Unified Communications (UC) Certificates (also called SAN Certificates) use Subject Alternative Names o secure multiple sites (e.g. fully qualified domain names) with one certificate. Four SANs are included in the base price of the UC Certificate, but you can purchase additional names at any time during the lifetime of the certificate.
With a UC Certificate, you can secure:
www.linuxwebhostingsupport.in
www.example2.com
www.example3.net
mail.example.net
dev.example2.com
The CSR generation process is little different for creating an UCC certificates. We will have to create a Openssl based configuration file and then create private key and CSR from it.
Step 1: Create a custom OpenSSL Conf file.
The following is an example conf file that can be used for creation of a SAN/UCC cert. Save it as multissl.conf
———–
[ req ]
default_bits = 2048
default_keyfile = privkey.pem
distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
req_extensions = req_ext # The extentions to add to the self signed cert
[ req_distinguished_name ]
countryName = Country Name (2 letter code)
countryName_default = US
stateOrProvinceName = State or Province Name (full name)
stateOrProvinceName_default = Iowa
localityName = Locality Name (eg, city)
localityName_default = Iowa City
organizationName = Organization Name (eg, company)
organizationName_default = The University of Iowa
organizationalUnitName = Organizational Unit Name (eg, section)
organizationalUnitName_default = Domain Control Validated
commonName = Common Name (eg, YOUR SSL domain name)
commonName_max = 64
[ req_ext ]
subjectAltName = @alt_names
[alt_names]
DNS.1 = www.linuxwebhostingsupport.in
DNS.2 = www.example1.com
DNS.3 = example2.com
———–
Notes:
The alt_names section (DNS.1, DNS.2, ….) are the list of all other domain names you wish to secure with this cert. Additional can be added such as DNS.4, etc.
The following examples assume that you name the above config file file multissl.conf (if it is named differently you must adjust the filename in the below examples accordingly.
Step 2: Generate the Private key and CSR with OpenSSL
Execute the following OpenSSL command
$ openssl req -nodes -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout serverfqdn.key -out multidomain.csr -config multissl.conf
* Replace “serverfqdn” with the fully qualified domain name of the server (ie: sample.server.uiowa.edu). Note: it may also be helpful to add a year to the filename.
You will then see output and be prompted for configuration as seen in the following example. Enter your details accordingly.
——————————————
$ openssl req -nodes -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout serverfqdn.key -out multidomain.csr -config multissl.conf
Generating a 2048 bit RSA private key
………………………………….+++
…………………………………………………………+++
writing new private key to ‘serverfqdn.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]:US
State or Province Name (full name) [Iowa]:Iowa
Locality Name (eg, city) [Iowa City]:Iowa City
Organization Name (eg, company) [The University of Iowa]:My Company name
Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) [Domain Control Validated]:IT SUPPORT
Common Name (eg, YOUR SSL domain name) []:www.linuxwebhostingsupport.in
——————————————
Note: Replace www.linuxwebhostingsupport.in with the “primary” domain name you want secured with this certificate (likely, but not necessarily the hostname of the machine).
At this point you should have the new key file, and CSR. Save the key file in a secure place, it will be needed to apply the new certificate. The CSR can now be submitted to request the SSL Cert.