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Matt
Asked: 2010-05-01 06:20:47 +0800 CST

Should I anticipate any problems trying to use the same SSL Cert on 2 computers (primary, backup)?

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We have a production machine running IIS6 with a wildcard SSL certificate. The certificate that was installed is not exportable.

We want to upgrade the system to IIS7. As part of this venture, we're creating a backup/failover server that will serve the exact same websites - when we take the primary down for upgrade, the secondary will take over. As such, the secondary also needs the SSL certificate.

However, since the certificate was not exportable, this means re-keying it from Go Daddy.

Per http://help.godaddy.com/article/867, I know that by re-keying the certificate the original will stop working.

I'm still pretty new to SSL certificates, so are there any problems I should anticipate when installing the same SSL certificate on 2 different machines?

ssl ssl-certificate

2 Answers

  1. I would re-key the certificate and install it on the secondary machine and make sure that it's exportable. Then, export the certificate and install it on the existing server. This ensures that they both have the same exact certificate in place. Keep a copy of the PFX export file in a safe place in case you need to restore it again later.

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  2. Best Answer

    As long as the certificate is valid for both of them, you should be fine.

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