How to generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) on Internet Explorer 11

A CSR is encoded text that contains information about the certificate requester. This information includes, but is not limited to, the publisher name for the certificate (referred to as a “Common Name”), organization name (if applicable), and a contact email for the certificate. The process of generating the CSR and corresponding private key – which is required during installation and should not be shared – is a little different with Code Signing Certificates compared to other security products such as SSL Certificates.

Generating CSRs for Code Signing within Internet Explorer 11

Instead of generating the CSR and private key on your server or signing platform, the issuing Certificate Authority (CA) has supplied your Code Signing Provider with a unique script that allows you – the certificate requester – to generate the CSR and private key securely via browser – specifically, Internet Explorer 11 –  during the enrollment process in your account. This process is very convenient for users and eliminates the hassle of running complicated command lines to output the required key pair.

Using Internet Explorer

You will need to use Internet Explorer 11 on Windows in order to securely generate your Code Signing certificate. This browser has a unique function which allows for the CSR and accompanying private key to be generated securely and easily. Other browsers, including Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari, have removed the certificate generation functionality and should not be used.

Note: The private key will be stored in the browsers certificate store. You will obtain a copy of this after the certificate has been issued and exported in the same browser.

CSR Generation Instructions

The following instructions will guide you through the CSR generation and enrollment process.

1. Open your Internet Explorer browser
2. Login to your account on your SSL provider’s website.
3. Locate your Incomplete Code Signing
4. Click Generate Cert Now
5. Enter the required certificate information
6. Click Submit
7. The browser will generate the key pair
8. Congrats! You now have an Order Number

After you complete the validation process and receive the trusted Code Signing Certificate from the issuing Certificate Authority, please click here and proceed to the next step of using our Code Signing Installation Instructions.