Cpanel SSL Certificate Installation

To the uninitiated, using cPanel to generate and install an SSL certificate will seem complicated.  It’s actually rather simple.

Generate a new private key:

1. Log in to cPanel and click on the SSL/TLS icon.
2. Click on, “Generate, view, upload, or delete your private keys.”
3. Leave the size set to 2,048; put your domain name in the description if you wish
4. Click on “Generate”
5. At the bottom, click on “Return to SSL Manger”

Generate a new certificate signing request based on the new key.  The “CSR” acronym stands for “Certificate Signing Request”:

1. Click on, “Generate, view, or delete SSL certificate signing requests.”
2. In the Key text box, select the key you just generated
3. Fill in the Domains text box with your domain name.  Be sure to use the www prefix, www.YourDomain.com
4. Fill in the rest of the text boxes which have an “*” next to them.  These are required.  The rest are optional.
5. DO NOT fill in the Passphrase box!  With our SSL providers it is not needed and can cause complications.
6. Click on “Generate”
7. Click on “Return to SSL Manager”

Now that you have the CSR, it’s time to order the certificate.   Go to our ordering system, select and purchase your certificate.  A new service will be created in your account which you then configure using your new CSR.  Logged in to your billing account:

1. Click on “Services” at the top followed by “My Services”
2. To the right of your certificate service, click on, “View Details”
3. Click on, “View Certificate Details” and then, “Configure Certificate”
4. In the web server drop down box, select “Apache +ModSSL”
5. Use cut and paste to put your new CSR in the box below that.
6. Make sure you see “—–BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST—–” and “—–END CERTIFICATE REQUEST—–“
7. The rest of the boxes will self populate and you can ignore or change them as you wish.
8. Click on “Click to Continue”
9. Select where you want the confirmation email to be sent.  Be sure before continuing that you have access the the selected address.  An error here will cause delays.
10. Follow the instructions in the confirmation email once you receive it.

Your new SSL certificate will be emailed to you when the confirmation process is complete.  For domain validated certificates this will be a matter of minutes.  Extended validation certificates require manual review at the certificate vendor which can take a day or more and often includes a phone call from the vendor.

Now back in cPanel, follow these steps:

1.  In the SSL/TLS manager in cPanel, click on, “Generate, view, upload, or delete SSL certificates.”
2. You want “Upload a new Certificate”.  Paste your new certificate into the box, “Paste the certificate into the following text box:”
3. Click on “Save” and return to the SSL/TLS manager
4. Click on, “Manage SSL Sites”
5. In the box labeled, “Domain” – select the domain and click on, “Auto Fill by Domain”
6. Click on “Install Certificate”

That’s it!  Your site is now ready to use your new certificate.

If you wish, we will do all of this for you except for the confirmation in some cases.  During your certificate purchase, select the SSL Certificate installation option if you would like to take advantage of this.

To have your entire site use your new certificate, create or edit /public_html/.htaccess so that it contains this:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI}