How to Generate a CSR for Apache Web Server Using OpenSSL

Overview

The following lesson will guide you through the CSR generation process on Apache OpenSSL.

What is CSR?

A Certificate Signing Request (CSR code) is a block of encoded text that contains the information about the organization that applies for an SSL certificate, and the domain that needs to be secured. A CSR is what you give to the Certificate Authority to generate your SSL certificate. It is an essential part of obtaining an SSL certificate.

Generate a CSR for Apache OpenSSL

1. Log in to your server’s terminal, via Secure Shell (SSH).
2. Generate a private key and CSR by running the following command:

   openssl req -new -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout server.key -out server.csr

   Note: Replace “server ” with the domain name you intend to secure.

3. Enter the following CSR details as follows:
   • Common Name: domain.tld (Use the actual certificate domain).
   • Organization: Organization name
   • Organization Unit (OU): IT Department
   • City or Locality: Tripoli
   • State or Province: Tripoli
   • Country: LY
4. Locate and open the newly created CSR in a text editor such as Notepad and copy all the text (including BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST and END CERTIFICATE REQUEST) to use it for SSL generation.

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