Generating a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) using
Apache Mod_SSL/OpenSSL
A CSR is a file containing your certificate application information,
including your Public Key. Generate your CSR and then copy and paste the
CSR file into the webform in the enrollment process:
Generate keys and certificate:
To generate a pair of private key and public Certificate
Signing Request (CSR) for a webserver, "server", use the following
command :
openssl req -new -nodes -keyout myserver.key -out
server.csr
This creates a two files. The file myserver.key contains a
private key; do not disclose this file to anyone. Carefully protect the
private key.
In particular, be sure to backup the private key, as there
is no means to recover it should it be lost. The private key is used as
input in the command to generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR).
You will now be asked to enter details to be entered into
your CSR
What you are about to enter is what is called a Distinguished Name or
a DN.
For some fields there will be a default value, If you enter '.', the field
will be left blank.
-----
Country Name (2 letter code) [AU]: GB
State or Province Name (full name) [Some-State]: Yorks
Locality Name (eg, city) []: York
Organization Name (eg, company) [Internet Widgits Pty Ltd]: MyCompany
Ltd
Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []: IT
Common Name (eg, YOUR name) []: mysubdomain.mydomain.com
Email Address []:
Please enter the following 'extra' attributes to be sent with
your certificate request
A challenge password []:
An optional company name []:
-----
Use the name of the webserver as Common Name (CN). If the
domain name is mydomain.com append the domain to the hostname (use the
fully qualified domain name).
The fields email address, optional company name
and challenge password can be left blank for a webserver certificate.
Your CSR will now have been created. Open the server.csr
in a text editor and copy and paste the contents into the online enrollment
form when requested.
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