Microsoft ADCS - Infisical

Issue and manage certificates using Microsoft Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) over the Windows Client Certificate Enrollment protocol (MS-WCCE). Requests are relayed through an Infisical Gateway that runs inside your network, so the AD CS server is never exposed to Infisical.

Prerequisites

Before setting up a Microsoft ADCS certificate authority, configure a Microsoft ADCS app connection. It covers the AD CS server, the Infisical Gateway (including the network and port requirements), and the domain account used for enrollment. You can use AD CS in a few ways: as an External CA that issues certificates directly, to back a code signing signer, or to sign internal intermediate CAs so you can build an Infisical-managed CA hierarchy backed by your AD CS server. In every case the certificate template is chosen by the issuance flow (profile, signer, or intermediate CA), not by the CA itself.

The certificate authority name is discovered automatically from the CA host. Provide it explicitly only when discovery cannot run in your environment.

External CA
Code Signing Signers
Signing Internal Intermediate CAs

Navigate to External Certificate Authorities

In Certificate Manager, go to Certificate Authorities and scroll to the External Certificate Authorities section.

Create a New Microsoft ADCS Certificate Authority

Click Create CA and configure:

Type: Choose Microsoft ADCS
Name: Friendly name for this CA (for example, production-adcs)
Microsoft ADCS Connection: Choose your Microsoft ADCS connection
Certificate Authority: Optional. Leave blank to discover it automatically from the CA host.

Create a Certificate Profile

Go to Certificate Manager → Certificate Profiles and create a new profile:

Certificate Authority: Select your ADCS CA
Certificate Template: Select from the templates published on your CA
Configure the default certificate attributes (TTL, key algorithm, and so on)

Create an Application and Configure Enrollment

Go to Certificate Manager → Applications and create an Application:

Attach the profile you created
Configure an enrollment method (API, ACME, EST, or SCEP)
Assign the members who need to issue certificates

Issue a Certificate

In your Application, go to the Certificate Requests tab and click Request:

Select the profile linked to your ADCS CA
Fill in the certificate details (common name, SANs, TTL)
Click Submit

The request is relayed through the Gateway to AD CS and issued using the profile’s template.

Certificate Templates

Infisical retrieves the templates published on your CA in real time, so a profile can only reference a template that exists and is reachable. The template lives on the issuance flow (the profile), not on the CA.Before using a template, verify the following in AD CS:

Enroll permission: The domain account you configured in the ADCS connection must have Enroll permission on the template.
Subject name: The template’s subject name policy must be compatible with the certificates you plan to request (required fields, allowed patterns, and so on).
Key usage: The template’s key usage and extended key usage must match what you need (for example, Server Authentication for TLS certificates).

You can use AD CS to sign internal intermediate CAs in Infisical. This lets you build an Infisical-managed CA hierarchy where the intermediate CA’s certificate is issued by your AD CS server, with support for auto-renewal. Infisical generates the CSR, relays it to AD CS through the Gateway using the configured template, and imports the signed certificate and chain.

The certificate template must allow “Supply in the request” for subject information so that the CSR’s subject fields are honored. A subordinate CA template (for example, SubCA) is the typical choice.

Installing an Intermediate CA Certificate via AD CS

Infisical UI
API

Create an Intermediate CA

Go to Certificate Authorities → Internal Certificate Authorities and press Create CA. Set the type to Intermediate and fill out the CA details.

Open the Install Certificate Modal

Press Install CA Certificate on the intermediate CA, select External CA (Automated), and press Choose Integration.

Select Microsoft ADCS

Choose Microsoft ADCS as the integration provider.

Configure Signing Details

Configure the following:

Microsoft ADCS Connection: Select your Microsoft ADCS connection.
Certificate Template: The subordinate CA template name (for example, SubCA).
Path Length: Max intermediate CAs below this one (-1 for no limit, 0 to prevent chaining).

Install

Press Install. The request is queued and processed asynchronously.

Create a Signing Configuration

Request

curl --location --request POST 'https://app.infisical.com/api/v1/cert-manager/ca/internal/<ca-id>/signing-config' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <access-token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
      "type": "adcs",
      "appConnectionId": "<adcs-connection-id>",
      "destinationConfig": {
          "template": "SubCA"
      }
  }'

Install the Certificate

Request

curl --location --request POST 'https://app.infisical.com/api/v1/cert-manager/ca/internal/<ca-id>/install-certificate-microsoft-adcs' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <access-token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
      "maxPathLength": -1
  }'

Returns HTTP 202. Poll the CA details endpoint to check when the certificate has been installed.

Auto-Renewal

Infisical supports automatic renewal of intermediate CA certificates signed by AD CS. When enabled, Infisical submits a fresh CSR to AD CS through the Gateway and imports the renewed certificate before the current one expires.

Infisical UI
API

Navigate to the CA details page of your AD CS-signed intermediate CA. Click the edit (pencil) icon in the Details section to open the renewal settings.Toggle Auto-Renewal on and set the Days Before Expiry to configure when the renewal should be triggered.

Request

curl --location --request PATCH 'https://app.infisical.com/api/v1/cert-manager/ca/internal/<ca-id>/auto-renewal' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <access-token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
      "autoRenewalEnabled": true,
      "autoRenewalDaysBeforeExpiry": 7
  }'

autoRenewalDaysBeforeExpiry must be less than the certificate’s TTL and at most 30 days
Auto-renewal is only available for CAs with an external signing configuration

Limitations

Templates that require manual approval or are held by CA policy are not supported. Requests are issued immediately.
Authentication uses NTLM. Kerberos is not yet supported.

Troubleshooting

The requested certificate template is not supported

The CA rejected the request with CERTSRV_E_UNSUPPORTED_CERT_TYPE. The template is either not published on the CA or the name is wrong. Confirm the template is published (certutil -CATemplates) and that the name matches exactly.

Enroll permission denied

The connection account does not have Enroll permission on the requested template. Grant Enroll to the account on the template’s security settings.

The certificate authority name could not be discovered

Discovery reads the CA name from the host’s registry over the network, which requires the Remote Registry service to be running and reachable from the Gateway. If it cannot run, set the certificate authority name explicitly on the external CA.

Signer rejected: missing Code Signing extended key usage

The template used for a code signing signer does not produce a code-signing certificate. Point the signer at a template that carries the Code Signing extended key usage.

Gateway connectivity issues

Verify the Gateway can reach the AD CS host over DCOM (MS-WCCE) and that the domain account credentials are correct.

​Prerequisites

​Certificate Templates

​Installing an Intermediate CA Certificate via AD CS

​Auto-Renewal

​Limitations

​Troubleshooting

Prerequisites

Certificate Templates

Installing an Intermediate CA Certificate via AD CS

Auto-Renewal

Limitations

Troubleshooting