WebCopy 1.7 - tls/ssl invalid certificate handling
You should add an option to ignore checking for an SSL certificate.
The above quote is the last part of a piece of uninstallation feedback I received about WebCopy on Friday. This isn't the first time I've had an anonymous feedback about ignoring SSL errors and each time it has happened it has been frustrating and even bewildering as the option is already there and has been since 2013!
As a result a small usability change has been made to 1.7. Now, when you copy a website, if your project hasn't been configured to ignore SSL errors and it detects the primary website is using an invalid certificate it will prompt you on what to do.
In the above dialog, clicking Cancel will abort the crawl. Clicking Ignore will resume crawling the website, ignoring any certificate issues. There is also a View button to display the actual certificate itself.
As it stands, I'm not really happy with the Ignore Certificate Errors option as it will apply to any URL detected by the crawl, including 3rd party domains. I've logged #338 to investigate adding more control so you can ignore errors on specific domains for example. Of course I'm fully aware this will add even more complexity... in between a rock and a hard place.
In 1.7, the SSL options have also been moved - previously they were under the Advanced category, now they are under the General category and so hopefully are easier to find.
This new prompt is currently available in 1.7 nightly builds, please let us know if the dialog helps or hinders, or if you have any other feedback about either this feature of WebCopy in general.
Update History
- 2018-11-04 - First published
- 2020-11-23 - Updated formatting
About The Author
The founder of Cyotek, Richard enjoys creating new blog content for the site. Much more though, he likes to develop programs, and can often found writing reams of code. A long term gamer, he has aspirations in one day creating an epic video game. Until that time, he is mostly content with adding new bugs to WebCopy and the other Cyotek products.
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Comments
Jürgen
#
Hi thanks for your GREAT piece of software. You should also include an option to ignore SSL erros inside quick scan. The very first think I did when entering the url was checking for a quick scan. And there was nothing to see, no page, no error message. Juergen