Installing PremiumSSL on VPS Print

Guide for installing DigiCert Premium SSL on Debian/Apache VPS.

Prerequisites

• Valid A record pointing to server
• Email address on the domain (admin@, webmaster@, etc.)
• SSH access to VPS

1. Generate CSR

SSH to your server and run:

openssl req -new -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout domain.key -out domain.csr

Fill in:

• Common Name: yourdomain.com (or *.yourdomain.com for wildcard)
• Organization: Your company name
• Country: Two-letter code (US, GB, etc.)
• Complete other fields as prompted

Copy the CSR content:

cat domain.csr

2. Configure Certificate

1. Log into ArkHost client area
2. Find SSL order → Configure Now
3. Select Apache + ModSSL
4. Paste CSR content
5. Click Continue
6. Select approval email
7. Complete configuration

3. Approve Certificate

• Check approval email
• Click approval link
• Click Approve

4. Download Certificate

From DigiCert email:

1. Use guest access link
2. Download Apache format (.crt files)
3. Upload to server: /etc/ssl/yourdomain/

5. Configure Apache

Edit your site config:

<VirtualHost *:443>
    DocumentRoot /var/www/yourdomain
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/yourdomain/yourdomain.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/yourdomain/domain.key
    SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/ssl/yourdomain/DigiCertCA.crt
</VirtualHost>

6. Test and Restart

# Test configuration
apachectl configtest

# Restart Apache
systemctl restart apache2

Remove Let's Encrypt (if present)

# Remove certbot
snap remove certbot

# Disable renewal cron
crontab -e
# Comment out certbot line

Testing SSL

• Visit https://yourdomain.com
• Check padlock icon
• Test with SSL Labs: ssllabs.com/ssltest

PCI Compliance

Add to Apache config:

SSLCipherSuite HIGH:+MEDIUM:!SSLv2:!EXP:!ADH:!aNULL:!eNULL:!NULL

Common Issues

• Certificate not trusted: Missing chain file
• Site not loading: Check firewall allows 443
• Wrong certificate shown: Clear browser cache