# "ServerCertificate" key not set by mender-convert --server-cert **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Tags:** mender-convert\ **Created:** [September 17, 2019, 10:46am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/servercertificate-key-not-set-by-mender-convert-server-cert/1030 "2019-09-17T10:46:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gswebspace](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/gswebspace/32/359_2.png) [@gswebspace](https://hub.mender.io/u/gswebspace)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 10:46am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/servercertificate-key-not-set-by-mender-convert-server-cert/1030/1 "2019-09-17T10:46:47Z")
Hi, I have been following [this guide](https://docs.mender.io/2.1/administration/production-installation) to setup the (production equivalent of ) mender server. All went well and I had used freshly prepared self signed certificates for the server (as mentioned in the docs) and also prepared a RPi 3B device by converting 2019-04-08-raspbian-stretch-lite.img via mender-convert 1.1.1 branch. Command used - > ./docker-mender-convert from-raw-disk-image > –raw-disk-image $RAW\_DISK\_IMAGE > –mender-disk-image $MENDER\_DISK\_IMAGE > –device-type $DEVICE\_TYPE > –artifact-name $ARTIFACT\_NAME > –bootloader-toolchain arm-buildroot-linux-gnueabihf > –server-url $SERVER\_URL > –server-cert $SERVER\_CERT Although the option --server-cert successfully copied the generated server.crt file to the final sdimg, the “/etc/mender/mender.conf” did not contain the “ServerCertificate” key, and thus the copied certificate was not being used while the client tried to communicate to the server. Ofcourse, I had no idea why I was still getting SSL errors (via journalctl -u mender) as the following documentations did not provide any hint that the mender.conf had to be updated with “ServerCertificate” key - > **[Production installation | Mender documentation](https://docs.mender.io/2.1/administration/production-installation)** > [@Raspberry Pi 3 Model B/B+ Raspbian](https://hub.mender.io/t/raspberry-pi-3-model-b-b-raspbian/140): > > Board description The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B/B+ is a popular single board computer based on Broadcom SoCs. It is the most powerful board within the Raspberry Pi family and probably the most popular with “makers”. [770A5842-462x322] URL: [https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b-plus](https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b-plus?target=_blank) URL: [https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b](https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b?target=_blank) Wiki: [https://elinux.org/RPi\_Hub](https://elinux.org/RPi_Hub?target=_blank)Test results The Raspberry Pi OS releases in the table below have been tested by the Mender c… Only when I found out the Installation note [here](https://github.com/mendersoftware/mender/blob/master/README.md) the client finally worked. Note: A lot of time was wasted, even after following the guide. So here are my two humble requests - A) Can the mender-convert utility also add the “ServerCertificate” key to “/etc/mender/mender.conf” when “–server-cert” is specified as a command line option ? B) Can the documentation be updated to point out that “ServerCertificate” needs to be set in the client in case of self-signed certificates. This will help people who are new to mender to easily try out mender. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![mirzak](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/mirzak/32/2056_2.png) [@mirzak](https://hub.mender.io/u/mirzak)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 10:52am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/servercertificate-key-not-set-by-mender-convert-server-cert/1030/2 "2019-09-17T10:52:27Z")
Thank you for your feedback @gswebspace. > A) Can the mender-convert utility also add the “ServerCertificate” key to “/etc/mender/mender.conf” when “–server-cert” is specified as a command line option ? This was actually a bug. The `--server-cert` should add the file and add the entry to `/etc/mender/mender.conf. But this should have been resolved already. I will investigate why you came across this using the linked tutorial. > B) Can the documentation be updated to point out that “ServerCertificate” needs to be set in the client in case of self-signed certificates. So in the `mender-convert` case, this should have been handled already by tool. But will look in to this ---
**Author:** ![gswebspace](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/gswebspace/32/359_2.png) [@gswebspace](https://hub.mender.io/u/gswebspace)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 11:04am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/servercertificate-key-not-set-by-mender-convert-server-cert/1030/3 "2019-09-17T11:04:42Z")
Looking at the 1.1.1 code for mender-convert, it seems jq\_inplace was never called [here](https://github.com/mendersoftware/mender-convert/blob/6e42157727e86566e32b9bfaf047f24fe6cbb1e6/convert-stage-4.sh#L191). Hope this helps ! Thanks for your quick reply! ---
**Author:** ![mirzak](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/mirzak/32/2056_2.png) [@mirzak](https://hub.mender.io/u/mirzak)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 11:07am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/servercertificate-key-not-set-by-mender-convert-server-cert/1030/4 "2019-09-17T11:07:50Z")
But the linked tutorial, > [@Raspberry Pi 3 Model B/B+ Raspbian](https://hub.mender.io/t/raspberry-pi-3-model-b-b-raspbian/140): > > Board description The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B/B+ is a popular single board computer based on Broadcom SoCs. It is the most powerful board within the Raspberry Pi family and probably the most popular with “makers”. [770A5842-462x322] URL: [https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b-plus](https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b-plus?target=_blank) URL: [https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b](https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b?target=_blank) Wiki: [https://elinux.org/RPi\_Hub](https://elinux.org/RPi_Hub?target=_blank)Test results The Raspberry Pi OS releases in the table below have been tested by the Mender c… is using `1.2.x` branch. So that explains the problems you where having if you are using `1.1.1`, where this bug was present. I would recommend you to update to 1.2.x Edit: 1.1.x should also work as it contains the [fix](https://github.com/mendersoftware/mender-convert/commit/260062ea1b29f12fd1c473f62323c60babc50733) ---
**Author:** ![gswebspace](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/gswebspace/32/359_2.png) [@gswebspace](https://hub.mender.io/u/gswebspace)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 11:22am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/servercertificate-key-not-set-by-mender-convert-server-cert/1030/5 "2019-09-17T11:22:13Z")
I had to switch to 1.1.1 because I was facing (the known) HDMI yellow overlay issue while using the buster-lite image and then stretch-lite image with probably unsupported changes to the Rpi system. I’ll try again with stretch-lite and 1.2.x. Will update this thread if I get stuck. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![gswebspace](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/gswebspace/32/359_2.png) [@gswebspace](https://hub.mender.io/u/gswebspace)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 5:13am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/servercertificate-key-not-set-by-mender-convert-server-cert/1030/6 "2019-09-18T05:13:01Z")
mender-convert branch 1.2.x worked with raspbian stretch lite 👍