Server Admin 10.4 Help
Creating a Self-Signed Certificate
Whenever you create an identity in the Certificate Manager, you're creating a self-signed certificate. Certificate Manager creates a private-public key pair in the system keychain with the key size specified (512 - 2048 bits). It then creates the corresponding self-signed certificate in the system keychain.
A Certificate Signing Request (CSR) is also generated at the same time that the self-signed certificate is created. This isn't stored in the keychain, but is written to disk at /etc/certificates/cert.common.name.tld.csr, where "common.name.tld" is the Common Name of the certificate that was issued.
- In Server Admin, select the server which has services that support SSL.
- Click Settings.
- Select the Certificates tab.
- Click the Add (+) button.
- Fill out identity information.
The common name is the fully qualified domain name of the server which will use SSL-enabled services.
- Enter starting and ending validity dates.
- Select a private key size (1024 bits is the default).
- Enter a passphrase for the private key.
- This passphrase should be more secure than a normal password.
It is recommended you use at least 20 characters, include mixed case, numbers and/or punctuation, have no characters repeat, and having no dictionary terms.
- Click Save.