Slaying the Comodo Dragon
Friedrich
As I am trying to get everything together for a product release I broke down
and purchased a security certificate from Comodo. This is without question
one of the most frustrating experiences I have had in some time. The
problem is that before or during the purchase process they do not tell you
what the rules are before you start or the things you have to know before
you get there. After a dozen or more emails to tech support, eight tech
support representatives and over four hours on the phone and having them
reissue the certificate four times, we finally got it working.
There are several absolutes they don't tell you about. I will go over some
of these to help you prevent the problems I went through.
When you go through your application process it asks for company name,
organization or personal name. After the purchase is made (and you can't go
back and change your mind.) it then tells you that you have to provide
corporate documents such as the articles of incorporation, Business
licenses, Tax statements and the like. You have to send more than one form
of business identification to have the process completed and have the
certificate issued. If however you selected to purchase as an individual
you only have to send them a drivers license or a passport to prove who you
are. As I am trying to get this project off the ground I gave them the name
we will be marketing under which at the moment has no paperwork to show its
existence. So I was stuck. After more calls and emails they agreed to
reissue under my name and we were off and running again, or so I think.
I download the certificate and it installs. I then fire off Setup Builder
and go to put in the information... Hmmm Setup Builder is asking for files
and keys I don't have, all I have is the certification file. Back to
Comodo. Tech support tells me I screwed up and did not put in the location
or name for the files. I tell them it never asked. They tell me I am wrong
and ask what browser I am using. I tell them Firefox and they say oh, that's
it, we don't support Firefox, to which I ask why did you not have that on
your web site before I did that. Another reissue using IE 7, with the guy
on the phone we get to the screen and once again there is no place to enter
a file name or path. He tells me I can't be right so I read him the screen.
He asks what OS I am using and I tell him Vista. Ahhh, that's it, we don't
support Vista to download the certificates... (So I ask myself, Self, why am
I buying this thing other than Vista?) Anyways, they inform me that I can't
use Vista to download it, so we start all over again using an XP computer
with IE and sure enough the field is there that I need. I download it and
they can't tell me if I can, or how to export it to the computer I do my
development on. I get it , export it, move it to the development computer
and import it. It finally worked and I have the files I need. Only took 3
days and a bunch of time.
Bottom Line is..
1.. Make sure you have bunches of documentation you can fax to them about
your business or select purchasing a certificate as an individual.
2.. Don't try to download the certificate on anything other than IE and
only on the computer that you used to make the purchase. Comodo does not
support Firefox or any other browser.
3.. Don't try to download it on to a Vista computer because Comodo does
not support Vista downloads for the certificates you are purchasing for use
on Vista.
This could have been made a bunch easier if they published on there web site
up front what you needed to purchase and download the certificates before
you started. I particularly liked the tech support rep that asked me to
hang up and put in another support ticket on the web site because he did not
have a clue and maybe someone who had the solution could answer the ticket.
Once installed it works great but that is only because Setup Builder takes
all the work out of doing the updates and managing the certificate stuff.
What a weekend.
Bob Healy
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