Discussions / FAQs
I need a certificate with CA=True or KeyUsage=CertSign
The above key constraints mean that the certificate is allowed to issue signed certificates. It is not possible to purchase a publicly trusted certificate with these constraints from any Certificate Authority.
If such a certificate were issued it would be possible to sign an end-entity certificate for any domain and it automatically be trusted by browsers.
This creates a significant security risk as the owner of such a certificate could simply just issue a certificate for google.com or paypal.com and inspect all traffic between the user and the server.
The main reason for requiring such a certificate is to install on a firewall type device that performs deep packet inspection. This is essentially performing a Man-in-the-Middle attack on the end user using the firewall by breaking end-to-end encryption for that user.
The only option is to create a self-signed certificate with these key constraints and then add it as a trusted certificate on all the end user devices connecting through the firewall either via a group policy or asking the end users to install the certificate.
Posted by Andy Gambles about 2 years ago
Sectigo SSL OV - 1 year / 2 year certificates
We usually order Sectigo SSL OV certificates for 1 or 2 years due to the short lived nature of some of our sites and the new guidance for the maximum life of a certificate.
But i can no longer find Sectigo SSL OV for 1 or 2 years, have these been removed?
Posted by Allen Haigherty over 2 years ago
Why is my certificate is only valid for 1 year but I purchased for multiple years?
Due to changes implemented by the CA Browser Forum certificates can only have a maximum validity period of 397 days to be trusted by browsers.
You can reissue your certificate multiple times during the life of your certificate plan to obtain the full validity.
For more information please see our guide on [Multi-Year HTTPS Certificates](https://docs.servertastic.com/docs/multi-year-https-certificates)
Posted by Andy Gambles over 2 years ago
ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH
Error can occur when visiting a website even in modern browsers.
Posted by Andy Gambles over 2 years ago
Error 111 (net::ERR_TUNNEL_CONNECTION_FAILED): Unknown error
This message is sometimes displayed when accessing an SSL page via a proxy (including our own payment page PayPal).
It is caused by Chrome being unable to render the 502/302 proxy response for some sites (Issue 119713).
Check your browsers Proxy settings. If possible remove the proxy and try again.
To change this setting, go to [chrome://chrome/settings/](chrome://chrome/settings/)
Then Click `Show Advanced Settings`. Scroll down to `Network` and click `Change proxy settings…` Uncheck `Automatically Detect`.
Posted by Andy Gambles over 2 years ago
Convert Private Key to RSA format
Some hosting systems require the Private key to be in RSA format rather than PEM. You can easily convert these files using OpenSSL.
Your private key file will usually start with
`-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----`
an RSA private key will start with
`-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----`
To convert your key simply run the following OpenSSL command
`openssl rsa -in domain.key -out domain-rsa.key`
Posted by Andy Gambles over 2 years ago
How do I convert a PEM to PFX?
You can achieve this using OpenSSL (Mac OSX includes OpenSSL within Terminal.app) or our converter tool.
You should have the following files (Filenames are just for reference)
- Your generated CSR (cert.csr)
- Your Private Key File (key.pem)
- Your SSL certificate provided by the CA (cert.cer)
- The Intermediate Certificate provided by the CA (CA.cer)
**Servertastic Certificate Converter**
You can also use the [Servertastic Certificate Converter](https://tools.servertastic.com/certificate-converter)
**OpenSSL Commands**
Using OpenSSL run the following command
`openssl pkcs12 -export -in cert.cer -inkey key.pem -out certificate.pfx -certfile CA.cer`
This should output a certificate.pfx file.
Posted by Andy Gambles over 2 years ago
ssl_error_rx_record_too_long
This usually means the implementation of SSL on your server is not correct. The error is usually caused by a server side problem which the server administrator will need to investigate.
Below are some things we recommend trying.
- Ensure that port 443 is open and enabled on your server. This is the standard port for https communications.
- If SSL is using a non-standard port then FireFox 3 can sometimes give this error. Ensure SSL is running on port 443.
- If using Apache2 check that you are using port 443 for SSL. This can be done by setting the ports.conf file as follows
`— clip —
Listen 80
Listen 443 https
— clip —`
- Make sure you do not have more than one SSL certificate sharing the same IP. Please ensure that all SSL certificates utilise their own dedicated IP.
- If using Apache2 check your vhost config. Some users have reported changing `<VirtualHost>` to `_default_` resolved the error.
Posted by Andy Gambles over 2 years ago
CSR does not contain a wildcard domain as expected
Posted by Andy Gambles over 2 years ago
SSL Certificate does not work on Parallels Panel (Plesk)?
Once you have installed the certificate in Parallels Panel you need to then assign it to a web site. While managing your domain click
`Websites & Domains > Show Advanced Operations > Website Scripting and Security`
Tick the box `Enable SSL support` then from the drop down select the correct SSL certificate.
Posted by Andy Gambles over 2 years ago