How to create a CSR (Certificate Signing Request) in Plesk

Adding an SSL certificate in Plesk is a multi-step process. Understanding what SSL is and how it works will make this process much easier.

Understanding SSL

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Overview

The basic steps to installing an SSL certificate include:
1. Create a CSR (Certificate Signing Request)
2. Submit the CSR to a Trusted Provider (also known as a Certificate Authority) and purchase the SSL.
3. Upload the SSL files to the server.
4. Apply the new certificate to your domain.

Create the CSR

Open Advanced Domain Options

Open the Advanced Options for the domain you’re going to add SSL to.

How to view Advanced Domain Options

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Click “Secure Your Sites”

Inside the Advanced Options, click the “Secure Your Sites”

SSL Certificates

On the SSL Certificates page, under the Tools heading, click “Add SSL Certificate”

Add SSL Certificate

Under Add SSL Certificate, you’ll need to fill out the CSR Request form.

Certificate Name: Enter a unique name for the certificate. You can use any name you wish as long as it is unique. I recommend using the domain name and the current year.

Country: Select the country the business is based in from the dropdown box.

State or province: Enter the state or province of the business

Location (city): Enter the city the business is located in.

Organization name (company): Enter your business name.

Organization department or division name: This setting is optional. If you wish, you may enter a department. Examples might include IT, Marketing or Sales

Domain name: Enter the domain name. If you are applying the certificate to a specific subdomain (sales.domain.com or blog.domain.com), make sure you enter the exact subdomain.

Email: Enter your contact email address.

Once you have filled in the form, click Request.

Access Your CSR

After your CSR is generated you will be returned to the SSL Certificates page with a notice saying the new SSL certificate was added.

To view the CSR, scroll down the page under Certificates and click on the certificate name you created in the previous step.

You’ll notice to the right of the certficate, there are some small icons under the letters R, K, C and A. These represent the certificate files that have been created. R=Certificate Signing Request, K=Private Key, C=Public Key and A=Signing Authority. The icons that are displayed in full color represent the files that have been created and the icons that appear greyed out represent the missing certificates.

“Change Properties of SSL Certificate” Page

On the “Change Properties of SSL Certificate” page, scroll down the page until you see “CSR” . The text displayed starting with “- – – – – BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST- – – – -” through “- – – – -END CERTIFICATE REQUEST- – – – -” is the text you will provide to a 3rd party certificate provider. Copy the entire text, including the Begin Certificate and End Certificate lines.

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