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A Certificate Signing Request (CSR) is an encrypted text file used in the creation and issuing of your SSL certificate. This file contains an encrypted version of the information needed by a Certificate Authority (CA), such as GeoTrust, to create and issue your new SSL. A CSR is always required when issuing an SSL Certificate.

Example of a CSR:

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
MIIBzDCCATUCAQAwgYsxHDAaBgNVBAMTE3d3dy50aGlzaXNhdGVzdC5jb20xCzAJ BgNVBAYTAlpBMRkwFwYDVQQIExBXZXN0ZXJuIFByb3ZpbmNlMRIwEAYDVQQHEwlD YXBlIFRvd24xEjAQBgNVBAoTCVRlc3QgQ29ycDEbMBkGA1UECxMSVGVzdGluZyBE ZXBhcnRtZW50MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQDVzfmv7vJ9bOyQ dxMLlgtDIEFz7MWsOUoZOPTq3qsTTXPW61q01jY8eQfs96I5xPjxALPeT4m74cce UtYxldG7pLJiB3SGU94yvyvHDiyV+6mV/e++KWT2ql0Jv1emmobmAGdUxdx2pW9C Epr0DmcVny6VGWAI36bG0NdYrNix4QIDAQABoAAwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEEBQADgYEA BfSHgDr9Vc460YG+lAiWuVWEife8B4QOojiV8oUxJJDqbA2CEEmXLWfa7/mfUtd5 EQd6voLDT8axpXPbOrmwa3kzEZvQZhg+QvKEyIfncqdWbDUk71tO0fVafBKwRQfE 73J/THmVABZuz9T6X3+KWGxGDiYw0sY3bE7OjBCwr14=
-----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----

CSRs are most frequently created on the actual web server where your website is hosted. If you have access to your server's control panel or command line, you can likely generate your own CSR without additional help. Instructions for generating a CSR vary by web server.

Once your CSR is created, you will be provided with both the CSR text (see example above) and the Private Key text. While the blocks of text may appear similar, they contain different encrypted information. Your CSR will be included in the final SSL Certificate while the Private Key is kept private (and is used to digitally sign your CSR).

When you are creating your CSR, you will be asked to provide several pieces of information: Common Name (i.e. the domain name where the SSL certificate will function), organization, country, key bit length (many SSL Certificates require a minimum of 1024 bits), email, and more.

Once your CSR and Private Key are supplied, be sure to save both the CSR and Private Key into a file where they will be accessible at a later time. If you misplace your private key, you will likely have to generate an entirely new CSR and Private Key, as well as request a reissue of your SSL Certificate before you can digitally sign your certificate.