Overview
A Certificate Signing Request (CSR) is a block of encrypted text that is generated on the server that a security certificate will be used on. This information is then sent to a Certification Authority which, in turn, creates the security certificate.
The CRS contains information that will be included in your certificate, such as your organization name, common name (domain name), locality, and country. It also contains the public key that will be included in your certificate. A private key is usually created at the same time that you create the CSR.
Creating a CSR in Microsoft IIS 8 or 8.5
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In the Windows search bar, search for Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager
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In the panel to the left, click on the server name
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From the center panel, double-click the Server Certificates button in the IIS section (it is near the middle of the panel)
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From the Actions panel (on the right), click on Create Certificate Request. This will open the Request Certificate wizard.
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In the Distinguished Name Properties window, enter the information as follows:
Common Name - The name through which the certificate will be accessed (usually the fully-qualified domain name, e.g., www.domain.com).
Organization - The legally registered name of your organization/company.
Organizational unit - The name of your department within the organization (frequently this entry will be listed as "IT," "Web", "Web Security," or is simply left blank).
City/locality - The city in which your organization is located.
State/province - The state in which your organization is located.
Country/region - Enter the two-digit country code. If needed, you can find your two-digit country code in Digicert's list.
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Click the Next button
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In the Cryptographic Service Provider Properties window, enter the following information and then, click Next:
Cryptographic service provider - In the drop-down list, select Microsoft RSA SChannel... (unless you have a specific cryptographic provider.)
Bit length - In the drop-down list, select 2048 (or higher - higher values provide increased security but may result in lower performance). -
Enter the file name and location for your CSR file.
Remember the filename that you choose and the location to which you save it. You will need to open this file as a text file and copy the entire body of it (including the Begin and End Certificate Request tags) into the online order process when prompted.
You are now ready to open the file, copy its contents, and submit the CSR to the Certificate Authority of your choice.
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