What are the common challenges faced when implementing certificate-based client authentication in PHP for accessing web services?

One common challenge faced when implementing certificate-based client authentication in PHP for accessing web services is properly configuring the server to validate client certificates. This involves setting up the server to trust the client's certificate authority and verifying the client's certificate during the SSL handshake.

// Configure the server to validate client certificates
$contextOptions = array(
    'ssl' => array(
        'verify_peer' => true,
        'verify_peer_name' => true,
        'allow_self_signed' => false,
        'cafile' => '/path/to/ca.pem',
    )
);

$context = stream_context_create($contextOptions);

// Make a request to the web service with client certificate authentication
$response = file_get_contents('https://example.com/api', false, $context);

echo $response;