I am migrating my website away from my home OSX server to a virtual Linux server, hosted within a proper data centre, and I have a problem with the SSL certificates I imported into OSX Server.
It appears to have stored the certificates into /etc/certificates however I don't know the passphrase it used to encrypted the key file. It's not my normal account/keychain password, so I've no idea what passphrase it, or I, chose at the time.
(I have tried to get the original SSL certificates but that's not proving so easy either, but might be my only hope).
Could someone tell me how this works so I can untangle myself and use the certificates on the new website please?
Best Answer
The actually "certificate" itself is not encrypted. Your private key, which is used with the certificate, is usually encrypted. It is encrypted with the passphrase you chose when you created the private key. You might have done that a while earlier than creating this specific certificate, if you have multiple certificates - so be sure to try "old passwords" if you have them.
If you cannot remember the passphrase for your private key, you're out of luck. You will not be able to use that specific certificate anymore. The certificate issuer will not be able to provide you with a copy of the private key, as they haven't got it.
Usually you will be able to revoke your existing certificate and get your issuer to give you a new one - depending on your issuer that might come with a charge.
As you can buy new SSL certificates for less than 10$ today, it might not be worth the hassle to try and get the old one working. Just buy a new one.