Ssl Certificate Generate Private Key

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  1. Ssl Cert Generate Private Key
  2. Ssl Certificate Generate Private Key File

If you want to convert your website from HTTP to HTTPS, you need to get a SSL certificate from a valid organization like Verisign or Thawte. You can also generate self signed SSL certificate for testing purpose.

In this article, let us review how to generate private key file (server.key), certificate signing request file (server.csr) and webserver certificate file (server.crt) that can be used on Apache server with mod_ssl.

Key, CSR and CRT File Naming Convention

How can I find the private key for my SSL certificate. If you just got an issued SSL certificate and are having a hard time finding the corresponding private key, this article can help you to find that one and only key for your certificate. We provide here detailed instructions on how to create a private key and self-signed certificate valid for 365 days. Follow this article if you need to generate a private key and a self-signed certificate, such as to secure GSX Gizmo access using HTTPS.

I typically like to name the files with the domain name of the HTTPS URL that will be using this certificate. This makes it easier to identify and maintain. /generate-private-key-from-certificate-ios.html.

  • Instead of server.key, I use www.thegeekstuff.com.key
  • Instead of server.csr, I use www.thegeekstuff.com.csr
  • Instead of server.crt, I use www.thegeekstuff.com.crt

1. Generate Private Key on the Server Running Apache + mod_ssl

  1. An SSL Certificate is a public key verified and signed by a Certificate Authority. You generate a public/private key pair, then from that generate a Certificate Signing Request (which includes the public key), which you send to the CA. It then signs that public key included in the CSR producing the certificate which it sends back to you. See also here.
  2. Generating a private key and CSR to get an SSL certificate. If your organization doesn't already have a private key and SSL certificate, follow the instructions in this section. It explains how to generate your own private key and a certificate signing request (CSR), which you can then use to get an SSL certificate. Generate a private key.
  3. Oct 20, 2015  These keys are a linked pair of text files and are created together as a pair when you create your Certificate Signing Request (CSR). SSL works by making one key of the pair (the public key) known to the outside world, while the other (the private key) remains a secret only you know.
  4. It should be saved safely on the server you generated it on. Do not send your private key to anyone, as that can compromise the security of your certificate. If you lose your private key, you will be unable to install your SSL certificate and will need to generate a new key pair (CSR + Private Key) and re-issue the certificate.
  5. Crt and key files represent both parts of a certificate, key being the private key to the certificate and crt being the signed certificate. It's only one of the ways to generate certs, another way would be having both inside a pem file or another in a p12 container.
Ssl Certificate Generate Private Key

First, generate a private key on the Linux server that runs Apache webserver using openssl command as shown below.

Microsoft office 2000 small business product key generator. The generated private key looks like the following.

2. Generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)

Using the key generate above, you should generate a certificate request file (csr) using openssl as shown below.

3. Generate a Self-Signed SSL Certificate

For testing purpose, you can generate a self-signed SSL certificate that is valid for 1 year using openssl command as shown below.


You can use this method to generate Apache SSL Key, CSR and CRT file in most of the Linux, Unix systems including Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, Fedora and Red Hat.

4. Get a Valid Trial SSL Certificate (Optional)

Instead of signing it youself, you can also generate a valid trial SSL certificate from thawte. i.e Before spending the money on purchasing a certificate, you can also get a valid fully functional 21 day trial SSL certificates from Thawte. Once this valid certificate works, you can either decide to purchase it from Thawte or any other SSL signing organization.

This step is optional and not really required. For testing purpose, you can always use the self-signed certificate that was generated from the above step.

Go to Thwate trial certificate request page and do the following:

  • Select “SSL Web Server Certificate (All servers)” under the “select your trial certificate”.
  • Do not check the PKCS #7 check-box under the “configure certificate”
  • Copy/Paste the *.csr file that you generate above in the textbox under “certificate signing request (CSR)”
  • Click on next at the bottom, which will give you a 21-day free trial certificate.


Copy/Paste the trial certificate to the www.thegeekstuff.com.crt file as shown below.

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