Difference between self-signed CA and self-signed certificate

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I'm not clear on the difference between a CA key and a certificate. Isn't a CA key simply a certificate? Let me try and clarify with an example.

I have a client and a server. I'm only trying to validate my connection to my server and not trying to establish trust to others so I don't care about signing with a real CA.

Option 1: Generate a self-signed CA (ssCA) and use that to sign a certificate (C). I then install ssCA into the root keystore on my client and setup my server to use certificate C.

Option 2: Generate a self-signed certificate (SSC). Install SSC into the root keystore on my client. Setup my server to use certificate SSC.

The second option seems like a much simpler process. Should that still work?

ssl-certificate ssl
5 Answers

If you need more certificates (C), you need to create a self-signed CA (ssCA).
If you need a single certificate, you can just create a self-signed certificate (SSC).
To trust the single certificate (SSC), you need to install SSC into the root keystore on your client.
To trust many certificates at once, you need to create a self-signed CA (ssCA), then install ssCA into the root keystore on your client.

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