how to install CA certificate programmatically on Android without user interaction

Question

I\'m trying to install certificates without prompting the user. I know this is not good practice, but that\'s what PM wants.

Using KeyChain.createInstallIntent(), I

Answer 1

You can only install certificates silently if you have system privileges. Showing up a confirmation dialog is intentional, since trusting certificates can have serious consequences -- Android could happily open phishing sites without a warning, etc. That said, the dialog in ICS/JB is pretty bad -- it doesn't tell you what certificate you are installing and who issued it, just that it's a CA certificate, which is kind of obvious.

So, either use the public KeyChain API and use startActivity() to get the confirmation dialog, or pre-provision devices before handling them to users.

Update: In Android 4.4, DevicePolicyManager has a hidden API (installCaCert) that allows you to install certificates silently. You need the MANAGE_CA_CERTIFICATES permission, which is signature|system, so still not doable for user-installed apps.