IDE update failed: jbr/lib/security/cacerts file was modified: Some conflicts were found in the installation area

Problem

Sometimes users import their custom certificates (due to company policy or plugin compatibility) into the IDE's JDK keystore (IDE_Install_Path/jbr/lib/security/cacerts). Modification to the IDE installation files can lead to the IDE update failure - error: Some conflicts were found in the installation area.

Cause

IDE update failed due to the changes in the installation files. Changing the JBR's (JetBrains Runtime) cacerts file is a bad idea, because it hinders updates. Users shouldn't touch files inside the distribution. Keeping an old version of the file would cause problems some time later (and could be even dangerous if some certificate roots got compromised).

Resolution

Since 2022.2 release, all Intellij-based IDEs should respect system-wide trusted root settings. To add a certificate into the system you can refer to: https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/settings-tools-server-certificates.html instead of adding it to the IDE_Installation_Path/jbr/lib/security/cacerts. Also, it is possible to instruct the IDE to use the keystore from a different location by adding the following in Help > Edit Custom VM Options: -Djavax.net.ssl.keyStore=/path/to/cacerts.

If some IDE plugin needs SSL certificates to be inserted into IDE's keystore, it is best to address this issue with the plugin owner.