Patent ID: 8291224

Claim:
A process for certificate management service between one or more client machines and a key management system across a network, the process comprising: registering an application on at least one of the client machines, the application using at least one cryptographic keystore element; installing a key management agent on the at least one client machine, the key management agent comprising a key management registration file that contains all appropriate cryptographic keystore elements for at least the application; starting the key management agent on the at least one client machine, wherein starting the key management agent on the at least one client machine includes: posting a request for at least the cryptographic keystore element used by the application to a centralized key management server associated with the key management system; after posting the request, polling the centralized key management server at a configurable interval to determine whether the cryptographic keystore element is available on the centralized key management server for download by the at least one client machine, the configurable interval being set by the centralized key management server upon access of the centralized key management server by the client machine; downloading the cryptographic keystore element from the centralized key management server to the client machine after the cryptographic keystore element becomes available on the centralized key management server for download by the at least one client machine; generating, at regularly intervals based on key validation periods, a renewal key request to the centralized key management server including a request for a renewal key for the client machine; after posting the renewal key request, polling the centralized key management server at the configurable interval to determine whether the renewal key is available on the centralized key management server for download by the client machine; and downloading the renewal key from the centralized key management server to the client machine.