Ordering DV Public Trust Certificates

Although SSL is still commonly used interchangeably in the industry, it should not be. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is an insecure deprecated predecessor protocol to TLS (Transport Layer Security).

Although our public trust TLS certificates could be used to support the SSL protocol, eMudhra advocates for secure protocol usage, and our certificates are designed and intended to support secure versions of TLS for secure authentication and privacy over the internet.

What Is a DV SSL Certificate?

A Domain Validation (DV) certificate is the quickest and most affordable type of SSL/TLS certificate. The Certificate Authority (emSign) simply confirms that you control the domain name - it does not check who you are or what organization you represent.

When to use a DV certificate:

• Personal websites, blogs, or hobby sites

• Development or staging environments

• Short-term projects

• Any site where speed and low cost matter more than showing your organization name in the certificate

What a DV certificate does NOT provide:

• It does not verify your organization's identity

• Visitors cannot see your company name in the certificate - only your domain name is shown

The Four DV SSL Certificate Variants

DV certificates verify only that you control the domain being secured - no company identity check is required. This makes them fast to issue (often within minutes) and the most popular choice for websites, blogs, applications, and internal services. CERTInext offers four variants:

DV SSL Certificate

You need to secure a single specific domain, such as www.mybusiness.com or shop.mybusiness.com.

DV Wildcard SSL Certificate

You need to secure your main domain and ALL its subdomains (*.mybusiness.com). One certificate covers mail, portal, api, shop - any subdomain you create now or in future.

DV UCC SSL Certificate (Multi-Domain)

You need to secure several completely different domains or subdomains under a single certificate, e.g., mybusiness.com, mybusiness.net, and shop.mybusiness.com.

DV Wildcard UCC SSL Certificate

You need to protect multiple wildcard domains together, e.g., *.mybusiness.com and *.mybusiness.net - ideal for organizations managing several brands or regions.

Choose the one applicable to your scenario based on the above description.

⚠️ IMPORTANT

A DV certificate proves only that you control the domain - it does NOT show your organization's name in the certificate. If your website needs to display a verified company name in the certificate details, you need an OV (Organization Validated) or EV (Extended Validation) certificate, available separately on CERTInext.

How to Use This Guide

The guide is divided into two phases that apply to all four variants:

• Phase 1 - Applying for the Certificate in CERTInext: A 6-step wizard you complete online.

• Phase 2 - Post-Submission: What Happens After You Pay: Actions you take via email and the emSign Subscriber Portal to validate your domain and download your certificate.

Where a step or field differs between variants, a clearly marked 'Variant Difference' section explains exactly what changes. Everything else is identical across all four variants.

📌 InCommon Note

If your institution is part of the InCommon Certificate Service (a programme for US universities and research institutions operated by Internet2), your CERTInext login and group assignment may be pre-configured by your IT administrator. The application steps in this guide are identical for InCommon users. Your subscription cost may be covered under your institutional InCommon agreement - certificates may appear at $0.00 or a flat negotiated rate. Check with your IT/PKI administrator before placing an order.

Before You Start - What You Will Need

Please gather the following before beginning your certificate application. Having these ready will allow you to complete the entire process in one session.

CERTInext Login

What It Is

Your username and password for the CERTInext platform (certinext.io).

What To Do

Log in before starting. If you do not have an account, contact your IT administrator or eMudhra support.

Your Domain Name

What It Is

The website address you want to secure.

• DV SSL: e.g., www.mybusiness.com

• DV Wildcard SSL: e.g., *.mybusiness.com

• DV UCC SSL: e.g., mybusiness.com + mybusiness.net

• DV Wildcard UCC SSL: e.g., *.mybusiness.com + *.mybusiness.net

What To Do

Write this down before starting. Make sure it exactly matches what your web server uses.

CSR File

What It Is

A Certificate Signing Request - a block of encoded text generated by your web server or IT team. It contains your domain name and a public key that the CA uses to create your certificate.

What To Do

If you do not have a CSR, ask your IT team or hosting provider to generate one. Alternatively, you can skip CSR at application time and provide it later. See Step 2 for full guidance.

DNS or Server Access

What It Is

After paying, you must prove you control your domain - either by adding a TXT record to your DNS settings or uploading a small file to your web server.

What To Do

Contact your DNS provider (e.g., GoDaddy, Cloudflare) or your IT administrator.

For Wildcard variants, DNS TXT record is the only recommended method.

Payment Method

What It Is

Either a CERTInext credit balance (pre-loaded by your organization) or a credit/debit card for online payment.

What To Do

Confirm with your accounts or IT team which method to use.