You can also use Microsoft IIS to generate a Private Key and CSR.
How to generate a CSR in Microsoft IIS 7
NGINX: Generate CSRs (Certificate Signing Requests) Before you can request your SSL, you must generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) From your server. When you have completed generating your CSR, cut/copy and paste it into the CSR field on the SSL certificate-request page. The path to your private key is listed in your site's virtual host file. Navigate to the server block for your site (by default, it's located in the /var/www directory). Open the configuration file for your site and search for sslcertificatekey which will show the path to your private key. Still can't find your private key?
1. Click Start, then Administrative Tools, then Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2. Click on the server name.
3. From the center menu, double-click the 'Server Certificates' button in the 'Security' section (it is near the bottom of the menu).
4. Next, from the 'Actions' menu (on the right), click on 'Create Certificate Request.' This will open the Request Certificate wizard.
5. In the 'Distinguished Name Properties' window, enter the information as follows:
- Common Name - The name through which the certificate will be accessed (usually the fully-qualified domain name, e.g., www.domain.com or mail.domain.com).
- Organization - The legally registered name of your organization/company.
- Organizational unit - The name of your department within the organization (frequently this entry will be listed as 'IT,' 'Web Security,' or is simply left blank).
- City/locality - The city in which your organization is located.
- State/province - The state in which your organization is located.
6. Click Next.
7. In the 'Cryptographic Service Provider Properties' window, leave both settings at their defaults (Microsoft RSA SChannel and 2048) and then click next.
8. Enter a filename for your CSR file.
9. Remember the filename that you choose and the location to which you save it. You will need to open this file as a text file and copy the entire body of it (including the Begin and End Certificate Request tags) into the online order process when prompted
2. Back Up Private Key
To backup a private key on Microsoft IIS 6.0 follow these instructions:
1. From your server, go to Start > Run and enter mmc in the text box. Click on the OK button.
2. From the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) menu bar, select Console > Add/Remove Snap-in.
3. Click on the Add button. Select Certificates from the list of snap-ins and then click on the Add button.
4. Select the Computer account option. Click on the Next button.
5. Select the Local computer (the computer this console is running on) option. Click on the Finish button.
6. Click on the Close button on the snap-in list window. Click on the OK button on the Add/Remove Snap-in window.
7. Click on Certificates from the left pane. Look for a folder called REQUEST or 'Certificate Enrollment Request> Certificates
8. Select the private key that you wish to backup. Right click on the file and choose > All Tasks > Export
9. The certificate export wizard will start, please click Next to continue. In the next window select Yes, export the private key and click Next
10. Leave the default settings selected and click Next.
11. Set a password on the private key backup file and click Next
12. Click on Browse and select a location where you want to save the private key Backup file to and then click Next to continue. By default the file will be saved with a .pfx extension.
13. Click Finish, to complete the export process
3. Convert to RSA Private Key Format
Godaddy Export Private Key
The private key is backed up as a ‘.pfx’ file, which stands for Personal Information Exchange.
To convert it to RSA Private Key format supported by inSync:
1. Download and install latest version of OpenSSL for windows from http://www.slproweb.com/products/Win32OpenSSL.html.
Note: OpenSSL requires Visual C++ 2008 Redistributables which can be downloaded from the same website.
2. Open command prompt, navigate to C:OpenSSL-Win32bin>, and run the following commands.
3. The private key will be saved as ‘myserver.key’.
4. Carefully protect the private key. Be sure to backup the private key, as there is no means to recover it, should it be lost.
I needed to grab GoDaddy’s SSL Certificate KeyFile for a CRM company that was connecting my client’s jobs database with my client’s WordPress website.
Generate Private Key From Certificate Godaddy Login
Specifically, I needed 3 separate files:
- SSL Certificate File
- SSL Certificate Key File (GoDaddy called this the Private Key)
- SSL Certificate Chain File (GoDaddy called this the CRT File)
First, see if your download button is available to the zip for SSL Certificate Keyfile from GoDaddy.
1. Login to GoDaddy.
2. Click your name at top right, then My Products.
3. Scroll down and open SSL Certificates.
4. Click Manage to the right of your SSL.
My Download button was unavailable. If yours is available, then skip this next section.
Next, rekey your SSL Certificate to give you temporary access to the Download button.
5. Click on Rekey & Manage instead to rekey the SSL Certificate. This will give you temporary access to the Download button, and grab the SSL Certificate files.
6. Click the (+) sign by Change encryption algorithm… to open the options.
7. Choose Starfield… from the dropdown menu and SAVE.
8. Scroll down farther, and hit Submit All Saved Changes.
GoDaddy support said to wait about 6 hours for the changes to take effect. I waited 5 minutes, refreshed the Manage screen for the SSL Certificate, and Download button was available!
About 30 minutes later, it was no longer available. So it appears to be temporary access or something. Moving on…
Finally, Download SSL Certificate Keyfiles
10. Click Download.
11. Choose the server type (Apache, in my case, because I’m on cPanel for WordPress.) and click Download Zip File.
The download contains 2 files, one of which is called something like gd_bundle…. This file contains all 3 certificates, in this order:
- SSL Certificate File
- SSL Certificate Key File (GoDaddy called this the Private Key)
- SSL Certificate Chain File (GoDaddy called this the CRT File)
I simply duplicated the gd_bundle… file, renamed them, and removed all keys but the one named by the file name. The file has an unusual extension, like .crt, but it was easy to view and edit in a code editor like Textmate or Coda.