Requesting a Certificate from a Certificate Authority

This is the second step in securing your IP-based site. Before you perform this step, you need to have generated a certificate request.

Note: Name-based sites cannot use SSL certificates.

To request a certificate from a Certificate Authority:

  1. Generate an SSL certificate request if you have not done so already.
  2. Copy the encrypted request onto your local system clipboard.
  3. Open another Internet browser window, and go to the Web site of the Certificate Authority you want to use, for example, VeriSign.
  4. On the Certificate Authority's Web site, follow the instructions for submitting the encrypted certificate request. Since you have copied it to your clipboard, you can paste the request directly into the appropriate window.
  5. The Certificate Authority will send you an SSL certificate, usually through email.

Next step in securing your site:

Loading the certificate onto your site