A Certificate Signing Request (CSR) is the block of encoded text you give a certificate authority when you buy an SSL certificate from them. On Domain India hosting you usually don't need one at all, because almost all our hosting includes a free SSL certificate that is issued and renewed for you. Domain India does not sell SSL certificates, so there is no Domain India certificate to configure. You need a CSR only when you have bought a certificate from a certificate authority or another seller and want to install it on your hosting.
This page is a short summary. For every field, every panel and the common errors, see How to generate a CSR request in Domain India web hosting.
Domain India sells no SSL certificates. Instead, almost all our hosting includes free SSL: on our cPanel server AutoSSL issues and renews Let's Encrypt certificates automatically, and Let's Encrypt is available in DirectAdmin and Plesk. Generate a CSR only for a certificate you bought elsewhere: in cPanel, open Security › SSL/TLS › Certificate Signing Requests (CSR), fill in your domains and organisation details, click Generate, and send the text to your certificate authority. Keep the private key on the server.
1. Do you need a CSR?
| Your situation | CSR needed? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A website on Domain India cPanel hosting | No | AutoSSL issues and renews a free Let's Encrypt certificate for you |
| A website on DirectAdmin or Windows (Plesk) hosting | No | Request the free Let's Encrypt certificate from your panel |
| You bought an OV, EV or other paid certificate from a certificate authority | Yes | Generate the CSR on the server where the site is hosted |
| Your certificate authority asks you to reissue or rekey | Yes, a new one | Generate a fresh CSR and key, then reissue |
A free certificate encrypts traffic exactly as well as a paid one. To set up the free certificate, see how to enable free SSL with Let's Encrypt.
2. Generate a CSR in cPanel
- Open SSL/TLS.Sign in to cPanel and click SSL/TLS in the Security section.
- Open the CSR page.Under Certificate Signing Requests (CSR), click Generate, view, or delete SSL certificate signing requests.
- Keep "generate a new key".cPanel creates the key pair and stores the private key in your account. The default is a 2048-bit RSA key, which every certificate authority accepts.
- Enter the domains.Type each hostname on its own line, for example
example.inandwww.example.in. - Fill in your details.City, State and Company in full, with no abbreviations, and the two-letter country code
IN. For OV and EV certificates the company name must match your registration documents. - Generate and copy.Click Generate, then copy the whole block from
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----to-----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----, including both lines, into your certificate authority's order form.
Other control panels offer CSR generation too, with the same fields: in DirectAdmin, under Account Manager › SSL/TLS Certificates, and in Webuzo, under SSL › Cert Signing Request. On Plesk, or if you can't find the option, open a support ticket.
3. Generate a CSR with OpenSSL
If you prefer the command line, or you are creating the CSR for your own server, OpenSSL does the same job:
openssl req -new -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes \
-keyout example.in.key -out example.in.csr \
-subj "/C=IN/ST=Tamil Nadu/L=Coimbatore/O=Example Traders Private Limited/CN=example.in" \
-addext "subjectAltName=DNS:example.in,DNS:www.example.in"This writes two files. Send example.in.csr to the certificate authority. Keep example.in.key private: you will need it, together with the issued certificate, when you install the certificate in your control panel.
4. Install the issued certificate
After the certificate authority validates your domain, download the certificate and its CA bundle. In cPanel, open SSL/TLS, use the install section for your site and paste the certificate; cPanel matches the private key it stored with the CSR. Then open the site with https:// and check the certificate in your browser.
The CSR is safe to send to anyone. The private key is not. Neither a certificate authority nor Domain India support needs it. If a key has been emailed or pasted into a chat, generate a new CSR and key and have the certificate reissued.
5. SSL on Domain India hosting
Domain India does not sell SSL certificates of any kind (DV, OV, EV or wildcard). Almost all our hosting includes free SSL instead, and on our cPanel server a new site is covered automatically, with no CSR. If you need a certificate from a certificate authority, buy it from that authority and install it on your hosting as shown above; support can help with the installation.
Compare plans on cPanel hosting and DirectAdmin hosting.
6. Frequently asked questions
Do I need a CSR for SSL on Domain India hosting?
Usually not. Almost all Domain India hosting includes free SSL. On the cPanel server AutoSSL issues and renews Let's Encrypt certificates automatically, and DirectAdmin and Plesk offer free Let's Encrypt certificates from the panel. A CSR is needed only for a certificate bought from a certificate authority.
Does Domain India sell SSL certificates?
No. Domain India does not sell SSL certificates. Almost all Domain India hosting includes free SSL. If you need an OV or EV certificate, buy it from a certificate authority, generate the CSR in your control panel, and install the issued certificate there.
Where do I generate a CSR in cPanel?
Open SSL/TLS in the Security section of cPanel, then click Generate, view, or delete SSL certificate signing requests. Enter the domains and organisation details and click Generate.
Should I send my private key to the certificate authority?
No. Send only the CSR. The private key stays in your hosting account, and cPanel pairs it with the certificate when you install it.
Ready to secure your site? Read the full CSR guide, open your control panel from My Hosting, or compare cPanel hosting plans, which include free SSL.
Tell us the domain and the certificate you are installing, and our support team will help with the CSR or the installation.
Open a support ticket