SiteHost

SSL Certificates

First if you're on this page you should consider moving to our Cloud Container product as it includes free, completely automated SSL Certificates which will make things much easier and save you money. If that's not an option at the moment then you can still do it the traditional way buy either buying a new certificate or importing one you've previously bought.

If you have already purchased a SSL Certificate and just need to install it you can skip to the Importing section below.

Buying & Installing a New SSL Certificate

Step 1: Generate a CSR

A CSR is your Certificate Signing Request that must be generated before you can order your certificate. A CSR is effectively a body of text that is sent to the certificate supplier as part of the certificate purchase. Your CSR will contain encoded information specific to your company and domain name. To generate your CSR follow these steps:

  • Click Websites in the left menu and then click the Certificates sub menu option.
  • Click Generate CSR at the top right action menu.
  • Fill out all the required fields, which are explained in more detail below.
    • State and Locality are full names, i.e. 'Auckland', 'Hawkes Bay'.
    • The Organization Name is your Full Legal Company or Personal Name, as legally registered in your locality.
    • The Organizational Unit is whichever branch of your company is ordering the certificate such as accounting, marketing, etc.
    • The Common Name is the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) for which you are requesting the SSL Certificate. So if you intend to secure the URL https://www.example.co.nz, then your CSR's common name must be "www.example.co.nz" - not "example.co.nz", or "shop.example.co.nz". Even though these are using the same base domain they are considered different Common Name's.
    • If you are generating a CSR for a Wildcard Certificate your Common Name must start with . (for example: .example.co.nz).
  • Finally, click Generate CSR.

The CSR will then be displayed. You can now copy it and send it to a certificate authority to purchase an SSL certificate. The CSR has been stored so you can leave this screen and come back later.

Step 2: Purchasing your SSL Certificate

Now that you have generated your CSR, you can proceed with the purchase of your SSL Certificate from an approved supplier. Here are two potential suppliers:

You should choose your supplier based on balancing price vs the level of trust each supplier engenders in your clients and other requirements you might have.

As part of the purchase process you will need to give the supplier the CSR you generated in the SiteHost Control Panel.

Step 3: Installing your SSL Certificate

At the end of the purchase process the supplier should provide you with one or more files. You should save these in a secure location. You will then need to:

  • Navigate to the certificate you created above.
  • Open the CRT file you have been given.
  • Copy the contents of the CRT file into the CRT field.
  • If the supplier also provided you with a Chain CRT file then open and copy the contents into the Chain CRT field. Otherwise ignore this step.
  • Click Update Certificate.

You can now jump to Using SSL Certificates below.

Importing an Existing SSL Certificate

If you have already purchased a SSL Certificate the you can easily import it into the SiteHost Control Panel by following the steps below:

  • Click Websites in the left menu and then click the Certificates sub menu option.
  • Click Import Certificate in the top right action menu.
  • Type the Common Name of the certificate. The Common Name is the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) which you defined as part of the Certificate purchase.
  • The certificate supplier will have supplied you with a unencrypted RSA Private Key (typically stored in a .key file). Open the file and copy the contents of the key into the Private Key field.
  • Click Import Certificate
  • The supplier will have given you a CRT file. Open this file and copy its contents into the CRT field.
  • If the supplier provided you with a Chain CRT file then open and copy the contents into the Chain CRT field. Otherwise ignore this step.
  • Click Update Certificate.

Using your SSL Certificate

  • When you are logged into the Control Panel click Websites in the left menu.
  • Click on the website you want to add the SSL Certificate to.
  • Click on the SSL Certificate option in the tab menu.
  • Choose the SSL Certificate to use with this website.
  • Click Enable SSL to finish adding it to the website.

Every SSL Certificate requires a unique IP Address. If there are no IP addresses available to use then please contact us.

Deleting an SSL Certificate

  • Click Websites in the left menu and then click the Certificates sub menu option.
  • Click the More Actions icon (᛫᛫᛫) on the right of the SSL Certificate you want to delete.
  • Click Delete to confirm and apply.