Create a self-signed certificate

It usually takes two to three weeks to get a certificate from a well known certificate authority (CA). While waiting for a certificate to be issued, use iKeyman to create a self-signed server certificate to enable SSL sessions between clients and the server. Use this procedure if we act as our own CA for a private Web network.

 

Overview

Complete the following steps to create a self-signed certificate:

 

Procedure

1. If we have not created the key database, see Creating a new key database for instructions.

2. Start the iKeyman user interface.

3. Click Key Database File from the main UI, and then click Open.

4. Enter our key database name in the Open dialog box, or click the key.kdb file, if we use the default. Click OK.

5. In the Password Prompt dialog box, enter our correct password and click OK.

6. Click Personal Certificates in the Key Database content frame, and click the New Self-Signed radio button.

7. Enter the following information in the Password Prompt dialog box:

   • Key label: Enter a descriptive comment to identify the key and certificate in the database.

   • Key size: Choose our level of encryptions from the drop-down menu.

   • Common Name: Enter the fully qualified host name of the Web server as the common name. Example: www.myserver.com.

   • Organization Name: Enter our organization name.

   • Optional: Organization Unit

   • Optional: Locality

   • Optional: State/Province

   • Optional: Zip code

   • Country: Enter a country code. Specify at least two characters. Example: US Certificate request file name, or use the default name.

   • Validity Period

8. Click OK.

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Related information

Manage keys with the iKeyman graphical interface (Distributed systems)