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Backup Files

Before attempting renew an SSL certificate, back up all your private and public keys to a secure folder.

Generate a New CSR

With Apache it is possible to renew the SSL Certificate with the original CSR, however, most sites recommend creating a new CSR

Most sites recommend creating a new CSR because creating a new certificate with an identical DN will not invalidate the previous certificate.

Renewing Certificate

In the case of not being able to replace a certificate, instructions are provided by the CA you recieved your certificate from. As an example StartSSL  requires you to login to the account that created the certificate and provides your account the option to renew the certificate.

Private Key

You can use your existing private key to generate the CSR or create a new one.

There is no clear consensus on whether creating a new or using an old private key is considered best practice. It is not necessary to create a new private key depending on which web server you are using, (ie you'd need to create new private keys due to the way Microsoft IIS Web server handles storing private keys) many sites like sslshopper.com recommend that a new private key be created as it avoids confusion and is simplest.

Condensed instructions are as follows:

Gather all required information from the existing certificate.

Comment - Tin's to Duncan

Explain how here.

Run openssl to generate a new server private key

openssl genrsa -out www.example.com_server.key 2048

Generate a CSR with the private key

openssl req -new -key www.example.com_server.key -out www.example.com_server.csr

Submit the CSR to your root CA to be signed.

Refer to creating a new CSR for more details.

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