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Loading...A Painless and Quick Guide for SSL Certificate Installation
Secure Sockets Layer certificates, or SSL certificates, are the industry standard when it comes to protecting information transmitted over the Internet. SSL certificates are able to encrypt all data transmitted between the site’s client and the server computers on their own. A secure connection is automatically established when the server and browser are correctly configured; the user does not have to take any action to set up security. In order to provide the most secure service for a client, it is important to obtain an SSL certificate and configure the web server to use it. This article covers the installation of SSL certificates under Microsoft Internet Information Services.
To install an SSL certificate, a server requirement and a dedicated IP address are the most important things. The server must have the capability for secure connections. As far as dedicated IP address is concerned, then SSL certificates cannot be installed on a shared IP unless & until the certificate is shared.
The first step is, of course, to obtain the certificate. A number of certificate authorities or CAs exist for just this purpose. The site administrator can often obtain the certificate directly, or the web host can provide this service. Once the file is created and obtained, simply open the file containing the certificate and save it to the appropriate server with the new name “Your Web Site.cer.” Select “Start>Administrator Tools>Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager” and then simply left-click on the server’s name.
After completing the above steps, navigate to the “security” section of the server’s menu. Select the “server certificates” menu button. Left-click on the “complete certificate request” menu choice, which begins the Certificate Wizard. The wizard does much of the work when installing the certificate. When prompted, select the .cer file saved to the server from the earlier steps and enter an alias name that refers to the certificate located on the server. Finally, click the “OK” button in order to install the certificate onto the server.
If you do everything correctly following the above steps, then it should install without any errors. If you get any type of errors or warnings, then you should contact your server administrator for help.
An SSL certificate is an important part of any website, particularly one that requires the transmitting of secure data. While SSL certificates are important, installation is not a particularly user-friendly process. Utilize the web host and site administrator in order to complete these steps and host a safe and secure website.