Knowledge Base

How to Manage SSL Certificates Using SSL/TLS Manager in cPanel

When SSL keys or certificates need to be generated or installed for your domain. This article explains how to manage SSL certificates using SSL/TLS Manager in cPanel.

The features in this interface allow you to generate and manage SSL certificates, signing requests, and keys, which enhance your website’s security.

Steps to Access the SSL/TLS plugin

Log in to your cPanel via valid credentials:
Navigate to SSL/TLS option under the Security tab of your cPanel

Alternatively, you can search SSL in the search bar:

SSL/TLS Manager has the following options

(A) Private Keys (KEY)

Generate, view, upload, or delete your private keys.

Here, you can generate, view, or upload a private key. In normal circumstances, you are not required to generate a private key separately. A private key is generated automatically whenever you generate a new CSR request using option (B).

(B) Certificate Signing Requests (CSR)

Generate, view, or delete SSL certificate signing requests.

To Generate a CSR

Fill out all the fields with an asterisk(*) mark and click Generate:

A pop-up will appear indicating the creation of the CSR and after that, you will see a confirmation page. From it, you can copy and save locally both the CSR and the Private Key that corresponds to it.

This encoded certificate signing request is used to issue an SSL certificate such as our SSL certificates. You need to paste this certificate signing request in the "Submit CSR" option in your reseller control panel under the SSL Certificates section to issue the SSL certificate. If you have purchased a premium SSL certificate from a 3rd party provider then you will need to provide the encoded certificate signing request to them.

To view a CSR

After a successful generation of CSR you can click on Return to Generate CSR to view/edit or delete your CSR:

(C) Certificates (CRT)

Generate, view, upload, or delete SSL certificates.

To Generate a self-signed SSL certificate

This option is only useful if you wish to generate a self-signed SSL certificate. Scroll down to the Generate a New Certificate section and fill out all of the details for your self-signed SSL certificate, click Generate. After generating and installing a self-signed SSL certificate, your website will still show the "Not Secured" warning as this certificate has not been signed by a trusted authority, and thus, we do not recommend using this option.

To upload an SSL certificate

If you already have an existing certificate, you can upload it by either pasting it in the Paste your certificate below text field or if you have .crt file you can upload it by clicking the Browse button. When ready, click the Save Certificate or Upload Certificate button depending on the method you used to upload the certificate. It is recommended to use the next option (D) to upload the certificate for your website instead of using this.

(D) Manage SSL Sites

After you have submitted your CSR to the certificate authority, completed verification and received your SSL certificate, here is where you will upload the certificate to the server.

Firstly, you need to select the domain from the dropdown and paste the certificate that you have received from certificate provider. Once you do so, you will see an option that says "Autofill by certificate" as seen below:

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After you click on this "Autofill by certificate" option, the cpanel will automatically find the matching private key saved on the server and the relevant CA-bundle files and display them. Now, you can install the certificate.

Note

The private key will be auto-filled as long as you generated and submitted the CSR generated via the cpanel itself to the certificate signing authority. If a private key does not get auto-filled it means that a different CSR has been submitted or the private key has been deleted by a user from the cpanel. In this case, you will need to redo the process.

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