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Certificates - Encrypted and Locked on Download

  • 29 November 2023
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When I download certificates for myself or others, they are immediately password locked without me knowing the password.  I understand this may be intended functionality to prevent tampering/falsifying the certificates.  However, this has caused significant inconvenience for my team.  

We downloaded 30 certificates yesterday for a program graduation.  Because the certificates are locked, they could not be combined into one document for printing. Adobe gave us errors that we did not have permissions to combine the document without the passwords since combining documents is considered a form of editing.

We aren't trying to edit the text on the certificates, just combine them to print all at once.  We also can't export as any other document type or print to PDF without errors as a work around. We had to spend extra time printing each certificate individually and checking the print settings on 30 separate documents yesterday to accomplish our goals rather than only printing once.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions or has anyone figured out a way around this??  It’s not something we do every day, but it’s very inconvenient, especially after already downloading the certificates one by one.

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Best answer by captainzelda 2 February 2024, 14:38

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lrnlab
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that’s very odd...mine do not do that...Maybe check your Adobe settings? Do you have some kind of enterprise policy that could be doing that?

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@lrnlab - My CSM told me that she had internal documentation that suggested it was the expected functionality of the certificates, and I put in a support ticket with Docebo to check as well, but I’m still waiting to hear back.

I’ve tested other PDFs on Docebo and other external PDFs and they do not automatically download encrypted.  So far it’s just the certificates that I’ve noticed it on.  I do have my internal tech team looking at it as well, just in case there is anything they can do.

lrnlab
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hmmm...still odd + why would they need to be encrypted in the first place? Seems like a lot….especially from the user experience end. I manage several sites and have never run into this issue. Please keep us posted on what you find out...thank you!

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@lrnlab - I agree that it’s odd.  I’ve never used an LMS before where the certificates were encrypted.  I was asked to do a rush task yesterday morning, and I thought combining them to print would be the easy part, but it definitely has become the most complex piece.

My best guess is that the encryption is in an attempt to prevent individuals from tampering with certificates/editing it with different course titles, etc, in case they’re sent to reporting agencies.  When it comes to user and admin experience, it’s definitely less than ideal.  If I find out anything, I’ll post back.  I’ve run through several different scenarios at the request of my tech team and so far I don’t have a solution that doesn’t include screen capture of each certificate after they’re downloaded.

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@lrnlab Support’s response: “Thank you for reaching out and if I understand correctly you are trying to verify if there is a way to remove the password protection/encryption from your certificates to allow for easier printing and management. I can confirm that this is intended as this prevents anyone from editing and accessing the information on the certificate.”  It was also suggested that if I want that functionality changed in the future, I could submit an Idea.

With it confirmed as the expected function, I’m intrigued to confirm if you downloaded one today if it would allow editing or not.

lrnlab
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hmm, just tried it and there is no encryption. It’s a simple PDF doc and as with most PDF docs, it cannot be altered. I can mark it up but cannot change the original. I wonder if it’s a new setting that applies to newer customers? I’ve seen this before...for example...we have been with Docebo for over 5 years and on one site I manage we can add users to more than 1 branch at a time however for sites we launched later, this is not possible…

Did you figure out the password? Or are you able to view and print without it?

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I do not have the password and will not be able to retrieve it.  I can print and view singular PDFs, but I cannot combine them to print or save them as any other type of document in an effort to combine for printing.  I don’t have a problem editing other certificates I have downloaded from other platforms or even other PDFs I download from Docebo that are not certificates.  It’s just the behavior on the certificates themselves.

captainzelda
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As a superadmin, I’m trying to modify a certificate for a learner and can confirm it’s password protected. If it’s going to be locked, I would at least like a password. Certainly we wouldn’t want the learner to change it - but admins should be able to. 

 

 

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As a superadmin, I’m trying to modify a certificate for a learner and can confirm it’s password protected. If it’s going to be locked, I would at least like a password. Certainly we wouldn’t want the learner to change it - but admins should be able to. 

 

 

I agree.  My internal team predicted that each and every certificate likely has its own unique password, but since we aren’t provided the password by Docebo, I haven’t been able to test this.

captainzelda
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@trose23 I logged a ticket, so let’s see. It would make sense to make it unique, but if that’s the case at least let me download the template so I can make my own manually if needed. That is only something an admin can get to anyway. 

chuckgeorgo

i’d like to know if docebo got back to you about the password...thank you

captainzelda
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i’d like to know if docebo got back to you about the password...thank you

They did the response was not really helpful but I’ll provide it below. I have the raw version of PDF and I just emailed my doctor a manual version I created. 

From what you reported, I see that you are having trouble editing certificates as they appear to be locked by password. I understand you are wondering if a super-admin can have a password so they can access it to make changes.
 
I definitely understand that the certificate being locked by password is preventing you and is not an ideal situation.
 
After review, I found the following information:
 

  • That is expected behavior because editing a certification outside of Docebo is not possible. Those certificates are password protected and we won't allow Certificate modification using an editing tool. This is due to security reasons and we are unable to disclose passwords to modify the templates. 
  • If you want to modify the certificate, you will need to use the Docebo edit option and modify your template.


For instance:
 
Admin Menu> Certificate Template >
 
?name=Screenshot+2024-01-25+at+10.58.18+AM.png
 
 Given this is expected behavior, there are a few ways that you can try to edit:

 
I understand that this is not an ideal solution you are looking for but possibly one of the alternative ways that I provided could be fruitful.
chuckgeorgo

Thank you...I was able to edit them using the smallpdf.com website...

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