C2Net Stronghold - Generate CSR

A Certificate Signing Request (CSR) is required when applying for an SSL certificate. This CSR (and private key) can be generated on your webserver. To request a wildcard certificate, fill in an * (asterisk) for the subdomain, for example *.sslcertificaten.nl (instead of www.sslcertificates.nl).

Certificates are managed in Stronghold using three commands: genkey, getca and genreq. The certificates are normally stored in /usr/local/ssl/private/.

Creating a Private Key

If there is no private key yet, it should first be created. Please enter the hostname of the server after the genkey-command. In this example we will use www.sslcertificaten.nl:

[root@server]# genkey www.sslcertificaten.nl

Two files will be generated, after which both the file names and location are shown. The standard values for this output are:

Key file: /usr/local/www/www.sslcertificaten.nl.key

CSR file: /usr/local/www/www.sslcertificaten.nl.cert

Creating a CSR

1. Use the following command to create the CSR:

[root@server]# genreq www.sslcertificaten.nl

Note: replace www.sslcertificaten.nl with the domain name of the certificate being requested.

2. The script will ask to confirm in order to prevent a new key overwriting an older Private Key or CSR.

3. Provide the key size in bits; preferably 2048.

4. Press random keys on the keyboard until the counter hits zero. This random input will be used to generate an unpredictable Key Pair.

5. When asked, press y to continue.

6. Provide the requested organization details LINK.
Note: at CA, choose Other.
The genkey script will now automatically create the CSR.

To order a certificate, copy the entire contents of the generated CSR, including the first and last line and all dashes.

Order certficate