Restoring the Default SSL Certificate and Private Key (2024)

FAQs

Restoring the Default SSL Certificate and Private Key? ›

To back up a Certificate Services private key, use the Certification Authority MMC snap-in, or the certutil command (with -backup or -backupkey specified). Backing up the private key with the Certification Authority MMC snap-in or certutil results in the private key being written to PKCS #12 file.

To back up a Certificate Services private key, use the Certification Authority MMC snap-in, or the certutil command (with -backup or -backupkey specified). Backing up the private key with the Certification Authority MMC snap-in or certutil results in the private key being written to PKCS #12 file.

Once the certificate re-issued, the certificate authority will send you a new certificate. Install the new certificate and private key on your server, or replace the existing one to deploy the new certificate. The old certificate will stay active until the expiration date.

The owner of the key pair makes the public key available to anyone, but keeps the private key secret. A certificate verifies that an entity is the owner of a particular public key.

Your private key is the single most important component of your SSL certificate. It's what gives you the power to authenticate your website to internet users, helps to enable encryption and prevents others from impersonating you.

A Certificate Signing Request (CSR) and a private key can be generated using a CSR generator tool, a software application allowing you to create a CSR and a private key for an SSL/TLS certificate.

When you renew the CA certificate with the existing key pair, nothing important in the certificate is changed. The certificate will contain the same public and private keys. As the result, all previously issued certificates will chain up to a new CA cert without any changes.

In the console tree, navigate to the certificate you want to export. Right-click the certificate, select All Tasks, and then select Export. On the screen Welcome to the Certificate Export Wizard, select Next. To export the private key, select Yes, export the private key, then select Next.

Import the certificate into the local computer store

On the File menu, select Add/Remove snap-in. In the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box, select Add. In the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, select Certificates, and then select Add. In the Certificates snap-in dialog box, select Computer account, and then select Next.