Feb 12, 2015 SSL Certificates fall into two broad categories: 1). 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. Then issue the following command to generate a CSR and the key that will protect your certificate. Sep 12, 2014 Generate a Private Key and a CSR Use this method if you want to use HTTPS (HTTP over TLS) to secure your Apache HTTP or Nginx web server, and you want to use a Certificate Authority (CA) to issue the SSL certificate. The CSR that is generated can be sent to a CA to request the issuance of a CA-signed SSL certificate. How to Generate a CSR for Microsoft IIS 7 The following instructions will guide you through the CSR generation process on Microsoft IIS 7. To learn more about CSRs and the importance of your private key, reference our Overview of Certificate Signing Request article.
A SAN is a Subject Alternative Name, and as the name implies it serves as a secondary (or tertiary, etc.) DNS name that your web application could be identified as. This is useful in the context of web farms behind a reverse proxy, load-balancing solutions, etc.
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Modern Browsers will show an SSL certificate as invalid if a proper SAN is not included, so it’s best practice for us to be in the habit of including SANs in our CSRs.
Because we want to include a SAN (Subject Alternative Name) in our CSR (and certificate), we need to use a customized openssl.cnf file.
While you could edit the ‘openssl req’ command on-the-fly with a tool like ‘sed’ to make the necessary changes to the openssl.cnf file, I will walk through the step of manually updating the file for clarity.
Example openssl.cnf file
Note that the subjectAltName declaration calls an array called @alt_names, which is defined at the bottom of the file.
To include a single SAN in your CSR, update the ‘DNS’ declaration to the appropriate value (in this example, ‘webserver1.scriptech.io’), and leave the DNS.x declarations commented out (#). The result is an @alt_names array with a single entry.
To include multiple SANS in your CSR, comment out (#) the ‘DNS’ declaration, and uncomment the DNS.x declarations that you need. For example, your [alt_names] section would look like:
The result is an @alt_names array with multiple entries.
If you have not already, copy the contents of the example openssl.cnf file above into a file called ‘openssl.cnf’ somewhere. Make note of the location.
Also make sure you update the DN information (Country, State, etc.)
Create a new key
Create a new CSR
To view the contents of your new CSR, use the following command:
This example shows a single SAN which I included in my openssl.cnf file.
Now that you have your properly-formatted CSR, you need to sign it using a Trusted Root Certificate Authority. Depending on your context, this could be a third-party CA like DigiCert or GoDaddy, or it could be an internal Certificate Authority (OpenSSL CA, Active Directory Certificate Services)
The contents of a certificate in the openssl format can be viewed with the following command:
Before you can order an SSL certificate, it is recommended that you generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) from your server or device. Learn more about SSL certificates »
A CSR is an encoded file that provides you with a standardized way to send DigiCert your public key as well as some information that identifies your company and domain name. When you generate a CSR, most server software asks for the following information: common name (e.g., www.example.com), organization name and location (country, state/province, city/town), key type (typically RSA), and key size (2048-bit minimum).
If you aren't sure of the exact company name or location when you generate the CSR, don't worry; we can change and finalize that information during our review process before we issue the certificate.
Once your CSR is created, you'll need to copy and paste it into the online order form when you go to purchase your SSL certificate. Online Certificate Order Form »