S/MIME (Email) Requests
This section explains how to create certificate requests for S/MIME Certificate type in the Web RA application.
S/MIME certificate requests with None validation type
S/MIME certificate requests with Mailbox validation type
S/MIME certificate requests with Organisation validation type
S/MIME certificate requests with Sponsor validation type
S/MIME certificate requests with CAA records verification
Following are a few things to remember with respect to SDNs, SANs and RDNs:
- When a user creates a new certificate request, the SDNs and SANs will be rendered as configured in the certification profile and its values will be auto-filled from the certificate details.
- A user will not be able to change the values of the RDNs if an operator has configured them in the certificate details.
- An operator will see the rendered values in a disabled form.
- If there is an RDN that is added in certification profile but has not been configured in the user's certificate details, it will be shown as editable in the request form and the user can update its value.
- If no RDN is configured in the user certificate details then the request will be generated.
- In case of an error, the user will not be allowed to move to the next step.
Second Factor Authentication
If second-factor authentication is enabled for certificate requests, the configured authentication mechanism operates accordingly. When the user clicks Generate, an authentication window appears. After the selected method is successfully verified, the certificate is generated.
The authentication mechanism can be one of the following:
- SMS OTP Authentication
- Email OTP Authentication
- Email & SMS Authentication
- SAML Authentication
- Active Directory Authentication
- Azure Active Directory Authentication
- OIDC Authentication
Request Notes
If an operator has added a customized Request Note to certificate requests for a specific enterprise, it will appear in all types of certificates requests -- issued, rekey, revoked, renewed and reissued. The Request Notes appear only on the screens against which the operator has customised them.
An operator can configure Request Notes from the Enterprise Request Notes section in the Admin portal.
S/MIME certificate requests with None validation type
The following steps describe how to create an S/MIME certificate request with the None validation type.
Expand Certificate Center > Certificate Requests to navigate to the Certificate Requests listing screen.
Click the + button to create a new certificate request.
The create request screen will appear. On this screen, select the required ‘Certificate Type’ from the dropdown, and click ‘Create’.
The system will display the Certificate Signing Request (CSR) screen. Here, you can either upload a CSR or paste it into the ‘Paste Certificate Signing Request (CSR)’ box.
Once the CSR is uploaded, it will appear in the CSR field. You can view the details of the CSR by clicking the Eye icon.
Click the next '>' button to navigate to the 'Subject Distinguished Name (SDN)' screen. Review or update the information in the fields as required, then click the next ‘>’ button to proceed.
The Subject Alternative Name (SAN) screen will appear. Here, review or update the information in the fields as required.
After completing the SAN section click the next ‘>’ button to proceed. The 'Certificate Validity' screen will appear.
Click the 'Generate' button to create the certificate.
Note: If Certification Authority Authorisation (CAA) Records is enabled in the Enterprise Domain Settings, CAA record verification is required in the Ownership Verification section. When CAA record verification is enabled and the None validation type is selected, the system performs only CAA verification before generating the certificate. Ensure that the domain in the DNS and Email Address fields of the SAN are the same. If they differ, the system displays an error on the SAN screen and does not allow you to proceed. For more details, see how CAA Record Verification is performed.
S/MIME certificate requests with Mailbox validation type
The following steps describe how to create an S/MIME certificate request with the Mailbox validation type.
Expand Certificate Center > Certificate Requests to navigate to the Certificate Requests listing screen.
Click the + button to create a new certificate request.
The create request screen will appear. On this screen, select the required ‘Certificate Type’ from the dropdown, and click ‘Create’.
The system will display the Certificate Signing Request (CSR) screen. Here, you can either upload a CSR or paste it into the ‘Paste Certificate Signing Request (CSR)’ box.
Once the CSR is uploaded, it will appear in the CSR field. You can view the details of the CSR by clicking the Eye icon.
Click the next '>' button to navigate to the 'Subject Distinguished Name (SDN)' screen. Review or update the information in the fields as required, then click the next ‘>’ button to proceed.
The Subject Alternative Name (SAN) screen will appear. Here, review or update the information in the fields as required.
After completing the SAN section click the next ‘>’ button to proceed. The 'Certificate Validity' screen will appear.
Click the next '>' button to navigate to the 'Ownership Verification' screen. The system will display the 'Email Validation' section on the screen.
To verify the email address, click the ‘Verify’ button in the Action column. An ‘Email Validation’ dialog will appear on the screen, and a Token will be sent to the specified email address.
Enter the token you received in your email in the ‘Token’ field, then click ‘Verify’. If the provided token is correct, the system will display the ‘Verified’ status for the email address.
After successful verification, click the ‘Generate’ button to create the certificate.
