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For Ubuntu instructions, see Ubuntu Server with Apache2: Create CSR & Install SSL Certicate (OpenSSL) (/csr-ssl-installation/ubuntu-server-with-
apache2-openssl.htm). For other OS/platform instructions, see Create a CSR (Certicate Signing Request) (/csr-creation.htm).
You can use these instructions to create OpenSSL CSRs and install all types of DigiCert SSL certicates on your Apache server: Standard SSL, EV SSL,
Multi-Domain SSL, EV Multi-Domain SSL, and Wildcard SSL.
I. To create your certicate signing request (CSR), see Apache: Creating Your CSR with OpenSSL.
II. To install your SSL certicate, see Apache: Installing & Conguring Your SSL Certicate.
Visite nuestras instrucciones en español para Apache Instalar Certicado SSL (/es/instalar-certicado-ssl-apache.htm).
Recommended: Save yourself some time. Use the DigiCert OpenSSL CSR Wizard (/easy-csr/openssl.htm) to generate an OpenSSL command to
create your Apache CSR. Just ll out the form, click Generate, and then paste your customized OpenSSL command into your terminal.
(/easy-csr/openssl.htm)
2. Run Command
openssl req –new –newkey rsa:2048 –nodes –keyout server.key –out server.csr
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3. Generate Files
a. You've now started the process for generating the following two les:
Private-Key File: Used to generate the CSR and later to secure and verify connections using the certi cate.
Certi cate Signing Request (CSR) le: Used to order your SSL certi cate and later to encrypt messages that only its
corresponding private key can decrypt.
b. When prompted for the Common Name (domain name), type the fully qualied domain (FQDN) for the site that you are going
to secure.
Note: If you're generating an Apache CSR for a Wildcard certicate (/wildcard-ssl-certicates/), make sure your common
name starts with an asterisk (e.g., *.example.com).
c. When prompted, type your organizational information, beginning with your geographic information.
b. Copy the text, including the -----BEGIN NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST----- and -----END NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST----- tags, and
paste it in to the DigiCert order form (/order/order-1.php?prod=1).
Save (back up) the generated .key le. You need it later to install your SSL certicate.
6. Install Certicate
After you've received your SSL certicate from DigiCert, you can install it on your server.
After we've validated and issued your SSL certicate, you can install it on your Apache server (where the CSR was generated) and congure the
server to use the certicate.
How to Install and Con gure Your SSL Certi cate on Your Apache Server
1. Copy the certicate les to your server.
a. Log in to your DigiCert account (/account/) and download the intermediate (DigiCertCA.crt) and your primary certicate
(your_domain_name.crt) les.
b. Copy these les, along with the .key le you generated when creating the CSR, to the directory on the server where you keep
your certicate and key les.
The location and name of the conguration le can vary from server to server—especially if you're using a special interface to manage
your server conguration.
Apache's main conguration le is typically named httpd.conf or apache2.conf. Possible locations for this le include
/etc/httpd/ or /etc/apache2/. For a comprehensive listing of default installation layouts for Apache HTTPD on various
operating systems and distributions, see Httpd Wiki - DistrosDefaultLayout (http://wiki.apache.org/httpd/DistrosDefaultLayout).
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SSL certicate conguration is located in a <VirtualHost> block in a different conguration le. The conguration
(/) may be under a directory like /etc/httpd/vhosts.d/, /etc/httpd/sites/, or in a le called httpd-ssl.conf.
les
One way to locate the SSL Conguration on Linux distributions is to search using grep, as shown in the example below.
Note: Make sure to replace /etc/httpd/ with the base directory for your Apache installation.
If your site needs to be accessible through both secure (https) and non-secure (http) connections, you need a virtual host for each type of
connection. Make a copy of the existing non-secure virtual host and congure it for SSL as described in step 4.
If your site only needs to be accessed securely, congure the existing virtual host for SSL as described in step 4.
a. Below is a very simple example of a virtual host congured for SSL. The parts listed in blue are the parts you must add for SSL
conguration.
<VirtualHost 192.168.0.1:443>
DocumentRoot /var/www/html2
ServerName www.yourdomain.com
SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /path/to/your_domain_name.crt
SSLCertificateKeyFile /path/to/your_private.key
SSLCertificateChainFile /path/to/DigiCertCA.crt
</VirtualHost>
b. Make sure to adjust the le names to match your certicate les.
SSLCerticateKeyFile is the .key le generated when you created the CSR (e.g., your_private.key).
