Create an SSL Certificate (Apache)

Generating an RSA Private Key and CSR for your Apache Web Server

Follow the steps below to generate an RSA Private Key, Certificate Signing Request (CSR) and optional self-signed certificate using OpenSSL. For your organization's internal and/or testing purposes, Aspera^® also provides the PEM files aspera_server_cert.pem and aspera_server_key.pem, which are located in the following directory:

/opt/aspera/etc/

About PEM Files:

The PEM certificate format is commonly issued by Certificate Authorities. PEM certificates have extensions that include .pem, .crt, .cer, and .key, and are Base-64 encoded ASCII files containing "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----" and "-----END CERTIFICATE-----" statements. Server certificates, intermediate certificates, and private keys can all be put into the PEM format. Apache and other similar servers use PEM format certificates.

Install OpenSSL.
OpenSSL is used to generate an RSA Private Key and a Certificate Signing Request (CSR), and can also be utilized to generate self-signed certificates for testing purposes or internal usage. Your Operating System may have OpenSSL already installed or may come with precompiled OpenSSL packages. For your convenience, Aspera provides an OpenSSL binary in the following directory:
```
/Aspera product's installation directory/bin/
```
You may also visit http://www.openssl.org/source for a repository of all OpenSSL distribution tarballs. Aspera advises that you review your specific operating system's documentation for information on installing and/or upgrading OpenSSL packages.
Enter the OpenSSL command to generate your Private Key and Certificate Signing Request.
In this step, you will generate an RSA Private Key and CSR using OpenSSL. In a Terminal window, enter the following command (where my_key_name.key is the name of the unique key that you are creating and my_csr_name.csr is the name of your CSR):
```
$ openssl req -new -nodes -keyout my_key_name.key -out my_csr_name.csr
```
Enter your X.509 certificate attributes.
After entering the command in the previous step, you will be prompted to input several pieces of information, which are the certificate's X.509 attributes.

Important: The common name field must be filled in with the fully qualified domain name of the server to be protected by SSL. If you are generating a certificate for an organization outside of the US, please refer to the link http://www.iso.org/iso/english_country_names_and_code_elements for a list of 2-letter, ISO country codes.
```
Generating a 1024 bit RSA private key
....................++++++
................++++++
writing new private key to 'my_key_name.key'
-----
You are about to be asked to enter information that will be incorporated
into your certificate request.
What you are about to enter is what is called a Distinguished Name or a DN.
There are quite a few fields but you can leave some blank
For some fields there will be a default value,
If you enter '.', the field will be left blank.
-----
Country Name (2 letter code) [US]:Your_2_letter_ISO_country_code
State or Province Name (full name) [Some-State]:Your_State_Province_or_County
Locality Name (eg, city) []:Your_City
Organization Name (eg, company) [Internet Widgits Pty Ltd]:Your_Company
Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []:Your_Department
Common Name (i.e., your server's hostname) []:secure.yourwebsite.com
Email Address []:johndoe@yourwebsite.com
```
You will also be prompted to input "extra" attributes, including an optional challenge password. Please note that manually entering a challenge password when starting the server can be problematic in some situations (e.g., when starting the server from the system boot scripts). You can skip inputting a challenge password by hitting the "enter" button.
```
...
Please enter the following 'extra' attributes
to be sent with your certificate request
A challenge password []:
An optional company name []:
```
After finalizing the attributes, the private key and CSR will be saved to your root directory.

Important: If you make a mistake when running the OpenSSL command, you may discard the generated files and run the command again. After successfully generating your key and Certificate Signing Request, be sure to guard your private key, as it cannot be re-generated.
Send CSR to your signing authority

You now need to send your unsigned CSR to a Certifying Authority (CA). Once the CSR has been signed, you will have a real Certificate, which can be used by Apache.

Important: Some Certificate Authorities provide a Certificate Signing Request generation tool on their Website. Please check with your CA for additional information.
(Optional) Generate a Self-Signed Certificate
At this point, you may need to generate a self-signed certificate because:
- You don't plan on having your certificate signed by a CA
- Or you wish to test your new SSL implementation while the CA is signing your certificate
Important: Aspera provides PEM files for internal and/or testing purposes, which is described at the beginning of this topic.

You may also generate a self-signed certificate through OpenSSL. This temporary certificate will generate an error in the client's browser to the effect that the signing certificate authority is unknown and not trusted. To generate a temporary certificate (which is good for 365 days), issue the following command:
```
openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in my_csr_name.csr -signkey my_key_name.key -out my_cert_name.crt
```
Copy Key and Certificate into target directory

After receiving your signed certificate from your CA, copy the files into Apache's /conf directory and edit your httpd-ssl.conf file (note that you can store the certificate and key in any directory, as long as the path(s) are updated in your configuration file. For additional information, please continue to the topic Create an SSL Certificate (Apache).