Guide To Install SSL Certificate on RedHat Linux

When you install an SSL certificate on RedHat Linux server, you need to follow a specific process that involves the Apache server. After generating CSR for Red Hat Linux web server, you need to proceed with the installation process.

Once you receive the zip file from certificate authority or SSL certificate provider, you need to download and extract all certificate files on server/desktop.

Now, copy certificate file with any text editor or notepad and copy certificate code including ‘Begin Certificate’ and ‘End Certificate’ into notepad and save it as mydomain.crt

After that, copy the file to the server directory where you save all certificates like /mydomain/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/.

You can consider below example to save private key, main certificate and CA-Bundle file into directories.

• /mydomain/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/ - All the certificates are stored here.
• /mydomain/httpd/conf/ssl.key/ - Here, the server’s private keys are stored.
• /mydomain/httpd/conf/ca-bundle/ - All the bundle files by certificate authority are stored here.

SSL Certificate Installation Steps for RedHat Linux Server

1. In Apache, browse to “Virtual Host Settings” and copy the PEM formatted CA Bundle file to the directory path where CA bundle files are already there.
2. Now, open “httpd.config” file with a text editor.
3. Browse to “SSL connection” in your .config file, you should copy below code:

SSLCACertificateFile /mydomain/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/ca-chain-pem.txt

Note: You need to rename the files and path if the location and certificate file names are not the same to get the correct names on the Apache server.

4. After that, the updated .config file will look as below:

SSLCertificateFile /mydomain/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/server.crt

SSLCertificateKeyFile /mydomain/httpd/conf/ssl.key/server.key

SSLCACertificateFile /mydomain/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/ca-chain-pem.txt 

5. At last, you need to save httpd.config file and restart the server.

Once you install an SSL certificate, you can check with SSL checker to see if it is installed properly or not.