What to choose for common name for SSL Certificate signing request?

Discussion in 'Pre-sales questions' started by jimmy, Nov 17, 2011.

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  1. jimmy

    jimmy

    Hi,

    I've just added the SSL addon, and I'm filling in the CSR now.

    What do you put for the Common Name?

    My website is www.examplename.com. But I'm thinking that users will probably type in examplename.com in the browser.

    Should I just use www.examplename.com, and redirect accesses with examplename.com to it? How do I enable redirection in discoutASP?

    Also, if I make a mistake in the CSR, and have already sent it, can I send another one without being charged? I just want to use the free certificate.


    Thanks

    James
     
    jimmy, Nov 17, 2011
    #1
  2. jayc

    jayc

    You might want to use your domain name with 'www' prefix since most people access domain name with it anyway

    If you use common name 'domain.com' this will only secures socket layer (HTTPS) for
    https://domain.com and when someone hit https://www.domain.com they will get common name mismatch error.

    It is a common practice to use your domain name with 'www' prefix which secures your domain name nicely

    https://www.domain.com
    https://www.domain.com/subdomain/page.aspx
    https://www.domain.com/subdomain/subdomain2/page.aspx

    One CSR is good for one SSL cert. Regenerating CSR before the cert is installed will invalidate the first request. You should only generate CSR once (regenerating CSR doesn't cost anything;monetarily)

    If somewhere down the road you need to change info in the CSR, you will have to cancel the current cert and re-key.
     
    jayc, Nov 18, 2011
    #2
  3. mjp

    mjp

    I don't think that is a safe assumption to make about any site.

    Whether you use www in your common name is a personal decision. You can redirect the www or non-www traffic in any case. There are a few threads around here on the subject.
     
    mjp, Nov 18, 2011
    #3
  4. jayc

    jayc

    ah well I should have titled it with *personal opinion-follow at your own risk* :D

    I myself have a habit of using Ctrl+(enter) in the browser which put 'www' prefix automatically.
     
    jayc, Nov 18, 2011
    #4
  5. jimmy

    jimmy

    Hi guys,

    Thanks for the answer. I'll use www.examplename.com. However, I just want to note that my domain name is examplename.com. Is that ok?

    James
     
    jimmy, Nov 18, 2011
    #5
  6. jimmy

    jimmy

    jimmy, Nov 19, 2011
    #6
  7. Takeshi Eto

    Takeshi Eto DiscountASP.NET Staff

    If you want to secure many sections of your site then the wildcard subdomain can be useful - it sets up ssl for *.examplename.com so any subdomain can be secured. And you are right, http://examplenam.com won't be secured because it is not a subdomain.

    But if you will design your site to secure only in one area say: secure.examplenam.com, then a regular cert will be fine.

    It's really up to how you want to design your site and site experience.
     
    Takeshi Eto, Nov 20, 2011
    #7
  8. jimmy

    jimmy

    Hi Eric,

    Thanks for the reply. Yes, I want to secure the entire site, and I'm looking at having subdomains.

    But can you help me with the previous question? My domain name, as state in the account information, is without the www - so it's just examplename.com. Is this the normal case?

    So to secure it for everything:
    www.example.com
    allsubdomains.example.com

    The wildcard will be the right choice?
     
    jimmy, Nov 21, 2011
    #8
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