Creating a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) and Key

Follow the step-by-step instructions to generate a certificate signing request (CSR) and key:

1. Enter Server Name (Common Name)
2. Select size of encryption key (1024 recommended).
3. Enter pass phrase to encrypt key.
   Warning: If you lose the passphrase, you must purchase another certificate.
4. Enter other Distinguished Name Field information.
5. Choose the server to request a certificate for:
   Version 1.5.1 select NO to send the CSR to Verisign
   Version 1.5 select YES to send the CSR to Verisign
   Note: If you select no, a required field will be missing and the CSR will be invalid.
6. Enter the same pass phrase entered generating the private key above.
7. When creating a CSR you must follow these conventions.
   Enter the Distinguished Name Field information.
   Note: The following characters can not be accepted:
   < > ~ ! @ # $ % ^ * / \ ( ) ?
   

   Distinguished Name Field	Explanation	Example
   Country Name	The two-letter ISO abbreviation for your country	US = United States
   State or Province Name	The state or province where your organization is legally located. Can not be abbreviated.	Utah
   City or Locality	The city where your organization is legally located.	Salt Lake City
   Company (Organization) Name	The exact legal name of your organization. Do not abbreviate.	IdenTrust Inc.
   Department Name	Section of the organization	Marketing
   Server Hostname	The fully qualified domain name for your web server. This must be an exact match.	If you intend to secure the URL https://www.identrust.com/, then your CSR's Server Hostname must be www.identrust.com
   Server Admin.'s email address	Your e-mail address	abc@identrust.com

8. Send the certificate signing request to your email address or display the CSR on your console.
9. Exit RavenCTL
10. Send the entire certificate request to IdenTrust, including ----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST---- and ----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST----
    
    Note: While waiting for the real certificate from IdenTrust, you can use the self-signed certificate generated above.
    sl req -noout -text -in server.csr

Key Pair Backup

1. Backup this server.key file and remember the pass-phrase you had to enter at a secure location.
2. View the details of the RSA private key via the command:
   $ openssl rsa -noout -text -in server.key

Back to Listing