Knowledge Base

How to generate an SSL Certificate Signing Request for your IBM Websphere Web Server

If you already have your SSL Certificate and just need to install it, see
IBM Websphere SSL Certificate Installation.

How to generate a CSR for IBM Websphere

Note: The following instructions are for IBM Websphere 6.0x. You can use them for older versions of Websphere, but there are some small interface differences.

The first step is to create a keystore, a file that contains the certificates and private key. You will create the keystore with IBM's Key Management Utility, which comes installed with WebSphere:

1. Start the Key Management Utility (iKeyman).

2. In the IBM Key Management Utility, click on Key Database File and then New.

   

3. Choose Key database type and select JKS. Give the keystore a name such as your_domain.jks.

4. Click the Browse button. Go to
   C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\default\etc  or to a different location where you want to store your keystore file.

   

5. Click OK. Enter a password and click OK.
6. Click Create, then New Certificate Request to bring up the Create New Key and Certificate Request dialog.

7. Type a Key Label, Common Name, Organization, Locality, State, and select a Country. Select 2048 for Key Size. For the common name, enter the fully qualified domain name for the site you are securing (e.g., www.yourdomain.com). If you are generating a Websphere CSR for a Wildcard SSL Certificate, make sure your common name starts with an asterisk (e.g. *.example.com).

   

8. Browse for a location and enter a name for the file, such as your_domain.csr, and click OK.

9. You can now open that file in a text editor and paste it to order your SSL certificate from DigiCert.

   Make sure to remember where your your_domain.jks file is, as it will be required later when installing your SSL certificate in IBM Websphere.
   See IBM Websphere SSL Certificate Installation.