SELECT [softwareThoughts] from Tyler

Trying to get a self-signed SSL certificate installed on Windows Server 2003, sp1? Good luck.

I spent a few hours trying to use selfcert.exe to install a certificate on an x64 machine, 2003 Server R2, sp1. Every time I made a request to a URI other than the root, the response I got from the server was HTTP ERROR: 400. Period.

Here's what worked for me:

1) Start->Programs->IIS Resources->SelfCert.exe.
type selfcert.exe to create a certificate on the default web server.

2) Open MMC and add the Certificates snap-in. Specify the Computer Account when asked which certificates to open.

3) Find the newly created certicate under Personal, and export it to a pfx file. Be sure to specify a password as windows won't let you import the certificate without entering something into the password field.

4) On the Windows Server, Start->Run->Inetmgr to open Internet Services Manager.
under Directory Security on the web site properties, import the file from pfx.

That worked!

By the way, don't use CN= if you want SQL Server to continue working. Use a different canonical name, such as the hostname of the site you're trying to protect. See: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302409/EN-US/ if you're using self-cert and suddenly you're getting SSL errors connecting to sql server.

# posted by gone_cat @ 10:27 AM