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Fixing "UNABLE_TO_VERIFY_LEAF_SIGNATURE" when running Renovate against an internal Azure DevOps server

Recently I ran into a failing Renovate pipeline right after configuring it against our internal Azure DevOps server:

"err": {
     "code": "UNABLE_TO_VERIFY_LEAF_SIGNATURE",
     "message": "unable to verify the first certificate; if the root CA is installed locally, try running Node.js with --use-system-ca"
   }
Error: unable to verify the first certificate; if the root CA is installed locally, try running Node.js with --use-system-ca
    at TLSSocket.onConnectSecure (node:internal/tls/wrap:1748:34)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:domain:489:12)
    at TLSSocket._finishInit (node:internal/tls/wrap:1185:8)
    at TLSWrap.ssl.onhandshakedone (node:internal/tls/wrap:966:12)

The root cause: Renovate runs on Node.js, and Node doesn't use the Windows certificate store by default. Our internal Azure DevOps server presents a certificate signed by our internal CA, and Node has no idea that CA exists. So the TLS handshake fails before Renovate ever gets to talk to the server.

Remark: The suggestion in the error message to run Node.js with the --use-system-ca flag, I couldn’t get it working.


The fix: point Node to your internal CA

The trick is the NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS environment variable. Set it to a .pem file containing your internal root CA certificate, and Node will trust it on top of its built-in CA bundle.

Remark: this has to be a PEM-encoded certificate, not the binary .cer format Windows exports by default.

Export the internal CA certificate

On the machine hosting your self-hosted agent:

  • Open certlm.msc (Local Computer Certificates).
  • Go to:
    • Trusted Root Certification Authorities → Certificates, or
    • Intermediate Certification Authorities → Certificates
  • Find your internal CA's certificate.
  • Right-click → All Tasks → Export.
  • Choose:
    • No, do not export the private key
    • Base-64 encoded X.509 (.CER)
  • Save it as, for example: vlm-root-ca.cer
  • Rename it to vlm-root-ca.pem

Base-64 encoded X.509 is PEM format, so the rename is all you need. No conversion required.

Reference it in the pipeline YAML

Point NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS at the file:

trigger: none
pool:
  name: default
variables:
  NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS: 'd:\vlm-root.pem'
steps:
- task: RenovateMe@1
  inputs:
    renovateOptionsVersion: 'latest'

That's it. Renovate now validates the certificate chain against your internal CA and can talk to your internal Azure DevOps server without complaints.

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