Many users have experienced the following message while working with signed PDF documents or PDFs over a secure connection:

SSL Error!!!. Please install the CA Certificate(s) for SSL communication.
If certificate resides on local disk, try "acroread -installCertificate [-PEM|-DER] [pathname]" on the command line.
If certificate resides on the server, try "acroread -installCertificate <secure_website_URL> <port-number>" on command line.
SSL Error!!!. Please install the CA Certificate(s) for SSL communication.


The message implies that the Adobe Reader could not validate the SSL certificate presented by the website, using the resources available to it. Appropriate CA (Certificate Authority) certificate(s) were not accessible to the Reader. For further technical details, we suggest a search for these terms on the internet – ‘Certificate Authority’, ‘SSL’ and ‘Public Key Infrastructure’.

We suggest the following workaround in order to install the missing CA certificate(s). Please note that you would need a Windows machine in order for this workaround to work. The steps mentioned below for a Linux system, will also work on a Solaris system.

Steps:

Steps 1-3 need to be performed on a Linux machine.

1. In a terminal, run this command replacing the appropriate fields below from the error message:
   acroread -installCertificate <secure_website_URL> <port-number>
   (This command is suggested by the Reader in the error dialog and on the console.)
2. Type y to accept and install it.
3. Run the following command in the terminal:
   ls –lrt ~/.adobe/Acrobat/9.0/Cert/
   Save a copy of the file with most recent timestamp (the last one) with .cer extension. (Example: cp 78e12f48.0 78e12f48.0.cer)
4. Transfer the .cer file from the Linux machine to a Windows machine.

Steps 5-8 need to be performed on a Windows machine.
5. Double click on the .cer file. In the dialog that comes, select the Certification path tab. It displays all the CA-s up to root in hierarchical order, similar to the graphic shown below:
   
   If you see: "Windows does not have enough information to verify this Certificate" then follow these steps, else move on to step 6.
   1. Open https://<secure_webpage_URL> in a browser (IE 6+)
   2. Accept the certificate presented by the website
   3. Once the secure page opens a lock icon will appear in the status bar (Bottom right) or beside the Address Bar (in IE7)
   4. Click on it to view the certificate. You should now see all the CA-s up to root in hierarchical order, similar to the graphic shown above
6. Double click on the first item in the path. In the dialog that comes, select the “Details” tab.
7. Click on “Copy to File…” button, the certificate export wizard will start. Click Next. When asked to choose the format you want to use, select DER. Specify a file name for the certificate and press the Next button. Click on the finish button. A dialog saying “The export was successful” will appear.
8. Repeat step 5 and 6 for all the items in the hierarchy in the Certification path tab.
9. Copy all the .cer files you just created to your Linux machine.

Steps 10-11 needs to be performed on a Linux machine.
10. Import each of these certificates in Adobe Reader on Linux using the command:
    acroread –installCertificate –DER <complete_path_to_cer_file_copied_from_windows>
11. Exit all instances of the Adobe Reader (or Browser, if you had opened it in the Browser) and re-launch the Reader (… or Browser) to view the file again. Your problem should be gone now.

Posted by Gaurav Jain at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We're pleased to announce the availability of the latest version of Adobe Reader (9.1) through APT. Adobe Reader is now hosted on the Canonical Partner Repositories, and can be installed seamlessly using the 'apt-get' command. Please refer the detailed steps below.

1. Add Canonical Partner Repositories (one-time only)
   This section describes how to manage software repositories in Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron), Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex), and Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope).
   
   • Via the Command Line
     Software sources can be managed by making direct modifications to the /etc/apt/sources.list file using the command line. However, we recommend using the GUI-based repository management (detailed below). If you prefer to use the command line instead of graphical user interface, see Managing Repositories from the Command Line instead.
   • Via the Graphical User Interface
     
     1. Locate the Software Sources panel
        GUI-based repository management is normally accomplished via the "Software Sources" panel. This panel can be accessed via two menus:
        
        • Software Sources: System > Administration > Software Sources
        • Synaptic: System > Administration > Synaptic >> Settings >> Repositories
        Note: You will have to enter your password to gain access to the page.
        
