A Certificate Signing Request, or CSR, is a block of encoded text that identifies your domain and organization to a certificate authority. You generate it on your server before ordering most paid SSL certificates, and it is paired with a private key that stays on your server and is never shared. If you are using a free automated certificate through AutoSSL, you generally do not need a CSR at all, since the panel handles the whole process for you. A CSR is mainly needed for paid certificates, extended validation certificates, or certificates ordered through a third party.
What you need before generating one
- The exact domain name the certificate will cover, e.g. yourdomain.com or www.yourdomain.com.
- Your company's registered legal name and address, if the certificate authority asks for organization details.
- Your city, region/county, and country.
In cPanel
- Log in to cPanel and open SSL/TLS under the Security section.
- Click Generate, view, or delete SSL certificate signing requests.
- Under Generate a New Certificate Signing Request, choose the domain, or select an existing private key, or let cPanel generate a new one.
- Fill in the City, State, Country, Company, Company Division, and Email fields.
- Click Generate.
- Copy the CSR text shown, including the BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST and END CERTIFICATE REQUEST lines, and paste it into your certificate authority's order form.
In DirectAdmin
- Log in to DirectAdmin and open SSL Certificates under the Advanced Features section.
- Choose Create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) to submit for a certificate.
- Fill in the domain name and the organization fields requested.
- Click Save, then copy the generated CSR text.
Keep the private key generated alongside your CSR on the same server where you will later install the certificate. If you generate the CSR on one server but install the certificate on another, the certificate will not match its key and will fail to install.
Once the certificate authority validates your request and issues the certificate, you will receive the certificate file and usually a bundle of intermediate certificates, which you then install through the same SSL/TLS section in your panel.