How to install an SSL Certificate on Sentora?
By: Roman Munteanu
Tags: Encryption, Https, Sentora, Ssl, Ssl Certificate

How to install an SSL Certificate on Sentora?

This article offers quick instructions on how to generate a CSR code and install an SSL certificate on Sentora web hosting control panel. Split into four sections, this guide begins with CSR generation and SSL installation guidelines, and finishes off with a brief Sentora history, as well as useful SSL buying tips.

Note: This tutorial works with Ubuntu version 12.04 LTS or higher.

If you’ve already applied for your SSL Certificate and received it from your CA, feel free to skip part one and jump straight to the configuration steps.

Table of Contents

Generate a CSR code on Sentora

To create your CSR (Certificate Signing Request) code on Sentora, perform the following:

Run the sudo -i command to login to a terminal as the root user If you don’t have the OpenSSL utility, install it via apt-get install openssl Next, create a directory for your certificates: mkdir /etc/apache2/ssl/ Enter the following command to generate your CSR code and private key

openssl req -new -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout yourdomain.key -out yourdomain.csr

Note: Don’t forget to replace yourdomain with your real domain name. For example, if your domain name is yoursite.com, you must type yoursite.key and yoursite.csr.

5. You’ll be prompted to provide your contact details. Please use the examples below:

Country Name (2 letter code) : enter the official two-letter code of your country. For instance, US

: enter the official two-letter code of your country. For instance, US State or Province Name : write the full name of the state where your company is registered. For example, Washington

: write the full name of the state where your company is registered. For example, Washington Locality Name : write the full name of the city where your company is located. For instance, Seattle

: write the full name of the city where your company is located. For instance, Seattle Organization Name : specify the full legal name of your organization. For example, Your Company LLC

: specify the full legal name of your organization. For example, Your Company LLC Organizational Unit Name : enter the department in charge of your SSL Certificate. For example, Web Administration

: enter the department in charge of your SSL Certificate. For example, Web Administration Common Name: provide the FQDN (fully-qualified domain name) you want to secure. For example, yourdomain.com

6. The OpenSSL utility will generate your CSR and private key files. You can run the ls command to locate them in your working directory

7. Open the CSR file with any text editor of your choice such as Notepad, and copy its contents including the — BEGIN CERTIFICATE — and — END CERTIFICATE — tags into the corresponding box during the SSL order process.

8. Wait for the SSL Certificate to arrive in your inbox.

Install an SSL Certificate on Sentora

After your CA sends the necessary files to your inbox, download the ZIP folder and extract its contents on your device.

Prepare your SSL files for installation

You should receive three files from your CA:

Your server SSL Certificate (domain_com.crt)

Your CA root certificate (CaRoot.crt)

Your Intermediate CA certificate (the name will vary depending on your SSL provider).

Note: Some CAs will send you the CA Bundle file containing both root and intermediate certificates. In this case, disregard the next step.

If you received the Root and Intermediate certificates in separate files, you need to merge them in a single plain text document.

Open a text editor of your choice such as Notepad and copy-paste the code from your Root certificate file, followed by the code from your Intermediate certificate. Make sure you don’t leave any blanks spaces.

Save the file and name it domain_com.ca-bundle.crt.

You will also need your CSR file (domain_com.csr).

Install your SSL Certificate

Run the sudo or su commands to login as root user in a terminal If the SSL isn’t activated on your server, run a2enmod ssl Restart Apache via service apache2 restart Create the links required for mods:

ln -s /etc/apache2/mods-available/ssl.conf /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/ssl.conf

ln -s /etc/apache2/mods-available/ssl.load /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/ssl.load

5. Copy and paste the following code into Global Sentora entry:

##################################################

# Apache VHOST configuration file

# Customised entries for Sentora

##################################################

NameVirtualHost *:443

# Configuration for Sentora control panel.

SSLEngine on

SSLProtocol SSLv3

SSLCertificateFile /etc/apache2/ssl/yourdomain.crt

SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/apache2/ssl/yourdomain.key

ServerAdmin[email protected]

DocumentRoot "/etc/Sentora/panel/"

ServerName id-network.org

ServerAlias Sentora.id-network.org

Redirect Permanent / https://Sentora.id-network.org/

Note: You must replace the names above with your actual certificate and domain names.

6. Restart Apache: sudo service apache2 restart

Congratulations, you’ve successfully installed an SSL Certificate on Sentora web hosting panel. You can now access your panel via the HTTPS protocol.

Test your SSL installation

After you install an SSL Certificate on Sentora, it’s recommended to scan your new installation for potential errors or vulnerabilities, just to be on the safe side of things. With this powerful SSL tools, you can get instant reports on all facets of your SSL Certificate and its configuration.

Sentora history and versions

Sentora is a free, open-source web hosting panel developed for Linux, UNIX, and BSD servers and computers. Founded in 2014 by the previous members of the ZPanel project, Sentora is the continuation of the ZPanel, which had almost seized after the acquisition by Hostwinds LLC.

Sentora comes with the following features:

Multi-client environment

Quota management

API integration

Custom branding

Reseller program

Dozens of modules

The latest stable Sentora release is version 1.0.3.

If you find any inaccuracies, or you have details to add to these SSL installation instructions, please feel free to send us your feedback at info@ssldragon.com. Your input would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.