CSR Generation Instructions

The following instructions will guide you through the CSR generation process on Microsoft Exchange 2013. To learn more about CSRs and the importance of your private key, reference our Overview of Certificate Signing Request article. If you already generated the CSR and received your trusted SSL certificate, reference our SSL Installation Instructions and disregard the steps below.

  1. Log in to Exchange Admin Center, this can typically be accessed by going to https://localhost/ecp.
  2. Enter your Domain/Username and Password and click Sign in.


  3. Click on Servers in the left menu, then select Certificates at the top right, then the + icon.


  4. In the New Exchange Certificate wizard, select Create a request for a certificate from a Certificate Authority and then click Next.

  5. Enter a Friendly Name that will help you distinguish the request in the future and click Next.

    Note: This is only for your internal reference and not a part of the actual SSL Certificate.

  6. Select the check box ONLY if you are using a Wildcard Certificate (*.yourdomain.com) and if so, just enter the root domain of your certificate such as "yourdomain.com". If not, proceed accordingly to the next screen/step.

  7. Click Browse to select which server you want to save the request on and click Next.

  8. Select the Services or domains you want to include in your certificate and click Next. You can highlight the list of services or additional domains by using Ctrl+Click.

    Note: You can skip this step if you are using a Wildcard Certificate.

  9. Review the list of names that Exchange 2013 recommends using in your CSR and click Next. You can add, edit, or delete the names by using the +, - features provided.

  10. Enter your CSR Details and click Next.

    Note: To avoid the common mistakes when filling out your CSR details, reference our Overview of Certificate Signing Request article.

  11. Enter the directory or path where you want to save the CSR as a ".req" file and click Finish.

  12. Locate and open the newly created CSR from the specified location you choose in a text editor such as Notepad and copy all the text including:

    -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
    And
    -----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----

  13. Return to the Generation Form on our website and paste the entire CSR into the blank text box and continue with completing the generation process.

Upon generating your CSR, your order will enter the validation process with the issuing Certificate Authority (CA) and require the certificate requester to complete some form of validation depending on the certificate purchased. For information regarding the different levels of the validation process and how to satisfy the industry requirements, reference our validation articles.

After you complete the validation process and receive the trusted SSL Certificate from the issuing Certificate Authority (CA), proceed with the next step using our SSL Installation Instructions for Microsoft Exchange 2013.