Generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)

What are SSL and a CSR?

An SSL certificate puts a padlock on your website and turns the address into https. It keeps data private between visitors and your site. Think of it as a sealed envelope instead of an open postcard.

A CSR is a block of text that asks a certificate company for a certificate. It holds your domain name and details about you. A private key is made at the same time. This key is a secret file. Never share it.

Details you will enter

Domain: your site name, such as www.example.com. For a wildcard certificate use *.example.com.
Organization: your business or your own name.
City, State and Country: use the full names and a two-letter country code, like US.
Email: a working email address.
Key size: choose 2048 bits at least.

Method 1: In cPanel

Log in to your hosting control panel.
In the Security section, open SSL/TLS.
Under Certificate Signing Requests (CSR), click Generate, view, or delete SSL certificate signing requests.
Pick or create a key. Choose 2048 bits or more.
Fill in the domain and the other details.
Click Generate.
Copy the whole CSR text, including the BEGIN and END lines.

Method 2: With OpenSSL on a server

This needs SSH access. SSH is a safe way to type commands on a server.

Connect to your server with SSH.
Run this command. Change example.com to your domain.
```
openssl req -new -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout example.com.key -out example.com.csr
```
It makes a private key and a CSR file.
Answer each question. Leave the password question blank if asked.
Show the CSR text.
```
cat example.com.csr
```
Copy all the text.

Use the CSR

Paste the CSR text into the order form of the certificate provider.
Finish the checks they ask for.
Install the certificate they send you.

Warning: Keep the private key safe and make a copy. If you lose it, the certificate will not work and you will need a new one.

Not sure whether SSL is part of your plan? Ask Hostvento support.

Quick recap

A CSR is the request you send to get an SSL certificate.
Make it in cPanel under SSL/TLS or with OpenSSL.
Use the exact domain name.
Paste the CSR to your provider.
Keep the private key secret and saved.