Patent ID: 8638941

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, by a first network device, a request from a second network device to establish a first secure connection with the second network device; determining, by the first network device, that a data store coupled to the first network device does not store a public key of the second network device; creating, by the first network device, a second secure connection with the second network device using a known port in response to determining that the data store does not store the public key of the second network device; requesting, by the first network device, a certificate from the second network device using the second secure connection prior to an expiration of a predetermined timeout period; in response to the request, receiving, by the first network device, the certificate from the second network device using the second secure connection; receiving, by the first network device, a request to send the certificate of the second network device from a server system; sending, by the first network device, the certificate of the second network device to the server system; in response to the server system receiving the certificate of the second network device, receiving, by the first network device, the public key of the second network device from the server system; establishing, by the first network device, the first secure connection with the second network device using the public key; and closing the second secure connection with the second network device in response to establishing the first secure connection.