        Software Sources Menu item through the GUI
        
        
     2. Switch to the Third-party Software Tab
        The "Third-Party Software" tab is where you will be able to add the Canonical Partner Repositories.
        
     3. Enable the Application Partner Repositories entry
        You will see two Canonical Partner repositories listed - one for applications and another for source code (src). Adobe Reader is hosted on the application repository (the first entry) - if this is not enabled on your system, enable the entry and select "Close".
        
     4. Update the Database
        If you made changes in the previous step, you should be prompted to "Close", "Reload" or "Revert" the changes. Select "Reload" to update the database.
        
        
2. Install Adobe Reader
   To get the latest version of Adobe Reader for Linux, simply type the following command on the terminal:
   apt-get install acroread

Posted by Gaurav Jain at 4:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Adobe Reader 9.1 for Linux and Solaris provides a tabbed document interface - multiple documents are contained in a single application window, with tabs to navigate between them. Here is some useful information on using tabs in Adobe Reader 9.1.

Switching Modes
By default, documents are opened in tabs. You can switch to the Single Document Interface (SDI) mode as follows.

1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Documents
2. Uncheck Open documents in tabs (requires restart) in Open settings and restart Reader to open PDFs in separate windows.

Feature List
The tabbed interface provides features to allow easier and better organization of the documents you are viewing.

• Rearrange tabs
  To rearrange the tabs in a window, click and drag the tab to its new position. (Note: This feature is supported on distributions with Gtk+ version 2.10 or higher.)
• Create new window from a tab
  Do one of the following:
  
  • You can move out a tab to create a new window. Click and drag the tab out of the current window. (Note: This feature is supported on distributions with Gtk+ version 2.10 or higher.)
  • Right-click the tab, and choose Detach Tab.
• Move tab to a different window
  To move a tab to a different reader window, click and drag the tab from its original window into the destination window. (Note: This feature is supported on distributions with Gtk+ version 2.10 or higher.)
• Duplicate tab
  To open the same document in a new tab in the same window, right click the tab, and choose Duplicate Tab.
• Close tab
  Do one of the following:
  
  • Click the [x] icon in the tab.
  • Right-click the tab, and choose Close Tab.
• Close Other Tabs
  Right-click the tab, and choose Close Other Tabs.
• Close Tabs to the Left
  Right-click the tab, and choose Close Tabs to the Left.
• Close Tabs to the Right
  Right-click the tab, and choose Close Tabs to the Right.

Configurable Settings
You can change some of the preferences associated with tabs using the Preferences dialog box. The preferences settings control how the application behaves whenever you use it; they are not associated with any particular PDF document.

Choose Edit > Preferences > Documents and edit the preferences in Tab settings section.

• Show tabs at
  
  • Top Show tabs at the top below the menu bar.
  • Bottom Show tabs at the bottom of Reader window.
• Show thumbnails on tab hover Determines whether page thumbnails are shown on hovering over the tabs. If this option is not selected, filename/title of the PDF will be shown.
• Open new tab next to active tab Specifies whether to open a new tab next to the active tab or at the end.
• When closing a tab, switch to last active tab Determines whether the last active tab comes into focus on closing a tab. If this option is not selected, the previous tab will come into focus.
• Warn when closing multiple tabs Enables warning dialog that would appear when you close a window with multiple tabs.

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Switch to next tab: Ctrl+Tab, Ctrl+Page Down
• Switch to previous tab: Ctrl+Shift+Tab, Ctrl+Page Up
• Switch to tab (first 9): Alt+1...9

Posted by Gaurav Jain at 5:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We're pleased to announce that Adobe Reader 9.1 for Linux is now available through YUM. Refer this post for information on how to install using YUM. This release is for English, French, German and Japanese languages.

Also, Adobe Reader 8.1.4 has been released for various other languages, and the YUM update is available for these as well.

Posted by Gaurav Jain at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)