Hosts of America Documentation Reseller Guide

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Installing Shared SSL Certificates

 

Related Docs:  

Offering Provider's Shared SSL Securing Transferred Data through SSL (User guide)

Shared SSL certificates are also known as wildcard or Server-Wide certificates. They are used to service multiple domains.

Thawte determines a wildcard certificate as "a single certificate, with a wildcard character in the domain name field. This allows the certificate to secure multiple hosts within the same domain. For example, a certificate for ' *.domain.com ', could be used for www.domain.com, www1.domain.com, www2.domain.com, in fact, any host in the domain.com domain. When a client checks the host name in this certificate it uses a shell expansion procedure to see if it matches." Wild Card certificates can be purchased, for instance, at http://www.geotrust.com/ebusinessid/wildcard.asp.

According to VeriSign, a shared SSL certificate "enables Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to provide SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption and business authentication to Web business customers, but without the need to issue unique digital certificates to each hosted customer. The service offers ISPs the convenience and streamlined management of a single specially licensed SSL digital certificate to share among multiple hosted Web sites".

Shared SSL certificates work only within one domain level. For example, if you get a domain name for *.domain.com, it will work for www.domain.com and subdomain.domain.com. But it won't work for www.subdomain.domain.com or http://domain.com and visitors' browsers will show a warning message: "The name on the security certificate does not match the name of the site". The cost of the Shared SSL certificates usually depends on the number of subdomains that it covers and varies depending on the certificate authority.

If you have several web servers, you can install the same shared ssl certificate to each of the servers.

To install a shared SSL certificate:

Shared SSL installation wizard

  1. The window that appears on enabling Shared SSL support for your own service DNS zone will give you two options:

    • Generate a temporary wildcard certificate by clicking the link at the top of the window;
    • Enter your existent wildcard certificate by entering it in the form. When you click the Submit button, the certificate will be installed.

    If you have created a temporary wildcard certificate, you can request a permanent wildcard certificate in the future from a trusted certificate authority. To install the SSL certificate, click the Edit icon next to the domain name and enter the certificate key and certificate file. Then click the Upload button.

    Sometimes, you may have to use a Certificate Authority File provided with the Certificate by your Certificate Authority (e.g. Geotrust, Equifax, etc.). To use the Certificate Authority File, you have to add a line to the apache config of each virtual host that uses shared SSL. Hosts of America can do this for you: enter the file in the Certificate Authority File text box and click the Upload button.

    Note: If you are using more than one shared IP, each of them must have a unique shared IP tag. You can't create more than one certificate on one shared IP tag.

  2. Go to Plan Edit Wizard and enable Shared SSL. By doing this, you will also automatically enable Third Level Domain Alias, Third Level DNS Zone, Domain Alias A DNS Record.
  3. If you have added a new web server and want it to be serviced with the shared SSL certificate, click the Edit icon next to the domain name and enter the certificate key and certificate file in the Install completely new certificate key and file pair boxes. Then click the Upload button. This will update the shared SSL certificate installation on all servers, including the newly installed one.

 

Besides, you can create 'reseller dedicated' DNS zone domain, secure it with your shared SSL and allow resellers to secure their end user third-level domains (registered on this domain) with your own shared SSL.


Related Docs:  

Offering Provider's Shared SSL Securing Transferred Data through SSL (User guide)



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