Generate Certificate From Private Key
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.
Why do you do crypto key generate.
Sep 11, 2018 Just because some web servers allow using old CSRs for certificate renewal doesn’t mean you should use them. As a security precaution, always generate a new CSR and private key when you are renewing a certificate. Clinging to the same private key is a road paved with security vulnerabilities. Jul 09, 2019 The private key gets generated along with your Certificate Signing Request (CSR). The CSR is submitted to the certificate authority right after you activate your certificate, while the private key must be kept safe and secret on your server or device. Later on, this key is used for installation of your certificate.
Key, CSR and CRT File Naming Convention
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.
- Common OpenSSL Commands with Keys and Certificates. Generate RSA private key with certificate in a single command openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -sha256 -keyout example.key -out example.crt -subj '/CN=example.com' -days 3650 -passout pass:foobar Generate Certificate Signing Request (CSR) from private key with passphrase.
- With the private key, you can then generate the CSR: If you want to extract the public key from the CSR, all examples I've seen require the private key to be present in the openssl command: I assume CAs do something similar to sign the certificates and therefore create a public key.
- 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
First, generate a private key on the Linux server that runs Apache webserver using openssl command as shown below.
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.
Left 4 dead 2 cd key generator steam. Copy/Paste the trial certificate to the www.thegeekstuff.com.crt file as shown below.
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