Personal Certificate Client Installation
The Personal Certificate Client (PCC) can be installed on Windows or macOS.
The following sections provide separate installation instructions for these Operating Systems:
Installing the PCC on Windows
On Microsoft Windows Operating Systems, the PCC is installed via an application that is implemented as a MSI file.
The following sections are important if you want to install the PCC on Windows:
- Two Editions – Consumer & Corporate
- Installing Both Editions on the Same Machine
- Manually Installing the Corporate Edition
Two Editions – Consumer & Corporate
The downloads in this section are for SaaS customers only. Because on-premises customers use their own servers, they must ask our Support Team to send them PCC Installers that are customized for their environments.
The PCC was updated to version 2.1.0 in Production environments on 21 October 2023.
OneSpan Sign provides two alternative editions for Windows Operating Systems:
-
Consumer Edition — To download and install this MSI file, click MSI file for the PCC 2.1 Consumer Edition.
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Corporate Edition — To download and install this MSI file, click MSI file for the PCC 2.1 Corporate Edition.
The binaries installed by these two editions are identical.
However, the following table describes several ways in which the two editions differ.
| Consumer Edition | Corporate Edition | |
|---|---|---|
| Distribution | Your signers will be prompted to download and install the latest PCC version. If the PCC is not on the end-user's machine, or if it is using an older version, a web page will appear suggesting that the end-user download the minimum version required by the server. | Your administrator is responsible for installing the PCC on the end-user's machines, using the provided MSI installers. The recommended way to do this is through MS Group Policies. |
| Required User Access Rights | Any user can install the PCC. | Only a member of the Local Administrators or Domain Administrators group can install the PCC. |
| Availability | The installation is available only to the user account employed to install it. If more than one person is using the same machine, each person must install the PCC. | The installation is available to all user accounts. |
| Updates | If the webpage detects that the version of the local copy of the PCC is lower than the one available on the server, it suggests that the end-user download the new version and update the local copy. | The customer is responsible for updating the local machines. The recommended way to do this is through MS Group Policies. |
| Binaries Location | The binaries are in the following directory: %LOCALAPPDATA%\OneSpan\OneSpan Personal Certificate Client\ |
The binaries are in the following directory:
%ProgramFiles(x86)%\OneSpan\OneSpan Personal Certificate Client\ |
| Startup | The PCC automatically starts during logon via the following registry setting: HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\eSLCertSign | The PCC automatically starts during logon via the following registry setting: HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\eSLCertSign |
Installing Both Editions on the Same Machine
The PCC is not designed to have both of its Windows editions installed on the same machine.
If you try to install the Consumer Edition over an existing Corporate Edition, then: (1) the Installer will display a message indicating that the Corporate Edition is already installed; (2) the Installer will exit.
If you install the Corporate Edition over an existing Consumer Edition, the system will subsequently use the Corporate Edition. In this situation, it's best to uninstall the Consumer Edition.
A Consumer Edition can be uninstalled only by the user who installed it. For example, if an Admin installs the Corporate Edition on a machine that has a Consumer Edition which was installed by another user, only that user can uninstall the Consumer Edition.
Manually Installing the Corporate Edition
The recommended way of installing the Corporate Edition is via MS Group Policies.
However, it's also possible to install the Corporate Edition manually via the following procedure.
To install the Corporate Edition manually:
- Copy the installation file “onespanpersonalcertificateclientcorporate-x.x.x.msi“ to your local machine (e.g., in c:\temp).
-
Start the command prompt in elevated mode — i.e., right-click the Command Prompt icon, and select Run as Administrator.
The Installer must be run with elevated privileges.
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Go to the directory into which Step 1’s MSI file was copied (e.g., type cd c:\temp).
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Execute the following command:
msiexec /i onespanpersonalcertificateclientcorporate-x.x.x.msi
Installing the PCC on MacOS
Due to FIPS requirements, macOS editions of the Personal Certificate Client are not currently supported for signing activities within a FedRAMP environment.
On macOS Operating Systems, the installer for the Personal Certificate Client (PCC) is distributed as a *.pkg file.
The following sections are important if you want to install the PCC on macOS:
One Edition
The PCC has two editions for Windows, but only one edition for macOS.
The macOS edition is installed via a *.pkg file. To download that file, click here.
PCC 2.0.1 was updated to PCC 2.1 in Production environments on 21 October, 2023. If you continue to need a legacy version of the PCC, you can download it by clicking here.
The following table describes some attributes of the macOS edition.
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| Distribution |
If the PCC is not on the end-user’s machine, or if it is there only in a version that is lower than the one required by the server, the webpage automatically suggests that the end-user download the required version. |
| Required User Access Rights |
Any user except root can install the PCC. |
| Availability |
The installation is available only to the user account employed to install it. If more than one person is using the same machine, each person must install the PCC. |
| Updates |
If the webpage detects that the version of the local copy of the PCC is lower than the one available on the server, it suggests that the end-user download the new version and update the local copy. |
| Binaries Location |
The application bundle is in the following directory: ~/Applications/OneSpan |
|
Startup |
The PCC automatically starts during logon via the launch agent with the following plist file: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.onespan.Personal-Certificate-Client.launchd.plist |
|
Preferences |
The PCC settings file plist is in the following location: ~/Library/Preferences/com.onespan.Personal-Certificate-Client.plist |
The edition of PCC for Mac doesn't have an official name. However, log messages call it the Standard Edition. Log messages also use this name for the Consumer Edition of PCC for Windows.
GUI Installation
The recommended way of installing the PCC on macOS is via a Graphical User Interface.
To install the PCC on macOS via a Graphical User Interface:
- Copy the installation file “OneSpanPersonalCertificateClient-x.x.x.pkg” to a suitable directory on your local machine (e.g., ~/Downloads).
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Double-click that installation file. An Installer starts, and a wizard appears.
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Interact with the wizard’s sequence of dialog boxes until you’ve completed the installation.
Command-Line Installation
Although we recommend installing the PCC on macOS via a Graphical User Interface, you can use the following procedure to perform the installation via a Command-Line Interface.
Do not use “sudo” against this command-line installation.
To install the PCC on macOS via a Command-Line Interface:
- Copy the installation file “OneSpanPersonalCertificateClient-x.x.x.pkg” to a suitable directory on your local machine (e.g., ~/Downloads).
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Access a Command-Line Interface by running the Terminal program (it’s in the Utilities sub-folder of your Applications directory).
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Move to the directory where you copied the installation file in Step 1 (e.g., ~/Downloads).
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Execute the following command:
installer -pkg ./OneSpanPersonalCertificateClient-x.x.x.pkg -target CurrentUserHomeDirectory
Troubleshooting
The following problems might arise when the PCC is being installed on macOS:
Disabled Continue Button
This problem is a known bug in the 11.x.x (Big Sur) and lower versions of macOS.
Problem
While the Install for me only option is selected, the Continue button is disabled on the Select a Destination screen.
Solution
Manually select Install for me only again.
Prompt for Admin Credentials
Problem
During the installation, you are unexpectedly prompted to provide administrator credentials.
Solution
Perform one of the following actions:
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As requested, provide administrator credentials.
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If you can't access administrator credentials, or you don't wish to provide them, cancel the prompt, and restart the Installer. During the new installation process, if the screen Select a Destination does not appear, on the screen Installation Type click the button Change Install Location.