How do I install an SSL certificate in Windows 2008 with IIS?

Follow these instructions to install your SSL server certificate.

  1. Your SSL server certificate will be sent to you by email. The email message includes the web server certificate that you purchased in the body of the email message. Copy the certificate from the body of the email and paste it into a simple text editor, such as Notepad.
  2. Save this as yourdomain.cer on your desktop or other location where you can find it later.
  3. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. From the Start button select Programs > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services Manager.
  4. In the IIS Manager, select the server node on the top left under Connections
  5. In the Features pane (the middle pane), double-click the Server Certificates option located under the IIS or Security heading (depending on your current group-by view).
  6. From the Actions pane on the top right, select Complete Certificate Request.
  7. On the Complete Certificate Request page browse to the SSL certificate file yourdomain.cer that you saved from step 2. Don’t worry if your file saved as yourdomain.cer.txt, just change the Files of type drop down to browse for files of type *.*.
  8. Next, type a friendly name for the certificate in the Friendly name box, and then click OK. Something like www.yourdomain.com will do.
  9. Your SSL server certificate is now installed on your server and you should see it listed in the Server Certificates view. Now you will need to configure your web site to use the certificate.
  10. If you have only one web site it will mostly likely be listed in IIS 7 as the Default web site. Select and right-click on the Default web site and select Edit Bindings. If you only see ‘http’ under the Type column of the Web Site Bindings dialog box click the Add button and select ‘https’ from the drop down box under Type. Then select the name of the SSL certificate from the SSL certificate list that you just installed and click Ok. Then click Close to complete the Edit Bindings wizard.

Test Your SSL Certificate

Test your SSL certificate by using a browser to connect to your server. Use the https protocol directive. For example, if your SSL was issued to secure.mysite.com, enter https://secure.mysite.com into your browser.

Your browser’s padlock icon Browser padlock will be displayed in the locked position if your certificate is installed correctly and the server is properly configured for SSL.