish a website using that certificate. If you went there, IE would alarm with the above message, because it knows that the certificate I created wasn't certified by any of the major certifying authorities. In other words, my certificate wouldn't have anything in common with the root certificates installed in IE.

So: check your root certificates in IE; make sure you have them and that they're updated. MS technotes explain how to do this. This could explain why your other browsers don't complain, but IE does.

 

[eorange]

So after all that...

I can't get to that site via Chrome (8) or IE8. The certifying authority for that site is "DOD CA-21", which is not a root certificate included with the Windows 7 cert store (which all browers use and share).

For Windows 7, see this on how to view your root certs:
How can you import a root certificate to a machine level store in Windows 7 - Server Fault

Looks like the DOD acts as their own CA (certifying authority). You'll need to get the root cert from them, and install that cert on your machine.

 

[RolnCode3]

HAHA! Fixed! Thanks to the last post I got pushed in the right direction.

This poor guy had the same problem:
Problems access website, security certificate error - Neowin Forums

Which led me to this site:
DoD Class 3 PKI - Obtaining the Root CA Certificate

Installed the certificates and the site works perfectly in IE now. Thanks to everyone for helping out.

 

[eorange]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Excellent, good job.

 

[kb2vxa]

"@kb2vxa : I feel like you're angry at me or something. If you can get to the site in IE8 please tell me what I am doing wrong."

I'm not angry, just a bit frustrated. If you give some sort of clue what "internal site" you're trying to get into I MIGHT be able to help. How can I tell you how to go somewhere when I don't know where you want to go?

 

[RolnCode3]

"@kb2vxa : I feel like you're angry at me or something. If you can get to the site in IE8 please tell me what I am doing wrong."

I'm not angry, just a bit frustrated. If you give some sort of clue what "internal site" you're trying to get into I MIGHT be able to help. How can I tell you how to go somewhere when I don't know where you want to go?

Sorry. I thought the URL I posted in the first line of my first post was enough. I think that post fairly clearly explains what I'm trying to do. I'm not sure how I can give you the info to a https link that requires my personal username and password.

But thank you for trying. Sorry to hear you were frustrated.