Before you order an SSL certificate, we recommend you generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) from your server or device.
A CSR is an encoded file that provides you with a standardized way to send DigiCert your public key andother identifying information for 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).
Microsoft IIS
Jul 09, 2019 To sum up, ways to find your private key fully depend on the interface of the web server where you generate the CSR. If the methods described above did not help you find the private key for your certificate, the only solution would be to generate a new CSR/private key pair and reissue your certificate and to make sure that the key is saved on.
CSR Generator: DigiCert Certificate Utility
Instructions: IIS 10 IIS 8/8.5 IIS 7 IIS 5/6 IIS 4 PFX Import/Export
Microsoft Exchange Server
CSR Generator: CSR for Exchange 2007 DigiCert Certificate Utility
Enable SSH User Authentication by Public KeyOverall, the process for getting public key authentication to work for SSH is straightforward. Generate ssh key windows.
Instructions: Exchange 2016 Exchange 2013 Exchange 2010 Exchange 2007 PFX Import/Export
Apache Server (Open SSL)
CSR Generator: Open SSL CSR Wizard
Instructions: Apache Server Ubuntu Server with Apache2 PFX Import/Export
Tomcat Server (Keytool)
CSR Generator: Java Keytool CSR Wizard
Instructions: Tomcat Server Java Based Server
Microsoft Lync
CSR Generator: DigiCert Certificate Utility
Instructions: Lync 2013 Lync 2010
Note: To remain secure, SSL certificates must use keys that are 2048-bits in length or greater. If your server platform can't generate a CSR with a 2048-bit key, please contact us. See this article for more information.
The following instructions will guide you through the CSR generation process on Nginx (OpenSSL). To learn more about CSRs and the importance of your private key, reference our Overview of Certificate Signing Request article. If you already generated the CSR and received your trusted SSL certificate, reference our SSL Installation Instructions and disregard the steps below.
You will want to log in via Secure Shell (SSH).
Generate a private key and CSR by running the following command:
Here is the plain text version to copy and paste into your terminal:
Note:Replace “server ” with the domain name you intend to secure.
Enter the following CSR details when prompted:
Note: You are not required to enter a password or passphrase. This optional field is for applying additional security to your key pair.
Locate and open the newly created CSR in a text editor such as Notepad and copy all the text including:
Note 1: Your CSR should be saved in the same user directory that you SSH into unless otherwise specified by you.
Note 2: We recommend saving or backing up your newly generate “.key ” file as this will be required later during the installation process.
Return to the Generation Form on our website and paste the entire CSR into the blank text box and continue with completing the generation process.
Upon generating your CSR, your order will enter the validation process with the issuing Certificate Authority (CA) and require the certificate requester to complete some form of validation depending on the certificate purchased. For information regarding the different levels of the validation process and how to satisfy the industry requirements, reference our validation articles.
After you complete the validation process and receive the trusted SSL Certificate from the issuing Certificate Authority (CA), proceed with the next step using our SSL Installation Instructions for Nginx using OpenSSL.