This article defines the complete process of CSR generation on the SonicWALL SSL-VPN Appliance. Please keep in mind that firstly your purchased certificate should be activated. You can find some tips about SSL activation in this guide.
During SSL activation you will require the CSR code generated on your appliance. Please follow the steps down below and check how the process goes.
- Log into the SonicWALL SSL-VPN appliance portal.
- After that, please expand the System menu and click Certificates:
3. In the Server Certificates section, click Generate CSR.
4. On the Generate Certificate Signing Request (CSR) page, please specify the following details:
| Name: | Enter your domain name or subdomain. It will be convenient for you to point out what this SSL certificate is created for. |
| Organization: | Specify your company’s legally registered name (for example, YourCompany, Inc.) . If you do not have any organization, please put in “NA” instead. |
| Unit/Department: | Specify your department within the organization. |
| (Sometimes this field can be prefilled or even be blank; if you have a Domain Validation (DV) certificate, it will be enough to write “NA” in case you do not have any information regarding the department.) | |
| City/Locale: | Please specify your city. |
| State: | Please specify your state (Also, you can duplicate the city name here if you do not have one) |
| Country: | Enter the country code. Please note that a two-letter country code should be applied in this field. You can find country codes here: https://countrycode.org. |
| Domain Name (FQDN): | Insert your fully qualified domain name or subdomain. For example, yourdomain.com or mail.yourdomain.com
Note: If you have a Wildcard SSL certificate, it is possible to specify the domain name in the *.yourdomain.com format to use the certificate with SonicWALL. |
| The domain name should be pointed to the SSL-VPN appliance’s external public IP address. | |
| Email Address: | Please specify your contact e-mail address. |
| Password: | Enter a password to secure the private key created along with the CSR and make sure that the password is saved. It will be used during installation of your issued SSL. |
| Key Length (bits): | In the drop-down list, select 2048. The size must be at least 2048 bits. Also, you can use the 4096-bit key. SonicWALL supports key sizes from 1024 to 4096 bits.
Please make sure that the 1024-bit key is not used as it is considered vulnerable. |
5. Once everything is done, please press Submit:
6. Please save the created .zip file on your desktop for convenience:
7.Open the created .zip file and extract the two files: server.csr and server.key.
8. After that, please select the file with the .csr extension and open it with a text editor.
NOTE: A Private key (.key file) is obligatory to be saved. It will be used during installation.
9.Now you can use your newly generated CSR code with the —–BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST—– and —–END CERTIFICATE REQUEST—– tags for activation. Your newly purchased SSL can be activated here.
10. After you receive the certificate from COMODO (now Sectigo), you need to install it.