Check on a Pending Certificate Request

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008

When you submit a certificate request to a Windows-based enterprise CA, it is immediately processed and will either immediately fail or be granted, unless the certificate template has been configured to require approval by a certificate manager.

When you submit a certificate request to a Windows-based stand-alone CA, it will either be immediately processed or, by default, it will be considered pending until the administrator of the CA approves or rejects the request. In the case of a pending request, the certificate requester will have to use the Certificate Services Web pages to check the status of pending certificates.

Users or local Administrators are the minimum group memberships required to complete this procedure. Review the details in "Additional considerations" in this topic.

To check on a pending certificate request

  1. Open Internet Explorer.

  2. In Internet Explorer, open https://servername/certsrv, where servername is the name of the Web server running Windows Server 2003 where the certification authority (CA) you want to access is located.

  3. Click View the status of a pending certificate request.

  4. If there are no pending certificate requests, you will see a message to that effect. Otherwise, select the certificate request you want to check, and then click Next.

  5. Check the pending certificate requests:

    • Still pending. You must wait for the administrator of the CA to issue the certificate. To remove the certificate request, click Remove.

    • Issued. To install the certificate, click Install this certificate.

    • Denied. Contact the administrator of the CA for further information.

  6. If you are finished using the Certificate Services Web pages, close Internet Explorer.

Additional considerations

  • User certificates can be managed by the user or by an administrator. Certificates issued to a computer or service can only be managed by an administrator or user who has been given the appropriate permissions.

If this is the first time you are accessing the Web server for a CA, you must add the server to the list of Trusted sites in Internet Explorer. Trusted sites can be added by selecting Internet Options on the Tools menu, clicking the Security tab, selecting the Trusted sites zone, and clicking Sites. In addition, the Web server for the CA must be configured to use HTTPS authentication.

Additional references