Tools · Identity defense · 19 / 25
AD CS: the serial number is not the request id
On an issued certificate, the serial number identifies that certificate. The request id identifies the CA request. Write both. Do not look up one with the other number.
Two numbers, two lookups
An issued-certificate row can show a request id and a serial number. The request id is the CA’s number for the request. The serial is the number on the certificate. They are printed near each other and they are not interchangeable.
A revocation list, a file’s certificate details, and a later export will speak in serials. The request queue speaks in request ids. Using the wrong number returns a different row, or no row.
Stop at the pair
This page does not describe how to request a certificate or how to present one. The pair is for reading. Quote the serial when you mean the certificate, and the request id when you mean the request. If one of them is missing from the paste, write that it is missing. Do not copy the number you do have into the empty field.
What to file
File the request id, the serial, the template name if it is on the row, and which view you copied from. Say which number you would hand to a revocation check and which you would hand to the request queue. Do not file a single unlabeled integer.
Worked case: request 310 read as the serial
The lab CA’s issued view shows request 310 and serial 4a00 for template LabVpn. A draft tells a teammate to find serial 310 on a workstation. The workstation certificate details show 4a00, so the teammate reports that the certificate is not the one in the ticket.
The note labels 310 as the request id and 4a00 as the serial. The workstation details match the serial. The draft’s search used the request id in the serial field. The certificate was not missing.
view: issued certificates request id: 310 serial: 4a00 template: LabVpn workstation certificate serial: 4a00 write: 310 is the request, 4a00 is the certificate not: serial 310
Diagram
Which number goes where
Label the integer before you search with it.
- Request id
The CA’s number for the request. Use it on the request queue.
- Serial
The number on the certificate. Use it when a file or a revocation list names a certificate.
- A paste with one number
Say which field it came from. Do not fill the other field.
- A mismatch
Often the two numbers were swapped, not proof the certificate is absent.
Check yourself
1. A row shows request 310 and serial 4a00. Which number is on the certificate?
2. A workstation shows serial 4a00 and the ticket searched for serial 310. What went wrong?
3. The paste shows a request id and no serial. What do you write for the serial?