How to Generate a CSR File¶

This guide will help you generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) on different operating systems.

Pre-requisite reading¶

On SSL certificates that protect a single hostname/domain, your primary hostname is the hostname/domain you have chosen.

For multi-domain SSL certificates, the primary hostname is the first hostname that is listed on your SSL certificate inside ANS Glass.

You should also ensure to make sure your key and CSR are in a safe folder, as you’ll need the the key to install the SSL certificate and the CSR to generate your SSL Certificate.

Generate a CSR on Linux¶

First, check if OpenSSL is installed:

openssl version

If OpenSSL is not installed, you will see an error message. In that case, install OpenSSL:

Ubuntu¶

sudo apt install openssl

RHEL/AlmaLinux¶

sudo yum install openssl

Now you can generate the CSR. You need to replace yourhostname with your primary hostname (Common Name) that the SSL will protect.

openssl req -new -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout /path/to/yourhostname.key -out /path/to/yourhostname.csr

Generate a CSR on Windows¶

Open IIS Manager.
Select the server in the Connections pane.
Double-click the Server Certificates icon.
Click the Create Certificate Request link in the Actions pane.
Fill out the Distinguished Name Properties form with the required information (Common Name (primary hostname), Organization, City/locality, State/province, Country/region).
Set the Cryptographic Service Provider Properties (Microsoft RSA Schannel Cryptographic Provider and a bit length of 2048).
Create a file name for your CSR and click the Finish button.

Next Article > Validating your SSL certificate via File Upload

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