---
title: "Generating a Certificate Signing Request"
slug: "generating-a-certificate-signing-request"
updated: 2022-02-17T16:48:01Z
published: 2022-02-17T16:48:01Z
canonical: "support.smarteru.com/generating-a-certificate-signing-request"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.smarteru.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Generating a Certificate Signing Request

If you do not yet have an SSL certificate ready to use, you can use the steps below to create a Certificate Signing Request. This request is used in the generation of the SSL certificate with your chosen certificate provider.

To generate a certificate signing request for requesting an SSL certificate from a security provider:

1. Use OpenSSL to run the following commands. Be sure to replace <DomainName> with your domain:

```markup
openssl genrsa -out <DomainName>.key 2048
openssl req -new -sha256 -key <DomainName>.key -out <DomainName>.csr
```

1. You will need to provide the following information:

| **Common Name** | The fully qualified domain name for your desired portal URL |
| --- | --- |
| **Organization Name** | The exact legal name of your organization. Do not abbreviate your organization name. |
| **Organizational Unit** | Section of the organization. |
| **City or Locality** | The city where your organization is legally located. |
| **State or Province** | The state or province where your organization is legally located. Do not use an abbreviation. |
| **Country** | The two-letter ISO abbreviation for your country. |

After completing these steps, a file containing the CSR string that is used by your SSL certificate provider will be created.

## Related

- [Customizing Your SSL Certificate](/customizing-your-ssl-certificate.md)