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Apache + Apache SSL

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

Firstly when your issuance email arrives it will contain your web server certificate.

Copy your web server certificate into a text editor such as notepad and save as yourdomain.crt

Note: The examples below use the following naming conventions: "Your Private Key" = "domainname.key"; "Your Web Server Certificate" = "domainname.crt"

  1. Copy the certificate to the Apache server directory in which you plan to store your certificates (by default: /usr/local/apache/conf/ssl.crt/ or /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/).

    Note: Copy the entire contents of the certificate from (and including) the -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- and -----END CERTIFICATE----- lines.


    2.
  2. Open the Apache httpd.conf file in a text editor.

  3. Locate the SSL VirtualHost associated with your certificate. Verify that you have the following 2 directives within this virtual host. Please add them if they are not present:

    SSLCertificateFile /usr/local/apache/conf/ssl.crt/domainname.crt (or server.crt)
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /usr/local/apache/conf/ssl.key/domainname.key (or server.key)

    Note that some instances of Apache will store Virtual Host information in a ssl.conf file. If your httpd.conf contains no Virtual Host information then you will need to locate and amend the ssl.conf as above.

  4. Save the changes and exit the editor.


    5.
  5. Start or Restart your apache web server using one of the following commands:
    By default:
    /usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl startssl
    or
    /usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl restart

    Other commands:
    /usr/sbin/httpd startssl or restart
    /usr/sbin/httpsd startssl or restart

Test your certificate by using a browser to connect 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 browser will be displayed in the locked position if your certificates are installed correctly and the server is properly configured for SSL.