The first step in activation of SSL certificate should be obtaining CSR code from your hosting company. Don’t forget to back-up RSA private key that your hosting company would send you along with CSR. RSA key is necessary for certificate installation. In case you do not back up it, you will not be able to install the certificate when it is issued.
You should also ask your hosting company to advise you on the type of web server installed on the server where your site is hosted.
If you are using Namecheap Hosting services please review SSL certificate activation and installation for domain hosted on Namecheap hosting servers article for help.
When you have CSR code and you know your web server type you should login to Namecheap account and start the activation:
- Go to Manage Domains menu
- Select SSL Certificates option from left-side navigation
- Click on Activate Now link next to certificate that you want to use
- Choose appropriate type of web server as advised by your hosting company from Select Web Server drop-down list
- Enter CSR code provided by your hosting company and continue the process
You will need to select approval email address from the list and fill in administrative contact information for the certificate. Please keep in mind that administrator's contact information has to be submitted using letters from English alphabet (Aa-Zz) only. If you use any other languages this will result in error when submitting the order. Of course, you can use numbers (0-9) where necessary for administrator's contact (street number, postal code, phone number, etc.).
The approval email is to be delivered to approval address shortly after you finish activation process. If you do not receive the email in 2 hours, please check out What should I do if approval email was not delivered? article for help. When you confirm the issuance by following link in approval email you should receive the signed certificate to the administrative email address you indicated during the activation. Processing of order by Certification Authority may take about 2 hours. If certificate is not delivered in 2 hours please review I have not received my SSL certificate troubleshooter for help.
Important Note!
Installation of SSL certificate requires dedicated IP address to be assigned to your site. You should check with your hosting company if they provide you with dedicated IP address for free or if you are to pay them for it. This should be checked prior to activation of SSL certificate for you to avoid any issues with SSL certificate installation.