Certificate Template Versions
Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2
Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) provides these versions of certificate templates that are available on enterprise certification authorities (CA).
Version 1 certificate templates support general certificate needs and provide compatibility with clients and issuing CAs running Windows 2000 operating systems. Version 1 templates are installed by default during CA setup and cannot be deleted. The only property that can be modified on a version 1 template is the set of assigned permissions that controls access to the template.
Enrollment options
Automatic enrollment
Custom scripts
Automatic certificate request settings in Group Policy can be used only for computer certificates
Manual enrollment
Certificates snap-in
CA Web enrollment pages
Template availability
Windows Server 2008 R2, all editions
Windows Server 2008, all editions
Windows Server 2003 R2, all editions
Windows Server 2003, all editions
Windows 2000 Server, all editions
Version 2 certificate templates were introduced in Windows Server 2003 and can be configured by an administrator to control the way certificates are requested, issued, and used. Version 2 templates provide support for certificate autoenrollment.
Enrollment options
Automatic enrollment
Autoenrollment in Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP Professional
Custom scripts
Manual enrollment
Certificate Enrollment Wizard
CA Web enrollment pages
Template availability
Windows Server 2008 R2, all editions
Windows Server 2008, Enterprise and Datacenter editions
Windows Server 2003 R2, Enterprise and Datacenter editions
Windows Server 2003, Enterprise and Datacenter editions
In addition to version 2 template features and autoenrollment, version 3 certificate templates provide support for Suite B cryptographic algorithms. Suite B was created by the U.S. National Security Agency to specify cryptographic algorithms that must be used by U.S. government agencies to secure confidential information.
Template availability
Windows Server 2008 R2, all editions
Windows Server 2008, Enterprise and Datacenter editions