How to install your SSL certificate on IIS 7/8/8.5

Use the instructions on this page to use IIS 7/8/8.5 to install your SSL certificate on your Windows server 2008 or 2012 R2.

1. Copy-paste your certificate from your email into a text file with the file extension .cer in a location of your choosing.
2. From the Start screen, click or search for Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager and open it.
3. Click on the server name.
4. From the center menu, double-click the Server Certificates button in the IIS section (it is in the middle of the menu):

5. From the Actions menu (on the right), click on Complete Certificate Request… This will open the Complete Certificate Request wizard:

6. Browse to the certificate file that was created in the first step. You will then be required to enter a friendly name. The friendly name is not part of the certificate itself but is used by the server administrator to distinguish the certificate easily. Choose to place the new certificate in the Personal certificate store:

7. Clicking OK will install the certificate to the server.

8. Once the SSL Certificate has been successfully installed to the server, you will need to assign that certificate to the appropriate website using IIS.

9. From the Connections menu in the main Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager window, select the name of the server to which the certificate was installed.

10. Under Sites, select the site to be secured with SSL.

11. From the Actions menu (on the right), click on Bindings… This will open the Site Bindings window:

12. In the Site Bindings window, click Add… This will open the Add Site Binding window:

13. Under Type choose https. The IP address should be the IP address of the site or All Unassigned, and the port over which traffic will be secured by SSL is usually 443. The “SSL Certificate” field should specify the certificate that was installed in step 7:

14. Click OK:

Your SSL certificate is now installed, and the website configured to accept secure connections.

If you would like to install additional certificates on your IIS for use with other websites. Please follow the same procedure and check the box that says Require Server Name Indication. This is required for all additional sites (not required on the primary site as shown in step 13) The “SSL Certificate” field should specify the additional certificate.