Generating a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) - IIS 5.x
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Last Updated:
August 11, 2017 2:35 PM
Follow the below instructions to generate a CSR for your website. When you have completed generating your CSR, cut/copy and paste it into the CSR field on the SSL certificate-request page.
NOTE: Please note that you must have at least Service Pack 1 installed before generating a CSR.
To Generate and Submit the Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
- Open the Administrative Tools menu (right click on My Computer; select Manage or Control Panel; select Administrative Tools.)
- Select Internet Information Services.
- Select the computer and website (host) that you want to secure. Right click and select Properties.
- Click the Directory Security tab.
- Click the Server Certificate button (located in the Secure communications area)
- Click Next in the Welcome to the Web Server Certificate Wizard window.
- Select Create a new certificate; then click Next.
- Select Prepare the request now, but send it later and click Next.
- In the Name and Security Settings window, fill in the name field for the new certificate; then select the bit length (2048 or higher). Click Next.
- Enter your Distinguished Name field information. The following characters cannot be accepted:
< > ~ ! @ # $ % ^ * / \ ( ) ? &. - Complete the Distinguished Name Fields:
- Organization - The name under which your business is legally registered. The listed organization must be the legal registrant of the domain name in the certificate request. If you are enrolling as an individual, please enter the certificate requestor's name in the "Organization" field, and the DBA (doing business as) name in the "Organizational Unit" field.
- Organizational Unit - Optional. Use this field to differentiate between divisions within an organization. For example, "Engineering" or "Human Resources." If applicable, you may enter the DBA (doing business as) name in this field.
- Common Name - The Common Name is the fully-qualified domain name - or URL - for which you plan to use your certificate, e.g., the area of your site you wish customers to connect to using SSL. For example, an SSL certificate issued for "www.yourcompanyname.com" will not be valid for "secure.yourcompanyname.com." If the Web address to be used for SSL is "secure.yourcompanyname.com," ensure that the common name submitted in the CSR is "secure.yourcompanyname.com."
NOTE: If you are requesting a Wildcard certificate, please add an asterisk (*) on the left side of the Common Name (e.g., "*.coolexample.com" or "www*.coolexample.com"). This will secure all subdomains of the Common Name.
- Country - The two-letter International Organization for Standardization- (ISO-) format country code for the country in which your organization is legally registered.
- State/Province - Name of state or province where your organization is located. Please enter the full name. Do not abbreviate.
- City/Locality - Name of the city in which your organization is registered/located. Please spell out the name of the city. Do not abbreviate.
- Enter your Administrator contact information.
- Enter a path and file name for the CSR.
- Verify the information in the request and click Next.
- On the Completing the Web Server screen, click Finish.
- Open the generated CSR file; then, using a plain-text editor, such as Windows Notepad, copy and paste the CSR into our online enrollment form.
