The following instructions will guide you through the CSR generation process on Nginx (OpenSSL). To learn more about CSRs and the importance of your private key, reference our Overview of Certificate Signing Request article. If you already generated the CSR and received your trusted SSL certificate, reference our SSL Installation Instructions and disregard the steps below.
Create CSR, csr, Generate CSR, ssl csr, ssl key CSR stands for ‘ Certificate Signing Request ’, that is generated on the server where the certificate will be used on. A CSR contains information about to your organization and domain name, locality, and country and a public key that will be. General CSR Creation Guidelines. Before you can order an SSL certificate, it is recommended that you generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) from your server or device. A CSR is an encoded file that provides you with a standardized way to send DigiCert your public key as well as some information that identifies your company and domain name.
You will want to log in via Secure Shell (SSH).
Generate a private key and CSR by running the following command:
Here is the plain text version to copy and paste into your terminal:
Note:Replace “server ” with the domain name you intend to secure.
Enter the following CSR details when prompted: Search voicethread.com for generate ssh public key.
Note: You are not required to enter a password or passphrase. This optional field is for applying additional security to your key pair.
Locate and open the newly created CSR in a text editor such as Notepad and copy all the text including:
Note 1: Your CSR should be saved in the same user directory that you SSH into unless otherwise specified by you.
Note 2: We recommend saving or backing up your newly generate “.key ” file as this will be required later during the installation process.
Return to the Generation Form on our website and paste the entire CSR into the blank text box and continue with completing the generation process.
Upon generating your CSR, your order will enter the validation process with the issuing Certificate Authority (CA) and require the certificate requester to complete some form of validation depending on the certificate purchased. For information regarding the different levels of the validation process and how to satisfy the industry requirements, reference our validation articles.
After you complete the validation process and receive the trusted SSL Certificate from the issuing Certificate Authority (CA), proceed with the next step using our SSL Installation Instructions for Nginx using OpenSSL.
What is a CSR? A CSR or Certificate Signing request is a block of encoded text that is given to a Certificate Authority when applying for an SSL Certificate. It is usually generated on the server where the certificate will be installed and contains information that will be included in the certificate such as the organization name, common name (domain name), locality, and country. It also contains the public key that will be included in the certificate. A private key is usually created at the same time that you create the CSR, making a key pair. A CSR is generally encoded using ASN.1 according to the PKCS #10 specification.
A certificate authority will use a CSR to create your SSL certificate, but it does not need your private key. You need to keep your private key secret. The certificate created with a particular CSR will only work with the private key that was generated with it. So if you lose the private key, the certificate will no longer work.
| Name | Explanation | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Common Name | The fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of your server. This must match exactly what you type in your web browser or you will receive a name mismatch error. | *.google.com |
| Organization | The legal name of your organization. This should not be abbreviated and should include suffixes such as Inc, Corp, or LLC. | Google Inc. |
| Organizational Unit | The division of your organization handling the certificate. | Information Technology IT Department |
| City/Locality | The city where your organization is located. | Mountain View |
| State/County/Region | The state/region where your organization is located. This shouldn't be abbreviated. | California |
| Country | The two-letter ISO code for the country where your organization is location. | US GB |
| Email address | An email address used to contact your organization. | webmaster@google.com |
| Public Key | The public key that will go into the certificate. | The public key is created automatically |
Most CSRs are created in the Base-64 encoded PEM format. This format includes the '-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----' and '-----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----' lines at the begining and end of the CSR. A PEM format CSR can be opened in a text editor and looks like the following example:
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----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-----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
You need to generate a CSR and private key on the server that the certificate will be used on. You can find instructions in your server documentation or try the instructions from one of these certificate authorities:
Comodo CSR Generation Instructions
DigiCert CSR Generation Instructions
Entrust CSR Generation Instructions
GeoTrust CSR Generation Instructions
Thawte CSR Generation Instructions
Once you have your CSR generated, you can use our SSL Wizard to find the best SSL certificate that will meet your needs. If you are familiar with OpenSSL you can use the following command to generate a CSR and private key:
openssl req -new -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -out servername.csr -keyout servername.key
You can easily decode your CSR to see what is in it by using our CSR Decoder. In order to decode a CSR on your own machine using OpenSSL, use the following command:
openssl req -in server.csr -noout -textCrypkey cant generate site key when remote desktop.
The bit-length of a CSR and private key pair determine how easily the key can be cracked using brute force methods. As of 2016, a key size of less than 2048 bits is considered weak and could potentially be broken in a few months or less with enough computing power. If a private key is broken, all the connections initiated with it would be exposed to whomever had the key. The Extended Validation guidelines that SSL certificate providers are required to follow, require that all EV certificates use a 2048-bit key size to ensure their security well into the future. Because of this, most providers encourage 2048-bit keys on all certificates whether they are EV or not.
Originally posted on Sun Dec 7, 2008