Using Third-Party SSL Certificate

This article will walk you through the process if you've decided to use an SSL certificate from a different provider other than HostGator.

This article will discuss the following topics:

• Installing Third-party SSL via the Customer Portal ⤵
• Installing Third-party SSL via cPanel Directly ⤵
• Additional Information about Using Third-Party SSL ⤵

Installing Third-party SSL via the Customer Portal

1. Log in to your Customer Portal.
2. Depending on the number of hosting packages in your account, please follow the steps below.
   • If you have a single hosting package in your account, click Websites from the left-side menu.

     

   • If you have multiple hosting packages in your account, please do the following:
     1. Click Hosting from the left-side menu.

        

     2. Locate the hosting package where your website is being hosted, then click its Manage button.

        

3. On the Hosting plan page, locate your website name and click its Settings button.

   

4. On your website's management page, click the Security tab.

   

5. Under SSL Certificates, click the vertical ellipsis on the far right, then select Generate CSR.

   

6. You will be redirected to your cPanel, where you can proceed to fill out the CSR form to receive a CSR and RSA key. (To learn more about CSR and RSA keys, please check out the What Are CSR and RSA? article.)
    
7. Purchase your SSL certificate (if you haven't already) and send the certificate issuer the CSR (not the RSA Key) from Step 6.
    
8. The certificate issuer will provide an SSL Certificate as well as an SSL CA Certificate (Trusted Authority) (sometimes called a "CA Bundle").
   Note: These may be provided as .crt files.
9. Once you have your SSL certificate, log back into your Customer Portal and navigate to the SSL Certificates section under the Security tab.

   

10. Click the vertical ellipsis and select Upload SSL.

    

11. Back to the cPanel's SSL/TLS section, scroll down to the Upload a New Certificate section.
     
12. Enter your certificate details, then click Save Certificate. You may also upload the .crt file and then click Upload Certificate.

    

Installing Third-party SSL via cPanel Directly

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. Navigate to the SSL/TLS section under Security.

   

3. Fill out the CSR form to receive a CSR and RSA key. To learn more about CSR and RSA Key, please check out the following article.
   • What are CSR and RSA?
4. Purchase your SSL certificate (if you haven't already) and send the certificate issuer the CSR (not the RSA Key) from Step 1.
5. The certificate issuer will provide an SSL Certificate as well as an SSL CA Certificate (Trusted Authority) (sometimes called a "CA Bundle").
6. Once you have obtained your SSL Certificate, log in to your cPanel and scroll down to SSL/TLS under the Security section.

   

7. You will be presented with several options; click on Manage SSL sites under the Install and Manage SSL for your site (HTTPS).

   

8. With the SSL certificate and SSL CA certificate from your third-party provider and the RSA key from CSR generation in Step 3, paste the certificate details into the associated fields.

   

   Note: Please be sure to copy the entire certificate, including the "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----" and "-----END CERTIFICATE-----" lines.
9. Click Install Certificate to complete the SSL installation on the server.

Additional Information about Using Third-party SSL

For more details regarding the process and what is needed, please see the sections below:

• Requirements ⤵
• Restrictions ⤵
• CSR Renewal ⤵
• Matching RSA Key ⤵

Requirements

The SSL installation form requires the following information:

• SSL Certificate - This field is for the main certificate file, which will be provided by the company issuing the SSL certificate.
• RSA Private Key - This field is for the RSA key we sent when you requested a CSR. Please check your email for that code.
• SSL CA Certificate (Trusted Authority) - This is also known as the CA Bundle or Cert Bundle. This field is optional only if your certificate company does not provide a bundle.

The following article provides more information about what you should know before purchasing a third-party SSL:

• I'm Going to Purchase My Own SSL. What Do I Need to Know?

Restrictions

When using a third-party SSL certificate on HostGator servers, please keep the following restrictions in mind:

• Shared hosting users cannot install an SSL certificate and must have HostGator install it.
• VPS or Dedicated server users may install certificates independently or have HostGator do the installation.

CSR Renewal

The CSR is only required for issuing a new certificate. If you are renewing your certificate or if your certificate is expired, then you will need a new CSR since you will be issued a new certificate with a new expiration date.

Matching RSA Key

If you do not know whether your RSA and SSL Certificate match, please check using this tool before submitting them: https://www.sslshopper.com/certificate-key-matcher.html

If you do not have a matching pair, you must request a new CSR and then have the certificate reissued with the new CSR.