How to Create an Internal Certificate

Security on the Internet continues to be a topic of discussion both in the mainstream media, and on the Internet itself. Every website conducting e-commerce should make the privacy and confidentiality surrounding every transaction a top priority. For this reason, most Internet businesses use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) to protect their customers' confidential information. SSL in turn employs certificates to validate the identity of the server and to encrypt the data that is transferred during the e-commerce transaction. The business typically purchases the certificate from a reputable certificate vendor, but for private networks, you can create your own internal certificate.

• 1

  Click "Start" and type "inetmgr" (without quotes) in the "Search" box. Press "Enter" to open the Internet Information Services Manager tool.

• 2

  Locate the machine level at the top of the left panel and click it. Click on "Server Certificates" in the "Machine Features" view.

• 3

  Click "Create Self-signed Certificate" in the "Actions" panel on the right.

• 4

  Choose and enter a name that will be assigned to your internal certificate in the "Specify a friendly name for the certificate" field. Click "OK" and IIS Manager will create the internal certificate.

• 5

  Expand the machine level in the panel on the left by clicking on the triangular arrow. Expand the "Sites" item in the same way. Click on the site you want to secure.

• 6

  Click "Bindings" in the right panel. In the "Site Bindings" dialog, click the "Add" button. Click the "Type" down arrow and select "https." Click the "IP Address" down arrow and select the IP address for your site.

• 7

  Click the "SSL Certificate" down arrow and select the certificate you created above. Click "OK" and then "Close" to close the "Add Site Binding" and "Site Bindings" dialogs. Your certificate is now associated with the website you specified.

• 8

  Open a browser and in the address box enter "https://<sitename>," where "<sitename>" is the name of your site. Press "Enter." You should see a Security Alert dialog asking permission to proceed.