Dienstag März 08, 2005
Just switch! - Secure document exchange with StarOffice 8
Today I want to talk about the new support for digital signatures in StarOffice 8. First I will explain how to install a certificate on Windows XP and Linux, and then I will sign a StarOffice 8 document.
Please keep in mind that StarOffice 8 is in beta status. Thus, you might still encounter a few bugs, but please take the time to report them via the support forums.
In addition, the following little introduction does not try to be a full blown tutorial, but I hope that novice users will at least be able to get started after having read it.
Many different organizations issue digital certificates. For example, many email providers allow to generate and export certificates. I got the one that I used for the "demo" below from the German email provider web.de.
On Windows XP one can install a new certificate by selecting it, bringing up the right-click menu and choosing the install option.
This brings up the Certificate Import Wizard that guides one through the installation process.
The certificate file needs to be confirmed.
The password for the private key needs to be typed in.
The certificate store needs to be defined.
One more click and the certificate is installed. On Windows XP one can take a look at the installed certificates by selecting "Start - Run ..." and typing in "mmc". This starts the Microsoft Management Console. Within the console one has to open the "certmgr.msc" file in the "\WINDOWS\system32" directory. The certificates are listed under "Personal - Certificates".
On Linux we use the Mozilla certificate store. Thus, in order to install a new certificate one has to bring up the "Options ..." or "Preferences" dialog.
Clicking on the button "Manage Certificates ..." calls the Certificate Manager.
In the Certificate Manager tool we have to click on the "Import" button. If we access the "Master Security Device" for the first time, we need to set an access password.
If it is not the first time, we are asked for the existing password.
Now we can open the certificate file ...
... and are asked for the private key password.
Once this is done we should see the following success message.
Now the certificate is imported and should show up in the Certificate Manager.
After that we open StarOffice 8, create a new document and save it under a name. The documents needs to be saved first, otherwise one gets an error message saying that the file needs to be saved first. Next we just go to "File - Digital signatures ..." to bring up the digital signatures dialog.
We click on "Add" and type in the password for the Master Security Device.
Now we can select the certificate ...
... and we're done.
As you can see, it is relatively easy to sign documents with StarOffice 8.
I might be a a bit quiet over the next few days due to my booth duty at the CeBIT fair, but next time I will take a look at the new CustomShapes in StarOffice 8. CustomShapes are similar to Microsoft's AutoShapes.
( Mrz 08 2005, 10:10:42 AM CET )
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