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SSL Inspection CA Setup

Corporate networks often use SSL inspection for security. This requires installing a trusted certificate authority (CA) on your machine.

Why This Is Needed​

SSL inspection allows the corporate network to:

  • Monitor encrypted traffic for security threats
  • Enforce security policies
  • Prevent data exfiltration

Without the CA certificate installed, you'll see SSL errors when accessing external sites.

Obtain the CA Certificate​

Contact IT or your team lead to receive the open-ca.crt certificate file.

Installation​

macOS​

# Open Keychain Access
open /System/Applications/Utilities/Keychain\ Access.app

# Drag and drop open-ca.crt into "System" keychain
# Double-click the certificate
# Expand "Trust" section
# Set "When using this certificate" to "Always Trust"

Or via command line:

sudo security add-trusted-cert -d -r trustRoot -k /Library/Keychains/System.keychain open-ca.crt

Linux​

sudo cp open-ca.crt /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/
sudo update-ca-certificates

Configure Tools​

Python/UV​

export SSL_CERT_FILE=/path/to/open-ca.crt
export REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE=/path/to/open-ca.crt

Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc for persistence.

Node.js/npm​

npm config set cafile /path/to/open-ca.crt

Git​

git config --global http.sslCAInfo /path/to/open-ca.crt

Verify​

Test with curl:

curl https://www.google.com

Should complete without SSL errors.

Troubleshooting​

If you still see SSL errors:

  • Verify certificate is in correct keychain (System, not Login)
  • Restart your terminal/IDE
  • Check certificate expiration date
  • Contact IT support

Setup Complete! Return to Setup Introduction or check the FAQ.