Certificate Services - Mac OS X

The following information is provided to assist you through the certificate installation process in the Apple Macintosh Operating Systems (Mac OS). You should only have to do this one time for each system you use.

How do I install the root certificate in Mac OS X?

These are the steps to install on the Macintosh operating systems. There are similar steps on other operating systems including Windows or Linux. You will need to be an administrator, since this certificate is stored in your Keychain, a standard part of Apple's Macintosh Operating System.

Mac OS 10.5 - 10.8 - Leopard, Snow Leopard. Lion, Mountain Lion

1. Download and save the certificate to your download folder, desktop or other location of your choice.
Root Certificate


2. Double-click the certificate to launch the Keychain Access application from your Utilities Folder.
3. Or launch Keychain Access manually. From the Go Menu, select Utilities, and locate your Keychain Access application in your Utilities Folder. Drag the certificate file onto the Keychain Access icon or double-click the certificate file.


4. Select the System keychains and drag the Root Certificate into the Keychain Access open window.


5. If you're asked to provide a name and password, type the name and password for an administrator user on this computer.
6. Double-click the certificate, identified as ad (for Active Directory).
7. Click the Trust Settings disclosure triangle to display the trust policies for the certificate.
8. Select new "Always trust" settings from the pop-up menus.


9. Repeat this process with the Microsoft_Intermediate_Certificates keychains and drag the Root Certificate into the Keychain Access open window.

Mac OS 10.3 Panther or Mac OS 10.4 Tiger

1. Download and save the certificate to your desktop (or other location of your choice).
Root Certificate


2. Open the Utilities folder in the applications folder on your computer and locate the Keychain Access application. You do not need to start keychain access.

3. Drag the root certificate to the Keychain Access application. Root certificates must be installed one at a time.
4. In the Add Certificates dialog box, click x509 anchors, and then click ok.

Mac OS 10.2 Jaguar

1. Download and save the base-64 certificate to your desktop (or other location of your choice).

Root Certificate in Base 64


2. Open the Utilities folder and launch Terminal, type the following:

$ cd ~/Desktop

$ cp /System/Library/Keychains/X509Anchors ~/Library/Keychains

$ certtool i k=X509Anchors

$ sudo cp ~/Library/Keychains/X509Anchors /System/Library/Keychains/

Enter the root password when prompted.

Let us know if you have any questions or have any problems.

More reading

Here are some links for additional reading.