Restoring the Default SSL Certificate and Private Key (2024)

FAQs

Restoring the Default SSL Certificate and Private Key? ›

In case the RSA Key was deleted from the server and there is no way to restore it, the Reissue is the only way out. You will need to have a new pair of CSR code/RSA Key generated. Before installing your reissued certificate make sure that the old one is completely removed from the server.

In case the RSA Key was deleted from the server and there is no way to restore it, the Reissue is the only way out. You will need to have a new pair of CSR code/RSA Key generated. Before installing your reissued certificate make sure that the old one is completely removed from the server.

However, it is impossible to recover a private key if you lost or forgot it. To not lose your crypto assets, keep your private key a secret and don't share it with anyone. Why is it important to secure a private key?

A missing private key could mean: The certificate is not being installed on the same server that generated the CSR. The pending request was deleted from IIS. The certificate was installed through the Certificate Import Wizard rather than through IIS.

Public key is embedded in the SSL certificate and Private key is stored on the server and kept secret. When a site visitor fills out a form with personal information and submits it to the server, the information gets encrypted with the public key to protect if from eavesdropping.

Generating a Private Key

A private key is generated at the time of generating a certificate signing request (CSR). You must request an SSL certificate from a certificate authority (CA) like Comodo, GeoTrust, etc., through a CSR. The CSR will include the name of the domain, public key, and other contact information.

For identification and reliability purposes, SSL certificates come with a shelf life. According to the CA/Browser forum, an SSL certificate should only be valid for a period of 13 months or 397 days.

Your private key is the single most important component of your SSL certificate. It's what gives you the power to authenticate your website to internet users, helps to enable encryption and prevents others from impersonating you.

The path to your private key is listed in your site's virtual host file. Navigate to the server block for your site (by default, it's located in the /var/www directory). Open the configuration file for your site and search for ssl_certificate_key which will show the path to your private key.

If you don't have the passphrase for the private key, you will likely need to generate a new private key and cert file (or equivalent bundle) to use to replace existing files in the certkey object.

Can we recover private key from public key? ›

It is absolutely impossible to recover a private key from a public key. You can generate a public from a private, but not the other way around. It is completely impossible, and is also the point of asymmetrical encryption.

If you installed your SSL Certificate on your server, but the certificate doesn't have a private key associated with it, you can use the DigiCert® Certificate Utility for Windows to repair your certificate installation and make sure it's installed correctly for use in IIS, Exchange and other Windows server types.