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How
do I get an SSL certificate?
It's
easier than you think!
- Gather
up the required information below and e-mail it to
info@drizzle.com.
- Drizzle
will generate a Certificate Signing Request (otherwise
known as a CSR) based on this information and send
it back to you.
- Submit
the CSR to the Certificate Authority of your choice
(Drizzle recommends that you use VeriSign, Thawte,
Entrust, or InstantSSL).
- The
Certificate Authority (CA) returns a signed certificate
to you. This certificate verifies that the owner of
your site is who it appears to be.
- Send
this signed certificate back to Drizzle, and we'll
install it on our secure server.
Drizzle
charges a one-time $50 fee for setting up a secure server
certificate.
How
do I renew my SSL certificate?
This
process can vary depending on which CA you use, but essentially
follows the same steps as you followed to generate your
first SSL certificate, as outlined above.
Contact
the company from which your original certificate was
obtained to find out their policies. Most of them have
this information on their web sites.
Thawte is
the one Authority that does not require a new CSR to
be generated for a renewal, as long as none of the company's
information has changed. If you're renewing with Thawte,
you can simply pay the renewal fee and they will renew
your certificate.
Some
helpful hints for renewal:
- Start
the renewal process about a month before your current
certificate is due to expire.
- Make
sure
that your domain name is still properly registered.
If it's not, get this fixed before starting the certificate
renewal.
- Make
sure that your legal documentation (your business license,
etc) is valid and current. Some Certificate Authorities
require this information.
- Make
sure that you use the exact same information when generating
the new CSR as you did when you generated your original
CSR.
- Check
the payment policies for your Certificate Authority.
Most of them will only accept U.S. funds, and won't
issue a certificate without first receiving payment.
If you're in a hurry, the fastest way to renew your
certificate is with a credit card.
What
information does Drizzle need to generate a CSR?
Mandatory
information:
Country
Name (two letter coutnry code)
State
or Province (full name, not an abbreviation)
Locality
Name (full city name, not an abbreviation)
Organization
Name (name of the company that owns the site)
Common
Name (the domain name of the secure web site
that users will be connecting to)
Optional
information:
Organizational
Unit Name (for example, the IT Department)
E-mail
Address
A
challenge password
An
optional company name
[note:
if you've never submitted a CSR before, just leave
out the optional information. It's quicker, easier,
and much less confusing that way.]
Just
in case you're confused, here's an example of a CSR submitted
by the Star-Nosed Mole Foundation:
Country
Name: US
State
or Province Name: Washington
Locality
Name: Sequim
Organization
Name: The Star-Nosed Mole Foundation
Organizational
Unit Name:
Common
name: secure.starnosedmole.com
Email
address: info@ starnosedmole.com
If
all of this is still confusing, please e-mail
tech support,
or give us
a call. We'll be happy to clear things up
for you.
Quick
links to other FAQ topics
faq
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