Microsoft IIS 4 - Internet Information Services 4

Installing your SSL Certificate / Web Server Certificate / Secure Server Certificate from RapidSSL.com

Firstly when your issuance email arrives you will have two certificates in the email - your server certificate and a chained certificate.

Copy your web server certificate into a text editor such as notepad and save as chain.crt.
You can ignore the chained certificate for now, we will address this later.

Note: For Windows N4.0, you must have at least Service Pack 4.0 or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0.

Installing your Web server Certificate

Start the MS IIS Management Console and select your server.
Click on the Key Manager icon. Select your original key.
Select Install Key Certificate from the Key menu.
Choose yourdomain.crt file sent to you via email.
Type in your original key's password.
Click OK in the Server Bindings box. When you are prompted for bindings, add the IP and Port Number. "Any assigned" is acceptable if you do not have any other certificates installed on the web server. Note: Multiple certificates installed on the same web server will require a separate IP Address for each because SSL does not support host headers.
Select Commit from the Computers menu. Click Yes to commit all changes.

Installing the root Certificate and intermediate Certificate

Download the following two certificates - it is essential to have them installed on the machine running IIS4.

It is essential that you have installed these two Certificates on the machine running IIS4. You may also download them below:

Download - ChainedSSL Root Certificate (Base-64 encoded X.509)
Download - ChainedSSL Intermediate Root Certificate (Base-64 encoded X.509)

Now complete one of the following procedures - the procedure you follow is dependent on the Service Pack that has been implemented on your machine running IIS4. You may need to refer to Microsoft KnowledgeBase Q216339 if needed).

ServicePack 3:
Install the ChainedSSL Root and Intermediate certificates in your Internet Explorer by opening each certificate and clicking Install Certificate.

Now reboot the machine to complete the install.

ServicePack 4:
Install the ChainedSSL Root and Intermediate certificates manually in a specific root store. You may need to refer to Microsoft KnowledgeBase Q194788 if needed:

Double click the ChainedSSL Root Certificate file to begin the installation wizard
Select Place all certificates in the following store and click browse
Select Show physical stores
Select Trusted Root Certification Authorities
Select Local Computer, click OK
Click Next, click Finish
Repeat the same for the ChainedSSL Intermediate Certificate, however choose to place the certificates in the Intermediate Certification Authorities store.
Now reboot the machine to complete the install.

ServicePack 5 & 6:
Same as SP4.

Test your certificate by connecting to your server. Use the https protocol directive (e.g. https://your server/) to indicate you wish to use secure HTTP.

Note: The padlock icon on your Web browser will be displayed in the locked position if you have set up your site properly.

Backing up your key pair file

Unlike other files, key pair files (keypair = private key + certificate) cannot just be copied. To make a backup, you must Export to a Backup File. To restore your system, you must do an Import from a Backup File.

This process assumes identical web server configurations are used for exporting the key as well as for importing the key. So both servers must be IIS. You can't go from one type of server to another.

Exporting your key

Open your Microsoft Management Console via the IIS Internet Service Manager.
Click to open the Key Manager.
Select the key to be exported.
Select the Key menu and choose Export Key to a Backup File. Click OK in the Key Manager Warning box.
Specify the destination for saving your key, press OK.
Close your Key Manager and Management Console windows.

Please remember your password that was used to install your certificate. You will need this password if you ever need to recover your certificate through the import process.