Securing Remote Access: A Guide to cPanel SSH/TLS Configuration

SSL (Socket Security Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security) is a security mechanism that encrypts data as it travels from a computer to a host or server and vice versa.

a) How to generate a private key in cPanel

1. Log into cPanel and navigate to the Security section to select SSL/TLS tool or search for the SSL/TLS tool in the search bar.

2. Then, click the Generate, View, Upload or Delete Your Private Keys Link button to access the Generate New Private Key interface for generating new keys.

3. After that, select the key size from a drop-down menu and optionally provide a description; you can leave it empty.

4. Finally, click the “Generate” button to create a new private key.

b) How to upload a private key in cPanel

1. Log into cPanel and navigate to the Security section to select SSL/TLS tool or search for the SSL/TLS tool in the search bar.

2. Then, click the Generate, view, upload or delete your private keys link button. You can use Generate a New Private Key Interface to upload a private key.

3. After that, paste the existing key into the text box and provide a description.

4. Finally, click the Save button to import the key.

4. You also can upload a ‘.key‘ file by selecting it from the ‘.key‘ file under ‘Upload a New Private Key‘ and clicking the ‘Upload‘ button to import the key into the server.

c) How to generate a CSR in cPanel

1. Log into cPanel and navigate to the Security section to select SSL/TLS tool or search for the SSL/TLS tool in the search bar.

2. Then, click the Generate, View or Delete SSL Certificate Signing Requests link button under Certificate Signing Requests (CSR).

3. After that, navigate to Generate New Certificate Signing Request (CSR) in the SSL Certificate Signing Request interface.

4. Next, select an existing private key from the Key drop-down list or select to generate a new private key.

5. Then, enter the desired domain using a * wildcard domain like *.example.com, and provide necessary information like city in the text fields.

6. Finally, click the Generate button to generate the CSR.

d) How to upload an SSL or TLS certificate in cPanel

1. Log into cPanel and navigate to the Security section to select SSL/TLS tool or search for the SSL/TLS tool in the search bar.

2. Then, click the Generate, view, upload or delete SSL certificates link button under Certificates (CRT).

3. Finally, paste the SSL/TLS code and click the save certificate button or upload a .crt file provided by your hosting provider and click the “Upload Certificate” button to create a SSL/TLS certificate.

e) How to self-sign a certificate in cPanel

1. Log into cPanel and navigate to the Security section to select SSL/TLS tool or search for the SSL/TLS tool in the search bar.

2. Then, navigate to the Certificates section and select your existing private key from the Key drop-down list or select to generate a new private key.

3. After that, enter the desired domain by using a * wildcard as the subdomain like *.example.com.

4. Next, the text field should contain all the necessary information, including the city, state and others.

5. Finally, click the Generate button to generate the certificate.

f) How to install SSL in cPanel

1. Log into cPanel and navigate to the Security section to select SSL/TLS tool or search for the SSL/TLS tool in the search bar.

2. Then, click the Manage SSL sites link button under Install and Manage SSL for your site (HTTPS).

3. After that, select to install SSL on your website and navigate to install an SSL website.

4. Next, select a certificate from the installed certificates or choose a domain from the drop-down box, and click Autofill by Domain.

5. Then, all fields for the certificate, private key, and certificate authority bundle will then be populated automatically.

6. Finally, click the “Install Certificate” button to activate the certificate for the domain or subdomain.