Using SSL Certificate Shared By Another Domain (Shared SSL)

Shared SSL is a means of securing the access to a site with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) without purchasing your own SSL certificate. Websites that employ shared SSL are, in fact, using the certificate shared by another domain. The domain that shares its SSL certificate with others is called Master SSL Domain.

Note. Before your customers can use shared SSL, the Master SSL Domain should be set. Refer to the Configuring Master SSL Domain for Shared SSL section for more information.

To use SSL certificate of the Master SSL Domain, enabling shared SSL:

  1. Click the Domains shortcut in the navigation pane.
  2. Click the required domain name in the list.
  3. Click Shared SSL in the Hosting group.
  4. Select the Switch on shared SSL checkbox.
  5. Specify the virtual directory name in the corresponding input field. The virtual directory with the supplied name will be created on the Master SSL Domain. This directory will be used for accessing your site through SSL.

    For example, let us suppose that you have a domain named mydomain.com, Master SSL Domain is defined as master_ssl_domain.com, and the virtual directory name you supplied is my_virtual_dir. In this case, to access your site through SSL, you need to use the following address: https://master_ssl_domain.com/my_virtual_dir.

    Note. You cannot use your domain name (e.g., mydomain.com) to access your site via SSL if you are using shared SSL.

  6. Select the directory where protected content is located on your domain. The documents within specified directory will be accessible only through SSL. You can only choose either httpdocs or httpsdocs as a target directory.
  7. To make your domain accessible via SSL only, select the Require SSL checkbox.
  8. Click OK.

To stop using SSL certificate of the Master SSL Domain, disabling shared SSL:

  1. Click the Domains shortcut in the navigation pane.
  2. Click the required domain name in the list.
  3. Click Shared SSL in the Hosting group.
  4. Clear the Switch on shared SSL checkbox.
  5. Click OK.