How to Install an Wildcard SSL certificate in WHM

SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificates are the talk of the town. You cannot confirm a website’s security or e-commerce business that does not have an authentic SSL certificate installed on its site. It allows secure communication between a server and a user. Without SSL certificates, both the user’s info and the website resources can easily be accessed and used by the attackers for malicious purposes. So, the use of SSL certificates has become mandatory for all the sites to operate securely.

There are multiple kinds of SSL certificates, and you can select any one of them for your corporate website. Here is a short description of different sorts of SSL certificates:

Single Domain Certificate – These types of SSL certificates secure one domain only. You cannot protect any subdomains with this certificate – just the one “hard listing” on the SSL certificate. However, all the pages on that domain are well protected with this certificate. For example, if a domain named “www.123.com” has installed a single-domain SSL certificate. Then “123.com/pages” will also be secured by this certificate.
Wildcard SSL Certificate – You can use this certificate if you are handling a single domain and multiple subdomains. You can protect up to hundred subdomains under a single certificate. For instance, if a Wildcard SSL certificate is activated on a domain www.123.com, then all its subdomains like “blogs.123.com”, “developers.123.com”, and “partners.123.com” will also be secured.
Multi-Domain SSL Certificates – This certificate helps protect several domains and their subdomains. With this single certificate, you can defend all the websites and their subdomains. So, you do not have to deal with purchasing a new certificate for every domain.

Coming to the main subject, we want to know how to install Wildcard SSL certificates in WHM, so we will only discuss these certificates ahead. Web Host Manager is a control panel that enables you to handle numerous websites based on cPanel. To install the Wildcard SSL certificate in WHM, you first need to create a certificate signing request (CSR).

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Generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) in WHM

The certificate signing request (CSR) contains all the necessary information about the company and the website that needs to be protected. The CSR code acts as an application form to apply for the issuance of the SSL certificate. You provide this CSR file to the certificate-issuing authority to get an SSL certificate for your business website. Follow the below-mentioned steps to generate a CSR code in WHM:

Sign into your Web Host Manager (WHM) account
Find and tap on the “SSL/TLS” tab
Now choose “Create an SSL Certificate Signing Request.”
In the next few steps, you will need to provide all the details about you and your organization
Enter the correct “Email Address” that CA will use to contact you and for sending files
Choose the key size to “2048 bits (Recommended)”
Next, provide FQDN that you want to protect in the “Domains” name
In the “Locality” field, write the complete name of the city where your company is officially operating
Enter the Province name in the “State Name” section
In the “Organization Name” box, provide the original name of your firm. In case you are applying for a Domain Validation Certificate, then give the name of your website
For “Organization unit,” write the name of the division or department that have applied for an SSL certificate and will manage it
Leave the “Passphrase” empty as it is optional, and it is better not to write anything in this section to avoid any confusions
Now, go through all the information you entered above to make sure everything is correct
Select “Create.”
Cheers! You have successfully generated the CSR file and the private key

Now, provide this CSR code to the certificate issuance party to get an SSL certificate for you. The CA will take some time to authenticate you and your business identity, depending upon the validation level you have applied for. Now, move to the next step to know how to install the Wildcard SSL certificate on WHM.

Install Wildcard SSL Certificate on WHM

After getting the Wildcard SSL certificate from the certification authority (CA). Follow the installation process mentioned below:

Sign into your Web Host Manager (WHM) account
Search for “Install an SSL Certificate on a Domain” in the “SSL/TLS” section
After clicking on it, a new window will pop-up where you will be asked to provide the details
Write the Domain and subdomains names in the “Domain” area
Do not write anything like “IP Address (non-user domains only)” section
Now, the next step is to fill details in the “Certificate” section. First, you have to draw out all the files from the zip folder you received from CA. Find and open the Certificate file in an editor or notepad. Then, copy and paste the whole content of the file in the required field
After this, you need to enter the secret key in the “Private Key” segment. For this, select the domain name from the drop-down menu and select the autofill method or you can manually open the Private key file (generated during CSR code creation) in notepad and then paste it into the Private Key box
The last step is to fill the “Certificate Authority Bundle” box. This section will provide all the root, intermediate, and user certificates that you received from the SSL provider. You will find these certificates in the “*.ca-bundle” file. Copy and paste all the certificates in correct order to complete the installation process
Now, click “Install,” and you are done

A new window will open congratulating you on successfully installing the Wildcard SSL certificate on your website.

Conclusion

Installing an SSL certificate is a must to improve your website’s performance and attract new customers. Everyone nowadays is too conscious while surfing over the Internet and avoids spending time on a website that shows a “Not secure connection” alert – which typically means it does not have a valid SSL certificate. A Wildcard SSL certificate allows you to secure a single domain and its numerous subdomains with a single license. Follow the above-mentioned vital steps to successfully install a Wildcard SSL certificate in WHM to secure your website and its multiple subdomains.

January 5, 2021

Generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) in WHM

Install Wildcard SSL Certificate on WHM

Conclusion

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