Create a Self-Signed Server Certificate in IIS 7

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista

Create a self-signed certificate for a local computer for one or more of the following reasons:

  • Troubleshooting third-party certificate problems.

  • Managing IIS remotely.

  • Creating a secure private channel between your server and a limited, known group of users, such as that in a software test environment.

  • Testing features that rely on SSL settings.

Important

This procedure generates a self-signed certificate that does not originate from a generally trusted source; therefore, you should not use this certificate to help secure data transfers between Internet clients and your server.

Note

Self-signed certificates may cause your Web browser to issue phishing warnings.

Prerequisites

For information about the levels at which you can perform this procedure, and the modules, handlers, and permissions that are required to perform this procedure, see Server Certificates Feature Requirements (IIS 7).

Exceptions to Feature Requirements

  • None

To create a self-signed certificate

You can perform this procedure by using the user interface (UI).

User Interface

To use the UI

  1. Open IIS Manager and navigate to the level you want to manage. For information about opening IIS Manager, see Open IIS Manager (IIS 7). For information about navigating to locations in the UI, see Navigation in IIS Manager (IIS 7).

  2. In Features view, double-click Server Certificates.

  3. In the Actions pane, click Create Self-Signed Certificate.

  4. On the Create Self-Signed Certificate page, type a friendly name for the certificate in the Specify a friendly name for the certificate box, and then click OK.

Command Line

None

Configuration

None

WMI

Use the following WMI classes, methods, or properties to perform this procedure:

  • None

For more information about WMI and IIS, see Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) in IIS 7. For more information about the classes, methods, or properties associated with this procedure, see the IIS WMI Provider Reference on the MSDN site.

See Also

Concepts

Configuring Server Certificates in IIS 7