Using StartSSL Certificates

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User Manuals > Web Interface > Using StartSSL Certificates

Contributed by: Rick Cassel

Instructions for using free StartSSL.com Class 1 Cert.

1.) Sign up for an account at StartSSL.com to get free class1 SSL certs. You'll need to generate a personal key and install it to your browser to authenticate with the StartSSL.com website (beyond the scope of this document). It's clearly documented on their website.

2.) Choose to create a web certificate.

3.) StartSSL will create an encrypted private key first. Be sure to make note of what you choose for a password. For Example 'abcdefghij' (You will need this in the RangerMSP interface) Download the encrypted private key and save it to your computer.

4.) Continue in StartSSL to request your certificate. There may be a delay of several hours but it usually comes very quick.

5.) While you are waiting, Go back to the StartSSL toolbox and choose to decrypt the private key you just created. RangerMSP can only use the decrypted version. Save the decrypted key as key.pem

6.) The cert provided by StartSSL is already in .pem format. Simply save a copy with the .pem extension. (cert.crt -> cert.pem) Save it as .crt to import into your browser.

7.) You can get the root and and intermediate certificate you need directly from the StartSSL website in the toolbox area. It's already in PEM format so simply save it as PEM. (Note:you will need to install the intermediate key in your browser.

Note: You may want to try with a few test certs (test1.mycompany.com) because if you screw up, you might burn a good cert name like clients.mycompany.com.


See Also