How to Generate a Certificate Signing Request

When you have to make an application for an SSL or Secure Socket Layer certification, you will need to first produce a CSR or Certificate Signing Request. To do this, you can use your server control panel. You will have to type in specific details concerning your organization and website.

To start with, you must provide the name of your organization. After this, you have to explain what kind of unit your organization is, whether it is a Private (Unlisted) Company, a Public (Listed) Company, a government department or sole proprietorship. Side by side, you will need to mention the country code, the state or province it belongs to, the locality etc. You must also give a domain name or Common Name for which you will buy this SSL certificate. This must match the order’s domain name. So, when you buying the certificate for a site named yourdomain.com, you will have to type in “yourdomain.com” as the Common Name.

When you want wildcard certificates, then you must enter *.yourdomain.com as the Common Name. So, your SSL certificate will be issued for all the sub-domains of this address. After you have successfully typed in these details, you will be given an encoded file which is the CSR. You can then use this CSR for submitting your application to a Certificate Authority.

To generate the CSR in a web server your key size must be set to 2048-bit or even higher. In case you receive an error stating that CSR is invalid, you must double check the information you have submitted when generating this CSR. Your private key must be kept confidential.