Using Pre-Existing Keys and Certificates

If you already have an existing key and certificate (for example, if you are installing the secure Web server to replace another company's secure Web server product), you will probably be able to use your existing key and certificate with the secure Web server. In the following two situations, you will not be able to use your existing key and certificate:

If you have an existing key and certificate that you can use, you will not have to generate a new key and obtain a new certificate. However, you may need to move and rename the files which contain your key and certificate.

Move your existing key file to:

/etc/httpd/conf/ssl.key/server.key

Move your existing certificate file to:

/etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/server.crt

After you have moved your key and certificate, skip to the Section called Testing Your Certificate.

If you are upgrading from the Red Hat Secure Web Server versions 1.0 and 2.0, your old key (httpsd.key) and certificate (httpsd.crt) will be located in /etc/httpd/conf/. You will need to move and rename your key and certificate, so that the secure Web server can use them. Use the following two commands to move and rename your key and certificate files:

mv /etc/httpd/conf/httpsd.key /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.key/server.key
mv /etc/httpd/conf/httpsd.crt /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/server.crt

Then start your secure Web server with the command:
/sbin/service httpd start
For a secure server, you will be prompted to enter your password. After you type it in and press [Enter], the server will start.

You should not need to get a new certificate, if you are upgrading from a previous version of the secure Web server.