How to Obtain Your SSL Certificate

To complete your SSL certificate enrollment, please visit one of many sites, for example: http://www.verisign.com/products/site. There, you will be instructed to complete the following steps.

1. Generate Certificate Signing Request: Follow the instructions in your server software manual, or online at http://digitalid.verisign.com/server/enrollStep3.htm, to create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) and a key pair. After the server software creates the two files, make backup copies of them on a floppy disk, and store the disk in a secure location. This is important: if your private key is lost, the CA will not be able to recover it for you.

2. Submit the Certificate Signing Request (CSR) to the CA: Open the CSR file in a text editor, such as WordPad, Notepad, or Textpad. Do not use a word processing application such as Microsoft Word or Adobe FrameMaker. Select the text in the CSR, beginning with and including:

   —-BEGIN NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST—-

   and ending with

   —-END NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST—-

   Copy and paste the CSR into the CA online enrollment form for the trial or the one-year subscription. Click the Submit button.

3. Complete application: Fill out the online application form with information about your company and contacts. The technical contact must be authorized to run and maintain your secure Web storefront server and must be employed by your organization. If you access the Web storefront through an Internet Service Provider (ISP), the ISP may complete the CSR for you and serve as the technical contact, and you can then enroll. If your ISP does not offer CA IDs, refer it to www.verisign.com/isp/index.html for information about VeriSign’s Secure Site ISP Program.

   The organizational contact must be authorized to make binding agreements, such as the Secure Server Service Agreement, and must be employed by your organization. It is best to select a different person from the technical contact.

   The billing contact will receive invoices. This can be the same person as the technical or organizational contact.

4. Authentication takes 1–3 days: Within a few hours of receiving your application, the CA will send a confirming e-mail to your technical and organizational contacts. The e-mail will include a URL where you can check the status of your application, as well as a Personal Identification Number (PIN) that you will need to view the status. If the information you submitted is complete, your technical contact and organizational contact will receive your SSL certificate by e-mail in 1–3 working days.

5. Install your SSL certificate: When you receive your SSL certificate, make a backup copy of it and store it on a labeled floppy disk, noting the date you received it. Store the floppy disk in a secure place. To install your SSL certificate, follow the instructions in your server software documentation for digital certificates.

6. Enable SSL on your server: Consult your server software manual to enable SSL. The process should take approximately five minutes.

7. Post the Secure Site Seal on all your secure pages: You should receive a file of the Seal, complete with instructions on how to install it, via e-mail shortly after completing the enrollment process. You can also find downloadable Seal files and instructions at http://www.verisign.com/seal/secure/install.html