Its a job I need to do every year, and its one I can never quite remember how to do. These instructions will help walk you through how to import an SSL certificate onto an IIS server. If it is a wildcard certificate I will explain how to export that certificate into a .pfx format with a password to be imported elsewhere. This is not the only way to do this, but it works best for me.
Copy your certificate files onto the server
- Find the certificate files from your certificate provider, move your intermediate certificate and primary certificate (
.crtfile) into a folder on the server or somewhere accessible from the server.
Open Certificate Manager and Import the Intermediate SSL Certificate
- Click on your Start Menu, then click Run (or Win+R)
- In the prompt, type crtmgr.msc and click OK.
- In certmgr, expand Certificates (Local Computer).
- Right click on the Intermediate Certification Authorities folder, hover over All Tasks and click Import.
- On the new window, click Next.
- Click Browse, find your previously uploaded intermediate certificate file and click Open.
- Click Next, verify that the certificate information is correct and click Finish.
- Close the the import was successful notification.
Install your SSL certificate
- Click on your Start Menu, then click Run.
- In the prompt, type inetmgr and click OK to launch the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
- Under the Connections panel on the left, click on your Server Name.
- In the main panel under the IIS section, double click on Server Certificates.
- Under the Actions panel on the right, click Complete Certificate Request.
- On the new window, click … to browse, find your previously uploaded primary certificate file and click Open.
- Add a Friendly name to easily identify this certificate in the future.
- Click OK.
Bind the SSL certificate
- Under the Connections panel on the left, expand the Sites folder.
- Click the Site Name that you plan to install the SSL certificate onto.
- Under the Actions panel on the right, find the Edit Site section and click Bindings.
- On the new window, click Add and enter the following unless you already have these settings set up:
- Type: select https.
- IP Address: select All Unassigned.
- Port: type in 443.
- Host name: leave this empty.
- SSL Certificate: select your recently installed SSL.
- Click OK to confirm, then Close for the Site Bindings window.
Restart IIS
- Under the Actions panel on the right, find the Manage Website section and click Restart.
Export SSL Certificate
- In IIS select your website and select Server Certificates.
- Select the certificate you previously imported and click export on the right side of the screen. You can also right click the certificate and select export.
- Pick a location to export to and type a password. You will need this password when importing on to other locations.
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