When dealing with wildcard SSL certificates in production environments, secure storage and management become critical operational concerns. Unlike regular certificates, wildcards carry higher security implications due to their broader coverage domain (*.yourdomain.com).

Storing certificates in source control (Git, Bitbucket, etc.) introduces significant security risks:

• Permanent exposure in commit history even after removal
• Potential leakage through repository forks or clones
• Difficulty in implementing proper access controls

Consider these industry-standard approaches:

// Example: Encrypted storage in AWS Parameter Store
aws ssm put-parameter \
    --name "/prod/certs/wildcard_keystore" \
    --value "$(cat wildcard.jks)" \
    --type SecureString \
    --key-id alias/prod-certs-key

For Java environments specifically:

• Store the JKS file in a dedicated secrets management system (Hashicorp Vault, Azure Key Vault)
• Implement automated rotation using tools like cert-manager
• Enforce strict filesystem permissions (600) when storing temporarily

While generating certificates on-demand seems attractive:

# Example: Auto-generating with OpenSSL
openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout wildcard.key \
  -x509 -days 365 -out wildcard.crt -subj "/CN=*.example.com"

Consider that:

• Repeated generation leads to different fingerprints
• Some services require certificate whitelisting
• Emergency access needs may arise when CA systems are unavailable

We implement this workflow:

1. Store the original PEM files in encrypted cloud storage
2. Keep JKS files in Vault with limited TTL
3. Automate deployment through CI/CD pipelines

Example Jenkins pipeline snippet:

pipeline {
    agent any
    stages {
        stage('Deploy Certs') {
            steps {
                withCredentials([file(credentialsId: 'wildcard-jks', 
                                  variable: 'KEYSTORE')]) {
                    sh '''
                    # Secure deployment to Tomcat
                    cp $KEYSTORE $CATALINA_HOME/conf/keystore.jks
                    chmod 600 $CATALINA_HOME/conf/keystore.jks
                    '''
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

When dealing with SSL certificates in production environments, one of the most common questions we face is how to properly store these sensitive cryptographic materials. Unlike regular configuration files, SSL certificates require special handling due to their security implications.

Let's examine the most prevalent approaches I've encountered in professional environments:

// Typical storage locations in practice:
1. Version Control Systems (Git, SVN)
2. Secure Configuration Management (Ansible Vault, Chef Data Bags)
3. Dedicated Secret Management (Hashicorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager)
4. Filesystem with Strict Permissions
5. Hardware Security Modules (HSMs)

While storing certificates in Git/BitBucket might seem convenient, it presents several issues:

• Certificate and private key exposure if repositories are compromised
• Difficulty in certificate rotation (revocation/renewal)
• History contamination (certificates remain in git history even after deletion)

For Java keystores specifically, here's a robust approach we implemented at a previous company:

// Sample Java code for programmatic certificate management
KeyStore ks = KeyStore.getInstance("PKCS12");
try (InputStream is = new FileInputStream("/secure/path/to/keystore.p12")) {
    ks.load(is, "changeit".toCharArray());
}

// Store in Hashicorp Vault
vault.logical().write("secret/ssl/domain.com",
    Collections.singletonMap("keystore", Base64.getEncoder()
    .encodeToString(Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get("keystore.p12")))));

Modern solutions like Let's Encrypt have changed the landscape. Consider this automation example:

# Certbot renewal hook for Java keystores
#!/bin/bash
openssl pkcs12 -export -in /etc/letsencrypt/live/domain.com/fullchain.pem \
    -inkey /etc/letsencrypt/live/domain.com/privkey.pem \
    -out /secure/keystore.p12 -passout pass:changeit \
    -name domain.com

If you must store certificates on filesystems:

• Set strict ownership (root:ssl-cert)
• Use 640 permissions (-rw-r-----)
• Implement audit logging for access
• Consider encrypted filesystems

Always maintain:

1. Current production certificates
2. Previous version (for rollback)
3. Next version (pre-staged for rotation)

Keep backups encrypted with strong passphrases, separate from regular system backups.