Help

Guides for ordering, validating and installing your certificate.

Create your CSR

The first step of any order. Pick the control panel or server you use.

• How to generate a CSR in cPanel
• How to generate a CSR in Plesk
• How to generate a CSR with OpenSSL (Apache and nginx)
• How to generate a CSR in Windows IIS

Install your certificate

Once your certificate is issued, put it on your server.

• How to install an SSL certificate on Apache
• How to install an SSL certificate on nginx
• How to install an SSL certificate in cPanel
• How to install an SSL certificate in Plesk
• How to install an SSL certificate in Windows IIS

Prove you own the domain

The certification authority needs to confirm you control the domain before it issues anything.

• Validate your domain by email
• Validate your domain with a DNS record
• Validate your domain with a file on your website

Something not working?

The error messages people meet most often, and how to fix each one.

• My CSR was rejected: what the messages mean
• Fix "unable to get local issuer certificate" and incomplete chain errors
• Fix "certificate name does not match" (ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID)
• Fix "key values mismatch": private key does not match the certificate
• I installed the new certificate but the site still shows the old one
• Domain validation is not completing: what to check

Good to know

Why certificates are getting shorter and what that means for you.

• SSL certificate validity is getting shorter: what changes and when

Free tools

• Certificate checker: see what a website is serving
• CSR and certificate decoder: check a CSR before you order
• Chain builder: put your certificate and bundle in the right order
• CSR generator: create a CSR in your browser