From a3f31f97066741de6099680cf192cef8d677849c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Carl Tashian Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2026 17:36:33 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Clarify linked CA requires Step CA Pro Update documentation to clarify that linked CA functionality is now available exclusively through Step CA Pro, not open-source step-ca. Related PRs: - smallstep/certificates#2554 - smallstep/cli#1559 PRO-331 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 --- certificate-manager/how-it-works.mdx | 4 ++-- tutorials/acme-protocol-acme-clients.mdx | 4 ++-- tutorials/kubernetes-acme-ca.mdx | 4 ++-- 3 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) diff --git a/certificate-manager/how-it-works.mdx b/certificate-manager/how-it-works.mdx index aa5c1b98..fde53666 100644 --- a/certificate-manager/how-it-works.mdx +++ b/certificate-manager/how-it-works.mdx @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ --- -updated_at: January 28, 2026 +updated_at: January 29, 2026 title: Smallstep Certificate Manager How It Works html_title: Certificate Manager Architecture Guide description: Technical architecture of Certificate Manager. Understand components, workflows, and security model for enterprise PKI deployment planning. @@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ sudo REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE=$(step path)/certs/root_ca.crt \ ACME works almost anywhere and is especially useful for issuing certificates to web servers for use with TLS. To issue certificates for internal names that aren't in public DNS the ACME server does need access to local DNS. It's common -to use a linked CA or a network-local RA. Reference the +to use a network-local RA (or a linked CA via [Step CA Pro](https://smallstep.com/product/step-ca-pro/)). Reference the [Certificate Manager docs](./acme/README.mdx) for more details. # Next steps diff --git a/tutorials/acme-protocol-acme-clients.mdx b/tutorials/acme-protocol-acme-clients.mdx index c50d5969..1e3aaa32 100644 --- a/tutorials/acme-protocol-acme-clients.mdx +++ b/tutorials/acme-protocol-acme-clients.mdx @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ --- -updated_at: January 20, 2026 +updated_at: January 29, 2026 title: Configure popular ACME clients to use a private CA with the ACME protocol html_title: Configure ACME Clients with step-ca Tutorial description: Configure popular ACME clients with step-ca. Support for Certbot, acme.sh, and other ACME implementations for automated certificate management. @@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ If you run into any issues, please let us know [in GitHub Discussions][gh-discus ## Requirements - **Open source -** For `step-ca`, this tutorial assumes you have initialized and started up an instance using the steps in [Getting Started](../step-ca/getting-started.mdx). Additionally, you'll need to configure your CA with an ACME provisioner. Run `step ca provisioner add acme --type ACME`, and restart your CA. -- **[Smallstep Certificate Manager](../certificate-manager/acme/README.mdx) -** this tutorial assumes you have [created a hosted or linked authority](../certificate-manager/getting-started.mdx) and are running a local [ACME Registration Authority](../registration-authorities/acme-for-certificate-manager.mdx). +- **[Smallstep Certificate Manager](../certificate-manager/acme/README.mdx) -** this tutorial assumes you have [created a hosted authority](../certificate-manager/getting-started.mdx) (or a linked authority via [Step CA Pro](https://smallstep.com/product/step-ca-pro/)) and are running a local [ACME Registration Authority](../registration-authorities/acme-for-certificate-manager.mdx). ## Overview diff --git a/tutorials/kubernetes-acme-ca.mdx b/tutorials/kubernetes-acme-ca.mdx index a149d200..5abf1e35 100644 --- a/tutorials/kubernetes-acme-ca.mdx +++ b/tutorials/kubernetes-acme-ca.mdx @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ --- -updated_at: September 17, 2025 +updated_at: January 29, 2026 title: Integrate Kubernetes cert-manager with an internal ACME CA html_title: Kubernetes ACME CA Integration Tutorial description: Deploy ACME-enabled CA in Kubernetes clusters. Automate certificate management with native Kubernetes integration and step-ca. @@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ using cert-manager's [ACME issuer](https://cert-manager.io/docs/configuration/ac ## Requirements - **Open source -** You have initialized and started up a `step-ca` ACME instance using the steps in [our ACME server tutorial](../step-ca/acme-basics.mdx). -- **[Smallstep Certificate Manager](https://smallstep.com/certificate-manager) -** this tutorial assumes you have [created a hosted or linked authority](../certificate-manager/getting-started.mdx) and created an ACME provisioner with External Account Binding enabled. +- **[Smallstep Certificate Manager](https://smallstep.com/certificate-manager) -** this tutorial assumes you have [created a hosted authority](../certificate-manager/getting-started.mdx) (or a linked authority via [Step CA Pro](https://smallstep.com/product/step-ca-pro/)) and created an ACME provisioner with External Account Binding enabled. - You'll need the root certificate PEM file for your CA. ### 0. Before you begin