Note: If Certification Authority Authorisation (CAA) Records is enabled in the Enterprise Domain Settings, CAA record verification is required in the Ownership Verification section. When CAA record verification is enabled and the Mailbox validation type is selected, the system performs both Email validation and CAA record verification before generating the certificate. Ensure that the domain in the DNS and Email Address fields of the SAN are the same. If they differ, the system displays an error on the SAN screen and does not allow you to proceed. For more details, see how CAA Record Verification is performed.
S/MIME certificate requests with Organisation validation type
The following steps describe how to create an S/MIME certificate request with the Organisation validation type.
Expand Certificate Center > Certificate Requests to navigate to the Certificate Requests listing screen.
Click the + button to create a new certificate request.
The create request screen will appear. On this screen, select the required ‘Certificate Type’ from the dropdown, and click ‘Create’.
The system will display the Certificate Signing Request (CSR) screen. Here, you can either upload a CSR or paste it into the ‘Paste Certificate Signing Request (CSR)’ box.
Once the CSR is uploaded, it will appear in the CSR field. You can view the details of the CSR by clicking the Eye icon.
Click the next '>' button to navigate to the 'Subject Distinguished Name (SDN)' screen. Review or update the information in the fields as required, then click the next ‘>’ button to proceed.
The Subject Alternative Name (SAN) screen will appear. Here, review or update the information in the fields as required.
Note: If the Domain Names (DNS) field is present in the SAN, ensure that the domain in the DNS and Email Address fields are the same. If the domains differ, the system displays an error and does not allow you to proceed.
After completing the SAN section click the next ‘>’ button to proceed. The 'Certificate Validity' screen will appear.
Click the next '>' button to navigate to the 'Ownership Verification' screen. The system will display the 'Domain Verification' section on the screen.
For domain verification, the system extracts the organisation domain from the email address in the RFC822Name field. If the Domain Names (DNS) field is present in the SAN, the system matches the domain in the DNS field with the domain in the RFC822Name field. The system will match the domain in the SAN section, as mentioned in the steps above.
Domain verification can be performed either by uploading a file or by adding a TXT record.
Note: The action (Upload a File or TXT Record) through which domain verification can be performed is configured in the certification profile. The operator may select one or both methods for domain verification. You can use any of the method to verify your domain. For more details about how the method is selected, navigate to the ‘Certification Profiles’ section.
Upload a File
Click the ‘Upload a File’ button. The system will display the ‘Upload a File’ dialog, which contains instructions on how to verify the domain using this method.
Follow the instructions in the dialog and click ‘Verify’. If all steps are completed correctly, the ‘Verified’ status will appear for the entered domain.
After the verification is complete you can click the generate button to create the certificate.
TXT Record
Click the ‘TXT Record’ button. The system will display the ‘TXT Record’ dialog, which contains instructions on how to verify the domain using this method.
Follow the instructions in the dialog and click ‘Verify’. If all steps are completed correctly, the ‘Verified’ status will appear for the entered domain.
After the verification is complete you can click the generate button to create the certificate.
Note: If Certification Authority Authorisation (CAA) Records is enabled in the Enterprise Domain Settings, CAA record verification is required in the Ownership Verification section. When CAA record verification is enabled and the Organisation validation type is selected, the system performs both domain verification and CAA record verification before generating the certificate. Ensure that the domain in the DNS and Email Address fields of the SAN are the same. If they differ, the system displays an error on the SAN screen and does not allow you to proceed. For more details, see how CAA Record Verification is performed.
S/MIME certificate requests with Sponsor validation type
The following steps describe how to create an S/MIME certificate request with the Sponsor validation type.
Expand Certificate Center > Certificate Requests to navigate to the Certificate Requests listing screen.
Click the + button to create a new certificate request.
The create request screen will appear. On this screen, select the required ‘Certificate Type’ from the dropdown, and click ‘Create’.
The system will display the Certificate Signing Request (CSR) screen. Here, you can either upload a CSR or paste it into the ‘Paste Certificate Signing Request (CSR)’ box.
Once the CSR is uploaded, it will appear in the CSR field. You can view the details of the CSR by clicking the Eye icon.
Click the next '>' button to navigate to the 'Subject Distinguished Name (SDN)' screen. Review or update the information in the fields as required, then click the next ‘>’ button to proceed.
The Subject Alternative Name (SAN) screen will appear. Here, review or update the information in the fields as required.
Note: If the Domain Names (DNS) field is present in the SAN, ensure that the domain in the DNS and Email Address fields are the same. If the domains differ, the system displays an error and does not allow you to proceed.
After completing the SAN section click the next ‘>’ button to proceed. The 'Certificate Validity' screen will appear.