Note: If the SSLCerticateChainFile directive does not work, try using the SSLCACerticateFile directive instead.
As a best practice, check your Apache conguration le for any errors before restarting Apache.
Caution: Apache won't start again if your conguration les have syntax errors.
Run the following command to test your conguration le (on some systems, it's apache2ctl):
apachectl configtest
6. Restart Apache.
You can use apachectl commands to stop and start Apache with SSL support.
apachectl stop
apachectl start
Restart Notes:
If Apache doesn't restart with SSL support, try using apachectl startssl instead of apachectl start. If SSL support only loads with
apachectl startssl, we recommend you adjust the apache startup conguration to include SSL support in the regular apachectl start
command. Otherwise, your server may require to manually restart Apache using apachectl startssl in the event of a server reboot. This
usually involves removing the <IfDene SSL> and </IfDene> tags that enclose your SSL conguration.
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7. Congratulations! You've successfully installed your SSL certicate.
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Testing Your SSL/TLS Certicate Installation
1. Browser Test
a. For best results, make sure to close your web browser rst and then re-launch it.
b. Visit your site with the secure https URL (i.e., go to https://www.example.com not http://www.example.com).
c. Be sure to test your site with more than just Internet Explorer. IE downloads missing intermediate certicates; whereas, other
browsers give an error if all the certicates in the certicate chain aren't installed properly.
If your site's publicly accessible, use our Server Certicate Tester (/help/) to test your SSL/TLS certicate installation; it detects common
installation problems.
Troubleshooting
1. If your web site's publicly accessible, our SSL Certicate Tester (/help/) tool can help you diagnose common problems.
2. If you receive a "not trusted" warning, view the certicate details to see if it's the certicate you expect. Check the Subject, Issuer, and
Valid To elds.
a. If it's the certicate you expect and the SSL certicate (/ssl-certicate/) is issued by DigiCert, then your SSLCerticateChainFile is
not congured correctly.
b. If you don't see the certicate you expect, then you may have another SSL <VirtualHost> block before the one you recently
congured.
Name based virtual hosts aren't possible with https unless you use the same certicate for all virtual hosts (e.g., a Wildcard or a
Multi-Domain SSL certicate).
This is not an Apache limitation, but an SSL protocol limitation. Apache must send a certicate during the SSL handshake before
it receives the HTTP request that contains the Host header. Therefore, Apache always sends the SSLCerticateFile from the
rst <VirtualHost> block that matches the IP and port of the request.
3. For help moving your certicates to additional servers or across server platforms, see our OpenSSL export instructions (/ssl-
support/apache-ssl-export.htm).
4. If you need to disable SSL version 2 compatibility in order to meet PCI Compliance requirements (/news/DigiCert_PCI_White_Paper.pdf),
add the following directive to your Apache conguration le:
SSLCipherSuite HIGH:+MEDIUM:!SSLv2:!EXP:!ADH:!aNULL:!eNULL:!NULL
If the directive already exists, you may need to modify it to disable SSL version 2.
5. For instructions on how to x common errors and for additional tips, see Troubleshooting Apache SSL Certicate Errors (/ssl-
support/apache-x-common-ssl-errors.htm).
For Instructions on disabling the SSL v3 protocol, see Apache: Disabling the SSL v3 Protocol (/ssl-support/apache-disabling-ssl-v3.htm).
For information about enabling perfect forward secrecy, see Enabling Perfect Forward Secrecy (/ssl-support/ssl-enabling-perfect-
forward-secrecy.htm).
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RELATED LINKS SSL CERTIFICATES
SSLPKIIoTSolutionsAboutSupport SSL SUPPORT
Generate CSR Creation (/csr-creation.htm) Standard SSL (/standard-ssl-certi cates/) Secure Sockets Layer (/ssl/)
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Apache SSL Installation (/csr-ssl- Standard SSL Comparison (/welcome/ssl-plus- openssl csr (/easy-csr/openssl.htm)
installation/apache- compared.htm)
exchange certi cate signing request (/easy-
openssl.htm#ssl_certi cate_install)
Wildcard SSL (/wildcard-ssl-certi cates/) csr/exchange2007.htm)
OpenSSL CSR Wizard (/easy-csr/openssl.htm)
EV Certi cates (/ev-ssl-certi cation/) Apache SSL (/apache-ssl-authentication.htm)
Certi cado Wildcard SSL (/es/certi cados- Certi cado SSL Para Apache (/es/certi cado-
wildcard-ssl.htm) ssl-para-apache.htm)
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