Ordering SSL Certificates

Provided you have configured an account with an SSL Provider, you can begin to provision SSL certificates for your clients through the Client Manager.

Steps

Ordering an SLL Certificate

When viewing a client's account in the Client Manager, click the 'Account Mgmt' tab. In the orange bar, you will see a link, 'Order SSL Cert'. This will open a popup that will prompt you for the information for the certificate.



The first field is for the domain name you wish to request the certificate for.

Upon entering the domain name, the system will reach out to your SSL provider to retrieve the list of Domain Control Validation (DCV) approved email addresses. You will see this process occuring, as a spinning orange graphic will appear next to the 'Approval Email Address' field. Once this process is complete, the graphic will disappear, and the dropdown will be popuplated with valid email addresses that can confirm the certificate request.

The appropriate validity period for the certificate may vary based the product you are purchasing from your provider, but typically 1 year, the default, is what you will wish to use. The Server Type will vary depending on the web server you intend to use the certificate with; typically Apache or Apache/mod_ssl will be the selection you want to use, if you are configuring the certificate for an Apache web server environment.

Next, select the Product you wish to purchase. Some providers have many SSL-based products available, so you will want to ensure you are purchasing the correct type. Consult with your SSL provider to verify which option is right for you.

Some providers, like Comodo, offer additional products to be included with your certificate order. If this is the case, this will be displayed on the popup.

The Approval Email Address, as mentioned above, will be populated with a drop down of approved email addresses that can confirm the order. Select an address where you know email can be easily recieved to approve the order after it has been submitted.

The Organization, Unit, State, and Country are dependent on your client. These fields (except Unit), are pre-populated with your client's data.

Clicking 'Specify Contact Info', will take you to the next step of the order process, and allow you to override the default settings for the certificate. You can select an alternative contact, or edit the contact details as necessary.

Once you are satisfied with the contact information, you can submit the order to your provider. If there are any errors, the system will return you to the beginning of the process so you can make any necessary changes. Otherwise, the order will be recieved by your provider, and the approval process will begin. Typically, your provider will send out an email to the approval address you selected. Your client will need to follow the instructions in the email and approve the order. During this process, you may want to check the status of the order to verify that things are going along smoothly.

Checking Order Status

Clicking the 'List SSL Certs' link from the 'Account Mgmt' page will present you with an list of certificates associated with your client. You can click the 'check status' link to update the status of the order. Some providers will offer detailed status, which you can retrieve by clicking the 'details' link associated with the certificate.

Some providers will allow you to automatically download the certificate when the order is completed. If you click, 'check status', and the order is marked as complete, click the 'details' link to retrieve the certificate from the 'Certificate' tab of the popup. At this point, the order is complete, and you can use the Private Key and Certificate to secure the website or other service that requires SSL/TLS.

Renewing a Certificate