SSL Certificate Installation Guideline for IIS 8

A Complete Guideline to Install SSL Certificate on IIS 8 Web Server

Please click here if you still have not created a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) and follow our instructions on how to successfully place an order.

Steps to Install & Configure an SSL Certificate on Windows Server 2012 – IIS 8 and Windows Server 2012 R2 – IIS 8.5 (Single Certificate)

Step 1 – Open the zip folder that contains your certificate and save the file 'your_domain_name.cer' to the desktop of the web server you intend to secure.

Step 2 – To open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, go to the Windows Start Menu and click Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager

Step 3 – In Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, select your servers 'Hostname' which is under 'Connections'

Step 4 – In the center menu of IIS, double-click the Server Certificates icon

Step 5 – Under the Actions Menu, click on 'Complete Certificate Request' to open the Complete Certificate Request wizard.

Step 6 – In the 'Specify Certificate Authority Response' window shown below, perform the following:

Under 'File name containing the certificate authority's', click … to browse for your .cer certificate file that your CA sent and click 'Open'.
Enter a 'Friendly Name' for the certificate in the box provided. The friendly name is for internal reference only and will not appear in the certificate.
- Please Note: We recommend adding the CA's name and the certificate expiration date at the end of your friendly name to help identify the correct certificate.
In 'Select a certificate store for the new certificate' drop-down menu, select 'Personal'.

Step 7 – Next, click on 'OK' and install the certificate to the server.

Step 8 – After installing the SSL certificate to the server, the next step is to use IIS 8 to assign or bind the certificate to the appropriate website.

Step 9 – In 'Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager', under Connections, expand your server's name & 'Sites' folder to select the appropriate website.

Step 10 – In the Action Menu, under 'Edit Sites', click on 'Bindings…'

Step 11 – In this window, click on 'Add…'' button, which will open the window of 'Add Site Binding'.

Step 12 – Enter the following information in the 'Add Site Bindings' window:

Type: Select https from the drop-down list
IP Address: Select 'All unassigned'. However, if your server has multiple IP addresses, please select the one that applies.
Port: Unless using a non-standard port for SSL traffic, you always need to enter here the value '443'
SSL Certificate: From the drop-down menu, select the friendly name of the certificate you just installed.

Step 13 – Next, click on 'OK'.

Step 14 – With this step, your SSL certificate is successfully installed and the website is configured properly to accept the secure connections.

Steps to Install & Configure an SSL Certificate on Windows Server 2012 – IIS 8 and Windows Server 2012 R2 – IIS 8.5 (Multiple Certificates using SNI)

Step 1 – Open the zip folder that contains your certificate and save the file 'your_domain_name.cer' to the desktop of the web server you intend to secure.

Step 2 – To open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, go to the Windows Start Menu and click Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

Step 3 – In Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, select your servers 'Hostname' which is under 'Connections'

Step 4 – In the center menu of IIS, double-click the Server Certificates icon

Step 5 – Under the Actions Menu, click on 'Complete Certificate Request' to open the Complete Certificate Request wizard.

Step 6 – In the 'Specify Certificate Authority Response' window shown below, perform the following:

Under 'File name containing the certificate authority's', click … to browse for your .cer certificate file that your CA sent and click 'Open'.
Enter a 'Friendly Name' for the certificate in the box provided. The friendly name is for internal reference only and will not appear in the certificate.
- Please Note: We recommend adding the CA's name and the certificate expiration date at the end of your friendly name to help identify the correct certificate.
In 'Select a certificate store for the new certificate' drop-down menu, select 'Web Hosting.

Step 7 – Next, click on 'OK' and install the certificate to the server.

If IIS 8 displays error message, “Failed to remove the certificate”, please close the dialog box and press “F5” to refresh the server certificate list. If this was the same server which generated the CSR, the SSL certificate should be installed and appear in the refreshed list. If this is the case, please check and confirm the certificate is in the “Web Hosting” certificate store.

However, if the new certificate is not in your server certificate list, please Re-Issue the certificate by performing the following:

Create a new CSR in IIS 8…for instructions, click here.
Login to your Dashboard via www.thesslstore.com
Locate your Active Certificate
Click Re-Issue Certificate
Repeat Installation with new SSL Certificate

Step 8 – After installing the SSL certificate to the server, the next step is to use IIS 8 to assign or bind the certificate to the appropriate website.

Step 9 – In 'Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager', under Connections, expand your server's name & 'Sites' folder to select the appropriate website.

Step 10 – In the Action Menu, under 'Edit Sites', click on 'Bindings…

Step 11 – In this window, click on 'Add…' button, which will open the window of 'Add Site Binding'.

Step 12 – Enter the following information in the 'Add Site Bindings' window:

Type: Select https from the drop-down list
IP Address: Select 'All unassigned'. However, if your server has multiple IP addresses, please select the one that applies.
Port: Unless using a non-standard port for SSL traffic, you always need to enter here the value '443'
SSL Certificate: From the drop-down menu, select the friendly name of the certificate you just installed.

Step 13 – Next, click on 'OK'.

Step 14 – With this step, your SSL certificate is successfully installed and the website is configured properly to accept the secure connections.

Step 15 – Next, create another CSR for your second site/domain and repeat Steps 1 – 12 until the new SSL is installed.

If you need instructions on how to generate another CSR, click here.

Step 16 – Enter the following information in the 'Add Site Bindings' window:

Type: Select https from the drop-down list
IP Address: Select 'All unassigned'. However, if your server has multiple IP addresses, please select the one that applies.
Port: Unless using a non-standard port for SSL traffic, you always need to enter here the value '443'
Host Name: Enter the host name that you will be securing and click on the check box that says 'Require Server Name Indication.' All additional sites require this, but as shown in Step 13, it is not needed on the primary site.
SSL Certificate: From the drop-down menu, select the friendly name of the additional certificate you installed in Step 7.

Step 19 – Next, click on the 'OK' button.

Step 20 – With this step, you have successfully installed you second SSL certificate and configured the website to accept the secure connections.

Step 21 – You are required to repeat the Steps from 16 – 19 for setting up any other additional sites.

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