Privileged Access Management Software for Mixed Infrastructure
PAM software is often evaluated as an enterprise security category. Small infrastructure teams usually feel the problem in a simpler way: who can reach this server, why, for how long, and what proof do we have afterwards?
Mixed infrastructure makes the answer harder because Linux SSH, Windows RDP, vendor support, certificate delivery, and secrets are often split across different tools.
PAM evaluation path for mixed estates
PAM fit by operational need
Strong for formal privileged access programs.
Useful for brokering SSH/RDP sessions.
Cheap until attribution or revocation matters.
Scoped SSH/RDP with certificates, secrets, and audit nearby.
Ask what privileged means in your estate
Privileged access might mean root on a Linux VM, administrator on a Windows server, access to a certificate private key, a deployment token, a database credential, or a contractor session through VPN.
A useful evaluation includes the systems engineers actually touch, not only the clean example in a sales deck.
Look for expiry and attribution
The two failures to remove first are permanent access and shared identity. A shared PEM or generic vendor login might be convenient, but it makes review and cleanup weak.
CertLocker helps by issuing scoped, time-limited SSH/RDP access tied to users, groups, hosts, reasons, and logs.
Do not ignore certificate and secret workflows
Server access often exists because someone needs to fix a certificate, copy a secret, restart HAProxy, inspect IIS, or repair a deployment job.
That is why CertLocker keeps certificates, secrets, tokens, access, probes, and audit evidence in the same operational model.
PAM software checklist
- ✓ Test both SSH and RDP, not only one protocol.
- ✓ Verify vendor and contractor access expiry.
- ✓ Check whether certificate private keys and secrets are covered by adjacent workflows.
- ✓ Review the audit trail after a real support task.
- ✓ Use onsite evaluation when private networks and legacy Windows servers matter.
Related reading and workflows
SSH access management
Short-lived SSH access, browser sessions, 2FA, groups, and audit.
Zero-trust SSH use case
A practical model for replacing long-lived PEM files.
Short-lived SSH access with 2FA
How CertLocker handles scoped server access and audit trails.
Secrets management
Versioned secrets, scoped access, groups, and audit evidence.
Secrets and TLS automation
Why secrets and certificate workflows belong close together.
Secret version history
Browse, restore, and audit older secret values without guesswork.
Certificate lifecycle management
Inventory, renewal, delivery, ownership, and audit for TLS certificates.
Certificate delivery tokens
Scoped certificate access for HAProxy, IIS, Nginx, scripts, and automation.
Endpoint probes
Check what production endpoints actually serve after renewal.
Help with onboarding
Bring your existing inventory to a hosted walkthrough with the CertLocker engineers.
CertLocker for DevOps teams
The broader trust-control workflow for platform and infrastructure teams.
Compare CertLocker with scripts
Where spreadsheets, cron jobs, and shared files stop being enough.
Try the workflow against real infrastructure
Use the hosted evaluation at trust.certlocker.io for a walkthrough, or run a one-month onsite evaluation against your own certificates, hosts, secrets, and access paths.