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How to generate a CSR in Windows IIS

IIS creates the CSR and keeps the private key on the same server. You must install the certificate on that same server, so make the CSR on the machine that will use the certificate.

1. Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager and click your server name.
2. Double-click Server Certificates, then click Create Certificate Request.
3. In Common name, type exactly the name on your order, for example www.example.com. For a wildcard, *.example.com.
4. Fill in Organization, Organizational unit, City and State. For Country/region, type GB. Do not type UK.
5. Click Next. Set Cryptographic service provider to Microsoft RSA SChannel Cryptographic Provider and Bit length to 2048.
6. Choose a file name and location, then click Finish.
7. Open the file in Notepad. Copy everything, including the BEGIN and END lines, and paste it into your order.

When your certificate is issued, complete the request in IIS on the same server.

What we check when you paste it in

• Key size: 2048-bit RSA is what you want. 4096-bit is also accepted. 1024-bit is refused.
• Common name: it must match the domain on your order exactly. For a wildcard certificate it must begin *., for example *.example.com.
• Country: if you enter one, use the two-letter code. For the United Kingdom that is GB, not UK.

If something is wrong we tell you straight away, all at once, so you can make a new CSR and paste it in. Our free CSR decoder shows what is inside a CSR before you order.

More in this section

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

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