Adding an SSL Certificate
Adding an SSL Certificate to your domain will ensure that information on your site is secured and that any credit card details will not end up in the wrong hands. An SSL certificate is also necessary to make your site PCI compliant. In the WebControlCenter you need to use the SSL Management Tool to order and install an SSL certificate.
SSL Management Tool
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificates for domains, on shared plans,
can be added easily with the automated Certificate Management tool in the WebControlCenter. With this
tool, you can create and process Certificate Signing
Requests to enable an SSL Certificate for
your website. It allows you to manage the SSL process in the WebControlCenter for one or all of your domain names.
We offer our SSL Certificates through a company called Trustwave. The Certificate Management tool in the WebControlCenter can be utilized regardless of if you purchase your SSL through us or if you use a third party SSL provider. If you would like to use a third-party certificate instead, read Knowledge Base KB 1573 to learn how to install your SSL through the WebControlCenter.
WebControlCenter Navigation
If you have not already, login to the WebControlCenter to
use the SSL Certificate Management tool.
Navigate to Ecommerce > Security Services > SSL Management.
CSR Generation (The Certificate Request)
Before an SSL certificate can be produced correctly by the certificate
provider, they need to know specific information about the web server
that the website is on. This information is generated within this Certificate Management tool and entered into a
Certificate Signing Request (CSR).
Click on get certificate now, which can found on the right.
Select your Country from the drop down box and click next.
Next, you will need to complete the form. Below is an example form a description of each filed:
Please Note: Please do not use abbreviations or symbols.
Common name:
Enter the domain name that you will be securing here. Most certificates
are meant to be used for one domain name and one prefix only.
For
example, in www.example.com where "example.com" is your domain name,
the "www" is the prefix. You can create a certificate for an extra
domain by putting that domain name into the common name field, however
you can only have one SSL certificate per hosting plan.
Organization:
Enter the name of the organization that owns the domain name (as
specified with the registrar). Please do not use abbreviations or commas.
Organization Unit: Enter the name of the department within your company that will have the most interaction with the SSL pages.
City: Enter the city where the business is located.
State/Province: Chose your state or province from the drop-down menu.
Email Address: An email address is not used in the certificate itself, but we may need it to contact you for more information.
SSL Option: To purchase a new SSL certificate, select either the
one year or the three year option.
If you would like to use a third-party or wild card certificate (other than Trustwave),
select the Generate CSR only option.
Bit Length: Select your specific bit lenght for your certificate: 1024, 2048 (default), or 4096. To learn more about bit length, read Knowledge Base Article #1574.
Once you have completed the click on the next button
** Please Note: There is a $10.00 installation fee for a Trustwave SSL (purchased through the WebControlCenter) and a $20 installation for a third Party SSL. This charge is for the certificate installation only. It does not include the charge for the certificate.
Click yes to agree to the fee and your CSR will be generated.
Lastly, click on the finish button.
The Next Steps
If you are purchasing a third party SSL certificate then your next step will be to copy the CSR code and provide that information to the company you are purchasing your SSL certificate from.
If you purchased an SSL through the WebControlCenter then Trustwave will attempt to confirm you own the domain name. They will do this several ways.
- They verify the company name and address on the admin contacts for the domain registration, against the Department of States listing for the company. If the information matches then Trustwave will issue the SSL certificate without delay
- If the information does not match then Trustwave will send you an email requiring you to place a file with a unique section of code into the root of your site. Once the file has been uploaded to your site you will need to respond to the email Trustwave sent to provide them with the URL of the file you uploaded. This will verify you own the domain and no other steps are
needed as we will install your certificate within 48 hours.
You can check the SSL Management page in the WebControlCenter for updates on the status of your SSL. The SSL Management page will provide up-to-the-minute status to see if SSL certificate installation is complete.
Domain Statuses
The Domain Management Page will show several different statuses. Below is a list of all the statuses and a description of each.
Pending CTSSL
When a pending SSL certificate ordered through the WebControlCenter is ready, it will get automatically
installed. After a certificate has been installed, it will show up in a
separate table near the bottom called, "Domains currently using a SSL
certificate."
Pending
The Pending status is displayed when a CSR has been generated for the domain only but a SSL Certificate hasn't been installed. This would indicate that you are planning to install a SSL certificate through another Certificate Provider.
Info Needed or Bad CSR Data
If there was an issue creating the certificate, click on
the link, "Needed Info" or "Bad CSR Data" and see Knowledge Base Article #924.
View CSR
Clicking
this link will show you the content of the Certificate Signing Request.
Installation
Once your SSL certificate is installed, your site will now be listed in the table, Domains currently using a SSL certificate. You can test out your certificate by
browsing to https://www.Example.com where "Example.com" is your domain name
or the common name that was used for generating the CSR.
Additional Resources
If there are any issues or discrepancies, please feel free to contact us.
For common resolutions for pop-up errors that show up on your website after the SSL certificate has been installed, click here.
For instructions on placing a site seal (logo) on your website that shows that your site is utilizing SSL, click here.
Please Note: A site seal will take 24 hours to validate once it has been created.
Most of our hosting plans already have access to a shared SSL certificate. A shared SSL fundamentally works the same as your own, but has a generic domain name. See Knowledge Base Article #158 for more details.
Article ID: 767, Created On: 4/18/2009, Modified: 3/18/2013