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Creating and Installing an SSL Certificate on a Hosted Domain with cPanel WHM

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Last Updated: December 11, 2007 10:57 AM

NOTE: The domain on which the SSL certificate is installed must be set up in a cPanel account. For more information, see Setting Up a Domain Using cPanel's WebHost Manager.

The cPanel client application's SSL Manager utility can create SSL keys, Certificate Signing Requests (CSRs), and self-signed CRTs. It does not allow you to install them on your domain, however. For that reason, this process uses cPanel's WebHost Manager (WHM).

To Create an SSL Certificate with cPanel WHM

  1. Open a Web browser and navigate to:
    https://[[ipaddress]]:2087/
    where [[ipaddress]] is the IP address for your dedicated server.
  2. Enter root as your user name and the password you specified when you set up your dedicated server account.
  3. Click OK.
  4. Under the Web SSL/TLS menu, click Generate a SSL Certificate and Signing Request.
  5. Enter the following information:
    • Email address (where cert is sent)
    • Host name
    • Country
    • State
    • City
    • Company Name
    • Company Division
    • Email address (displayed in cert)
    • Password
  6. Click Create. Your certificate information will display. Copy the RSA private key output into a text file and save in a secure location. If this information is lost, you will not be able to use your certificate.
  7. Under the SSL/TLS menu, click SSL Manager.
  8. In the CSRS column, click the floppy drive icon of the appropriate certificate signing request. Your certificate request information will display.
  9. Through your SSL signing authority, get your cert signed using the certificate request information. The signing authority will send a signed CRT and CA file. This file is sometimes referred to as an intermediate certificate or chaining file.

To Install an SSL Certificate with cPanel WHM

  1. Open a Web browser and navigate to:
    https://[[ipaddress]]:2087/
    where [[ipaddress]] is the IP address for your dedicated server.
  2. Enter root as your user name and the password you specified when you set up your dedicated server account.
  3. Click OK.
  4. Under the Web SSL/TLS menu, click Install a SSL Certificate and Setup the Domain.
  5. Paste your signed SSL certificate from the signing authority into the crt text box.
  6. Paste your RSA private key info saved from the previous procedure into the key text box.
  7. If received from the signing authority, paste the CA bundle (or intermediate certificate) into the ca text box.
  8. Confirm the domain, user, and IP address, and then click Do it.