A dummy certificate that will make OS X 10.6+ Python use the system CA certificate store: -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- MIIBIzCBzgIJANjmj39sb3FmMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBQUAMBkxFzAVBgNVBAMTDmhn LmV4YW1wbGUuY29tMB4XDTE0MDgzMDA4NDU1OVoXDTE0MDgyOTA4NDU1OVowGTEX MBUGA1UEAxMOaGcuZXhhbXBsZS5jb20wXDANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAANLADBIAkEA mh/ZySGlcq0ALNLmA1gZqt61HruywPrRk6WyrLJRgt+X7OP9FFlEfl2tzHfzqvmK CtSQoPINWOdAJMekBYFgKQIDAQABMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBQUAA0EAF9h49LkSqJ6a IlpogZuUHtihXeKZBsiktVIDlDccYsNy0RSh9XxUfhk+XMLw8jBlYvcltSXdJ7We aKdQRekuMQ== -----END CERTIFICATE----- This certificate was generated to be syntactically valid but never be usable; it expired before it became valid. Created as: $ cat > cn.conf << EOT > [req] > distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name > [req_distinguished_name] > commonName = Common Name > commonName_default = no.example.com > EOT $ openssl req -nodes -new -x509 -keyout /dev/null \ > -out dummycert.pem -days -1 -config cn.conf -subj '/CN=hg.example.com' To verify the content of this certificate: $ openssl x509 -in dummycert.pem -noout -text Certificate: Data: Version: 1 (0x0) Serial Number: 15629337334278746470 (0xd8e68f7f6c6f7166) Signature Algorithm: sha1WithRSAEncryption Issuer: CN=hg.example.com Validity Not Before: Aug 30 08:45:59 2014 GMT Not After : Aug 29 08:45:59 2014 GMT Subject: CN=hg.example.com Subject Public Key Info: Public Key Algorithm: rsaEncryption Public-Key: (512 bit) Modulus: 00:9a:1f:d9:c9:21:a5:72:ad:00:2c:d2:e6:03:58: 19:aa:de:b5:1e:bb:b2:c0:fa:d1:93:a5:b2:ac:b2: 51:82:df:97:ec:e3:fd:14:59:44:7e:5d:ad:cc:77: f3:aa:f9:8a:0a:d4:90:a0:f2:0d:58:e7:40:24:c7: a4:05:81:60:29 Exponent: 65537 (0x10001) Signature Algorithm: sha1WithRSAEncryption 17:d8:78:f4:b9:12:a8:9e:9a:22:5a:68:81:9b:94:1e:d8:a1: 5d:e2:99:06:c8:a4:b5:52:03:94:37:1c:62:c3:72:d1:14:a1: f5:7c:54:7e:19:3e:5c:c2:f0:f2:30:65:62:f7:25:b5:25:dd: 27:b5:9e:68:a7:50:45:e9:2e:31