Add a blog post about Windows and the SSL saga

blog/windows-and-ssl.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+.. title: Windows and SSL
+.. slug: 2017/02/20/windows-and-ssl
+.. date: 2017-02-20 12:00:00 UTC
+.. tags: 
+.. category: 
+.. link: 
+.. description: 
+.. type: text
+.. previewimage: /cover-images/windows-and-ssl.jpg
+
+Recently we've had a lot of posts on the forums, messages on our `Facebook page`_ and e-mails in our support system
+from users with the same problem: they are on Windows and they can't complete the First Time Wizard. A few folks have
+also mentioned being unable to log into the CCLI SongSelect importer. The error message usually looks something like
+this::
+
+  Traceback (most recent call last):
+    File "urllib\request.py", line 1183, in do_open
+    File "http\client.py", line 1137, in request
+    File "http\client.py", line 1182, in _send_request
+    File "http\client.py", line 1133, in endheaders
+    File "http\client.py", line 963, in _send_output
+    File "http\client.py", line 898, in send
+    File "http\client.py", line 1287, in connect
+    File "ssl.py", line 362, in wrap_socket
+    File "ssl.py", line 580, in __init__
+    File "ssl.py", line 807, in do_handshake
+  ssl.SSLError: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:600)
+
+  During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
+
+  Traceback (most recent call last):
+    File "openlp\plugins\songs\lib\songselect.py", line 87, in login
+    File "urllib\request.py", line 464, in open
+    File "urllib\request.py", line 482, in _open
+    File "urllib\request.py", line 442, in _call_chain
+    File "urllib\request.py", line 1226, in https_open
+    File "urllib\request.py", line 1185, in do_open
+  urllib.error.URLError: <urlopen error [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:600)>
+
+Thanks to help from `some folks on the forums`_, we've been able to narrow down exactly what the problem is, and
+unfortunately it is something that we don't have control over. Having said that, there is a way you can get around it.
+
+.. raw:: html
+
+  <p style="background-color: #eee; border: 1px solid #ccc; border-radius: 3px; padding: 3px 10px; text-align: center;">
+    <strong>Make sure you are running the latest version of OpenLP.</strong><br>
+    At the time of writing this is <a href="/#downloads">version 2.4.5</a>. If you ask for help and you're not running
+    the latest version, we'll tell you to upgrade before helping you.
+  </p>
+
+If you're running into this problem while running the First Time Wizard, you need to open up Internet Explorer and
+visit `https://get.openlp.org/ <https://get.openlp.org/>`_. This forces Windows to download a file that OpenLP needs.
+Once you've opened up the web page, you can close it and go back to OpenLP and retry the First Time Wizard. 
+
+If you're running into the problem where you can't seem to log in to the SongSelect importer, you need to open up
+Internet Explorer and visit `SongSelect`_. Again, this forces Windows to download a file that OpenLP needs, and you
+can go back to the SongSelect importer.
+
+The OpenLP team is currently discussing what we can do about this situation. It's clearly not our fault, but we will
+have to figure out a way to fix it anyway because most people will not be aware of this and think that OpenLP is
+broken.
+
+If you're not interested in an explanation of the root cause of the problem, you can stop reading now and follow
+the instructions above. If you're interested in all the gory technical details, continue reading...
+
+Technical Explanation
+---------------------
+
+OpenLP, like  many other websites, uses a technology called SSL to make sure all communications between your browser
+and the website you're visiting is secure and can't be spyed on. This is really useful for things like login screens
+where you need to type in your password. These days more and more websites are using SSL for everything, not just
+logging in, because they care about your privacy. OpenLP itself uses SSL for connecting to our download servers and
+to CCLI's SongSelect service.
+
+In order to use SSL, all computers have a set of "master" or "root" certificates, which helps your computer to verify
+that the websites you are visiting are actually secure and who they say they are. Since Windows Vista, however,
+Microsoft has not shipped all the root certificates with Windows. Windows only includes Microsoft's certificates, and
+Windows has to call the Microsoft servers to download the root certificates it needs.
+
+OpenLP is written in Python, and the methods used in Python on Windows currently don't hook into Windows' certificate
+download system. This means that whenever OpenLP tries to contact a website that Windows has never contacted before,
+OpenLP and Python are unable to verify the websites OpenLP is trying to contact. By using Internet Explorer to visit
+these websites, you force Windows to download the root certificates.
+
+You might be wondering why you have to use Internet Explorer, and why you can't use another browser like Chrome or
+Firefox. Both Chrome and Firefox actually come with their own full bundles of root certificates, and so they ignore
+Windows completely. Because they ignore Windows, they never trigger the download process and OpenLP can't verify the
+websites you've already visited in those browsers.
+
+For more information, take a look at the `bug report in Python's bug tracker`_.
+
+.. _Facebook page: htps://www.facebook.com/openlp/
+.. _some folks on the forums: https://forums.openlp.org/discussion/comment/9885/#Comment_9885
+.. _SongSelect: https://songselect.ccli.com/
+.. _bug report in Python's bug tracker: http://bugs.python.org/issue20916