A step by step guidance of WildCard SSL Certificate Signing Request (CSR) generation from Platinum Certificate Authority RapidSSLonline.com

1. 2013
WildCard SSL CSR Generation Guide -
www.RapidSSLonline.com
https://www.rapidsslonline.com/
Jim Armstrong
www.rapidsslonline.com
4/1/2013

2. WildCard SSL CSR Generation Guide - www.RapidSSLonline.com
How to Generate a WildCard SSL Certificate Signing
Request (CSR) for Apache + Mod SSL + OpenSSL
Due to the vast number of emails, calls and live chat requests being received from SSL
users on a daily basis regarding Certificate Signing Request (CSR) generation, which is
required in order to obtain a certificate from Certificate Authorities (CA), we have
compiled this guide.
In this guide we will specifically address the process of obtaining a Certificate Signing
Request for Apache + Mod SSL + OpenSSL servers. Here we have included the easy
and quick steps of CSR generation from the major Certificate Authorities (CAs) on the
web.
In order to create a CSR users need two types of keys known as private and public
keys. Next, in order for the CSR to actually be generated all keys, password and
certificate must contain the same information before installing any certificate on the
server.
The following is a step-by-step guide to WildCard SSL Certificate CSR generation from
RapidSSLonline.com who is a leading SSL provider and Platinum Partner of leading CAs
such as Symantec, GeoTrust, Thawte, and RapidSSL.
Step1: Creation of the Private Key
Here, we have what is commonly known as the OpenSSL utility, which is mostly used in
order to generate the private key and CSR. The OpenSSL utility comes standard with
any OpenSSL package and should be installed on the following path;
/usr/local/ssl/bin
If the OpenSSL utility package installed on a different path, please refer to the
information below to adjust the OpenSSL package installation path.
Enter the following commands at the prompt:
opensslgenrsa -des3 -out <private key file name>.key 2048

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For Illustration:
The above command will raise a 2048 bit RSA private key and it will store at the file
www.myhostname.com.key.
Key Note: All SSL Certificate CSRs must have 2048-bit key length
IMPORTANT: When prompted with the password command be sure to enter a
secure password that can also be remembered. This password will not only protect the
private key but will be essential to the secure certificate as well. That being said, a
password that cannot be recalled is about as useless as any bad or unsecure password
(i.e. 1234321, PASSWORD) out there.
Key Note: To bypass the pass phrase requirement, omit the -des3 option when
generating the private key. However if you choose to leave the private key unprotected,
Symantec recommends access to the server be heavily restricted so that only
authorized server administrators can access or read the private key file.
Step 2: Generation of the CSR (Certificate Signing Request)
Enter the following command at prompt:
opensslreq -new -key <private key file name>.key -out <csr file name>.csr
For Illustration:

4. WildCard SSL CSR Generation Guide - www.RapidSSLonline.com
Key Note: If you are using OpenSSL on a Windows server you may be able to use the
following direct path to reach “openssl.cnf”:
opensslreq -new -key <private key file name>.key -config "c:Apache
Software FoundationApache2.2confopenssl.cnf" -out <csr file name>.csr
You will then receive the following prompt for the X.509 attributes of the certificate:
You must now enter the mandatory information of the organization in order to create
the CSR. The following is a basic overview of each requirement.
Country Name: Enter the two letter code without punctuation of the respective
country (i.e. US, UK)
State or Province: Enter the complete state name, please be sure to not abbreviate
or shorten it. (i.e. New York, not NY)
Locality or City: The Locality field is the city or town name, again,do not abbreviate.
(i.e. Saint Petersburg, not St. Petersburg)
Company: If the company or organization name has any symbol such as &, @, or *
included within their name the symbol must be properly spelled out. Here are the
illustrations of (i.e. AB & C Corporation would be AB and C Corporation)

5. WildCard SSL CSR Generation Guide - www.RapidSSLonline.com
Organizational Unit: This field is optional but, if provided, this information will serve
as additional authentication for obtaining the certificate from the CA. But if you prefer
to skip this step, simply press enter on the keyboard.
Common Name: The Common Name is the Host + Domain Name. The information
provided here will look much like something along the lines of "*.company.com".
Key Note: Do not try to add an email address, challenge password or an optional
company name when generating the CSR.
At this point you will have successfully generated both your private and public keys. The
private key (www.hostname.com.key) is stored locally on the server and is employed
for decryption. The public key, in the form of a WildCard SSL Certificate Signing
Request (certrequest.csr), will be for certificate enrollment.
To copy and paste the information into the enrollment form, open the file in a text
editor such as Notepad or Vi and save it as a .txt file. Do not use Microsoft Word as it
will insert extra hidden characters that will alter the contents of the CSR rendering it
useless.
For information regarding the WildCard SSL Certificate Signing Request for another web
server not described about please click here.
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