Click the next '>' button to navigate to the 'Ownership Verification' screen. The system will display the Email Validation and the Domain Verification sections on the screen. If the ‘Sponsor’ validation type is configured in the certification profile, the ownership verification screen will require you to complete both verifications before generating the certificate.
For domain verification, the system extracts the organisation domain from the email address in the RFC822Name field. If the Domain Names (DNS) field is present in the SAN, the system matches the domain in the DNS field with the domain in the RFC822Name field. The system will match the domain in the SAN section, as mentioned in the steps above.
Domain verification can be performed either by uploading a file or by adding a TXT record.
Note: The action (Upload a File or TXT Record) through which domain verification can be performed is configured in the certification profile. The operator may select one or both methods for domain verification. You can use any of the method to verify your domain. For more details about how the method is selected, navigate to the ‘Certification Profiles’ section.
Email Validation
To verify the email address, click the ‘Verify’ button in the Action column. An ‘Email Validation’ dialog will appear on the screen, and a Token will be sent to the specified email address.
Enter the token you received in your email in the ‘Token’ field, then click ‘Verify’. If the provided token is correct, the system will display the ‘Verified’ status for the email address.
After verifying the email address, you must verify the domain. The steps for verifying the domain - either by uploading a file or by adding a TXT record - are provided below.
Upload a File
Click the ‘Upload a File’ button. The system will display the ‘Upload a File’ dialog, which contains instructions on how to verify the domain using this method.
Follow the instructions in the dialog and click ‘Verify’. If all steps are completed correctly, the ‘Verified’ status will appear for the entered domain.
After the verification is complete you can click the generate button to create the certificate.
TXT Record
Click the ‘TXT Record’ button. The system will display the ‘TXT Record’ dialog, which contains instructions on how to verify the domain using this method.
Follow the instructions in the dialog and click ‘Verify’. If all steps are completed correctly, the ‘Verified’ status will appear for the entered domain.
After the verification is complete you can click the generate button to create the certificate.
Note: If Certification Authority Authorisation (CAA) Records is enabled in the Enterprise Domain Settings, CAA record verification is required in the Ownership Verification section. When CAA record verification is enabled and the Sponsor validation type is selected, the system performs email validation, domain verification and CAA record verification before generating the certificate. Ensure that the domain in the DNS and Email Address fields of the SAN are the same. If they differ, the system displays an error on the SAN screen and does not allow you to proceed. For more details, see how CAA Record Verification is performed.
If Certification Authority Authorisation (CAA) Records is enabled in the Enterprise Domain Settings, CAA record verification is required in the Ownership Verification section before the certificate is generated.
The following steps describe how CAA record verification is performed during S/MIME certificate request creation.
Expand Certificate Center > Certificate Requests to navigate to the Certificate Requests listing screen.
Click the + button to create a new certificate request.
The create request screen will appear. On this screen, select the required ‘Certificate Type’ from the dropdown, and click ‘Create’.
The system will display the Certificate Signing Request (CSR) screen. Here, you can either upload a CSR or paste it into the ‘Paste Certificate Signing Request (CSR)’ box.
Once the CSR is uploaded, it will appear in the CSR field. You can view the details of the CSR by clicking the Eye icon.
Click the next '>' button to navigate to the 'Subject Distinguished Name (SDN)' screen. Review or update the information in the fields as required, then click the next ‘>’ button to proceed.
The Subject Alternative Name (SAN) screen will appear. Here, review or update the information in the fields as required.
Note: Ensure that the domain in the Domain Names (DNS) and Email Address fields are the same. If the domains differ, the system displays an error and does not allow you to proceed.
After completing the SAN section click the next ‘>’ button to proceed. The 'Certificate Validity' screen will appear.
Click the next '>' button to navigate to the 'Ownership Verification' screen.
The Domain Verification Status will appear unverified. Click Verify to proceed.
If the CAA records configured in the Enterprise Domain configurations match the domain of the entered email, the Domain Verification Status will appear as Verified, as displayed below.
In case of Verified status, click Generate to process a certificate. The Certificate Generated confirmation message will appear, as displayed below:
Meanwhile, if the CAA records configured in the Enterprise Domain configurations do not match the domain of any entered email, the Domain Verification Status will appear as ‘Unverified’.
The unverified domain name will appear in red text under the ‘Details’ column.
If you attempt to generate the certificate while the Domain Verification Status is ‘Unverified,’ the system will display an error dialog prompting you to verify your domain CAA records before proceeding.
Note: If no CAA record is present, any CA is allowed to issue a certificate for the domain. If a CAA record is present, only the CAs listed in the record(s) are allowed to issue certificates for that hostname.