How to generate a CSR for SSL in your cPanel

Follow these instructions to generate a Private Key and CSR in order to configure your SSL order.

  1. The first step is to create a private key. Login to cPanel and click the SSL Manger icon.
  2. From the SSL Manger click Private Keys (KEY).
  3. Enter your host name (e.g., 'www.mysite.com') under Generate a New Key and press Generate.
  4. The next step is to create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR). Navigate back to the SSL Manager page.
  5. Select Certificate Signing Requests (CSR).
  6. Fill out the form for the CSR under Generate a New Certificate Signing Request.
  7. When creating a CSR you must follow these conventions. Enter the information to be displayed in the certificate. The following characters cannot be accepted: < > ~ ! @ # $ % ^ / \ ( ) ? , &
    CSR Input Fields
    Field Explanation Example
    Common Name (CN)
    (host name, FQDN, etc.)
    The fully qualified domain name for your web server. This must be an exact match. If you intend to secure the URL https://www.domain.com, then your CSR's common name must be "www.domain.com".
    For https://secure.domain.com it must be "secure.domain.com".
    For just https://domain.com it must be just "domain.com".
    For https://owa.mailserver.net it must be "owa.mailserver.net".
    A Wildcard for https://sub.primary-domain.com must be "*.primary-domain.com". The asterisk must be included for Wildcard CSR's.
    Organization (O) The exact legal name of your organization. Do not abbreviate your organization name. Karens Widgets LLC or Boutique Bows R Us
    Organizational Unit (OU) Section of the organization Sales Division or Security
    City or Locality (L) The city where your organization is legally located. Cannot be abbreviated. Boston
    State (S) or Province The state or province where your organization is legally located. Cannot be abbreviated. Massachusetts
    Country (C) The two-letter ISO abbreviation for your country. US, CA, GB, (must be two-letters)
    Email Any email address. This field is arbitrary but must be filled in. GeoTrust will not use this email address to process your order. user@domain.com
    Key Bit Length The key bit length has to do with the initial key exchange, not the encryption strength of your certificate. GeoTrust recommends a key bit length of at least 1024
  8. Select the Generate button to generate the CSR.
  9. Click the View button to view your new CSR and copy-and-paste it into a simple text file.
  10. Save a copy of your CSR. The CSR will be needed during the purchase process. You'll be asked to copy-and-paste your CSR into a special CSR box.

    Below is an example of what your CSR will look like. This is a example only and cannot be used to generate your SSL certificate.

    -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
    MIIB3zCCAUgCAQAwgZ4xCzAJBgNVBAYTAlVTMRAwDgYDVQQIEwdHZW9yZ2lhMRAw
    DgYDVQQHEwdBdGxhbnRhMREwDwYDVQQKEwhHZW9DZXJ0czEaMBgGA1UECxMRSW5l
    cm5ldCBNYXJrZXRpbmcxGTAXBgNVBAMTEHd3dy5nZW9jZXJ0cy5jb20xITAfBgkq
    hkiG9w0BCQEWEmFkbWluQGdlb2NlcnRzLmNvbTCBnzANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOB
    jQAwgYkCgYEA5KOi+RnRzBuBQeFYjrwZg1sfT7zr4L8j0Khuoj621x+lGBmFC76c
    kGclUIQBmuyp9T9NrNqAjGtEmgdFr6cWLJtgXgi+BaZDLX9BMYF49NuTggNoEUMX
    crQRAENHb2YthG2SEcF5p98RNcDPzWOA3a4AMvgkxDlDGYUhbcQhnt0CAwEAAaAA
    MA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBAUAA4GBAIapt6Tw0BTYUwEAX0/oKvaaN/ghErR85jdW7xOD
    b1hL0yNfb495A7e/IQyBEP5a/v+QUOtibHS4geiPhH9etAI+DSQmctjbf6dMGJql
    gCXGwlsTbjPOSmNT+/X2Uvf1BlplwqAMDghEuFHsjshlypz1NEg94ri2K9N1VrBs
    +iAv
    -----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
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