SSL Certificates fall into two broad categories: 1) Self-Signed Certificate which is an identity certificate that is signed by the same entity whose identity it certifies-on signed with its own private key, and 2) Certificates that are signed by a CA (Certificate Authority) such as Let’s Encrypt, Comodo and many other companies.
Self-Signed Certificates are commonly used in test environments for LAN services or applications. They can be generated for free using OpenSSL or any related tool. On the other hand, for sensitive, public-facing production services, applications or websites, it is highly recommended to use a certificate issued and verified by a trusted CA.
Oct 07, 2019 This feature allows you to simultaneously generate both a self-signed SSL certificate and a certificate signing request (CSR) for a domain. You can also use this interface to generate private keys, which are essential for self-signed certificates and purchased certificates. You can use this Certificate Key Matcher to check whether a private key matches a certificate or whether a certificate matches a certificate signing request (CSR). When you are dealing with lots of different certificates it can be easy to lose track of which certificate goes with which private key or which CSR was used to generate which certificate.
The first step towards acquiring an SSL certificate issued and verified by a CA is generating a CSR (short for Certificate Signing Request).
In this article, we will demonstrate how to create a CSR (Certificate Signing Request) on a Linux system.
Creating a CSR – Certificate Signing Request in Linux
To create a CSR, you need the OpenSSL command line utility installed on your system, otherwise, run the following command to install it.
Then issue the following command to generate a CSR and the key that will protect your certificate.
where:
- req enables the part of OpenSSL that handles certificate requests signing.
- -newkey rsa:2048 creates a 2048-bit RSA key.
- -nodes means “don’t encrypt the key”.
- -keyout example.com.key specifies the filename to write on the created private key.
- -out example.com.csr specifies the filename to write the CSR to.
Answer correctly, the questions you will be asked. Note that your answers should match information in legal documents regarding the registration of your company. This information is critically checked by the CA before issuing your certificate.
After creating your CSR, view the contents of the file using a cat utility, select it and copy it.
Copy CSR Key
Then go back to your CA’s website, log in, go to the page will contain the SSL certificate you purchased, and activate it. Then in a window such as the one below, paste your CSR in the correct input field.
In this example, we created a CSR for a multiple domain certificate purchased from Namecheap.
Then follow the rest of the instructions to initiate activation of your SSL certificate. For more information about OpenSSL command, see its man page:
That’s all for now! Always remember that the first step to getting your own SSL certificate from a CA is to generate a CSR. Use the feedback form below to ask any questions or share your comments with us.
Introduction
A Certificate Signing Request (CSR) is the first step in setting up an SSL Certificate on your website. SSL certificates are provided by Certificate Authorities (CA), which require a Certificate Signing Request (CSR).
Ssl Generate Csr And Key West
This guide will instruct you on how to generate a Certificate Signing Request using OpenSSL.
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- Access to a user account with root or sudo privileges
- A command line/terminal window
- If you’re working on a remote server, an established SSH connection to the server
- OpenSSL needs to be installed on your system to generate the key
- A text editor, such as nano, to view your key
Open a terminal window. Use your SSH connection to log into your remote server.
Note: If you are working locally, you don’t need an SSH connection. Also, most Linux systems will launch a terminal window by pressing Ctrl-Alt-T or Ctrl-Alt-F1.
Step 2: Create an RSA Private Key and CSR
How To Generate Ssl
It is advised to issue a new private key each time you generate a CSR. Hence, the steps below instruct on how to generate both the private key and the CSR.
Make sure to replace your_domain with the actual domain you’re generating a CSR for.
The commands are broken out as follows:
- openssl – activates the OpenSSL software
- req – indicates that we want a CSR
- –new –newkey – generate a new key
- rsa:2048 – generate a 2048-bit RSA mathematical key
- –nodes – no DES, meaning do not encrypt the private key in a PKCS#12 file
- –keyout – indicates the domain you’re generating a key for
- –out – specifies the name of the file your CSR will be saved as
Note: Use 2048-bit key pairs. The 4096-bit key pairs are more secure, however, they require a lot more server resources.
Your system should launch a text-based questionnaire for you to fill out.
Enter your information in the fields as follows:
- Country Name – use a 2-letter country code (US for the United States)
- State – the state in which the domain owner is incorporated
- Locality – the city in which the domain owner is incorporated
- Organization name – the legal entity that owns the domain
- Organizational unit name – the name of the department or group in your organization that deals with certificates
- Common name – typically the fully qualified domain name (FQDN), i.e. what the users type in a web browser to navigate to your website
- Email address – the webmaster’s email address
- Challenge password – an optional password for your key pair
Please take into account that Organization Name and Unit Name must not contain the following characters:
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Once the software finishes, you should be able to find the CSR file in your working directory.
You can also enter the following:
The system should list out all certificate signing requests on the system. The one that matches the domain name you provided in Step 2 appended with the .csr extension is the one you need to look into.
Step 5: Submit the CSR as Part of Your SSL Request
You can open the .csr file in a text editor to find the alphanumeric code that was generated.
Enter the following command:
This text can be copied and pasted into a submittal form to request your SSL certificate from a Certificate Authority.
Make sure you copy the entire text. Some CAs may allow you to simply upload the .csr file you generated. Below is an example of a CSR.
You needn’t send the private key to the CA. Once you get your SSL certificate, the private key on the server will bind with it to encrypt communication.
Now you know how to generate an OpenSSL certificate signing request. Before submitting the CSR to a certificate authority, we recommend verifying the information it holds. Use one of the widely available online CSR decoders.
SSL is a crucial protocol for securing traffic between a website and its visitors. It helps to protect sensitive information online, such as credit card data.
Generate Csr Iis
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