Server Certificates

UW–‍Madison is a participant in the InCommon Certificate Service, which entitles campus staff to unlimited server (SSL) certificates at no cost. The InCommon certificate service is paid for and managed by IT Security.

Please note, the default is to issue certificates for only those servers under the wisc.edu, wisconsin.edu, and uwsa.edu domain names. We can go through the DCV (Domain Control Validation) process to issue certificates for other domains if UW Madison is the administrative manager for that domain. Please contact servercertificates@doit.wisc.edu to discuss. Alternatively, certificates can be purchased directly from Comodo, another commercial certificate authority, or for auto-renewing certificates for free with a service like LetsEncrypt or the AWS Certificate Manager, for example.

SSL Certificate Ordering Information

The InCommon certificate service includes several different certificate types. We can issue single domain, multiple domain, extended validation and wildcard certs as well as a few others. Information on all certificate types and their purpose is documented in the KB article SSL Certificate Types.

Steps for Ordering a Server Certificate

All InCommon/Comodo server certificates are delivered via email from Comodo (cert-manager.com). Please make sure to set any spam filters as appropriate.

Step 1

Decide on the certificate type you need and generate a Certificates Signing Request (CSR). The CSR is used as input for the certificate to be generated.

  • Refer to your product documentation on how to generate a CSR.

Step 2

Complete the SSL Certificate form.

Step 3

Install certificate(s)

  • Refer to your product documentation on how to install a SSL certificate.
  • You will need to install the Comodo root and intermediate certificates on your server. A link to these certificates is included in the enrollment email you receive once your certificate is approved.

If you have additional questions, please see our frequently asked questions (FAQ).

Other information about the SSL certificate service.