Generating a Certificate for a Sitecore Local Test Instance

To secure your local Sitecore development environment with HTTPS, you’ll need to create and install a self-signed SSL certificate. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Option 1: Using PowerShell (Recommended for Windows)

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator
2. Create a self-signed certificate:

   $cert = New-SelfSignedCertificate -DnsName "sitecore.local", "cm.sitecore.local", "www.sitecore.local" -CertStoreLocation "cert:\LocalMachine\My"

3. Export the certificate to a file:

   $pwd = ConvertTo-SecureString -String "YourPassword" -Force -AsPlainText
   Export-PfxCertificate -Cert $cert -FilePath "C:\certs\sitecore.local.pfx" -Password $pwd

4. Trust the certificate:

   Export-Certificate -Cert $cert -FilePath "C:\certs\sitecore.local.cer"
   Import-Certificate -FilePath "C:\certs\sitecore.local.cer" -CertStoreLocation "Cert:\LocalMachine\Root"

Option 2: Using OpenSSL

1. Install OpenSSL if you don’t have it already
2. Generate a private key:

   openssl genrsa -out sitecore.local.key 2048

3. Create a certificate signing request (CSR):

   openssl req -new -key sitecore.local.key -out sitecore.local.csr

(Fill in the details when prompted)

4. Generate the self-signed certificate:

   openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in sitecore.local.csr -signkey sitecore.local.key -out sitecore.local.crt

5. Convert to PFX format (for IIS):

   openssl pkcs12 -export -out sitecore.local.pfx -inkey sitecore.local.key -in sitecore.local.crt

Configuring IIS

1. Import the certificate:

• Open IIS Manager
• Click on Server Certificates
• Click “Import” and select your .pfx file

1. Bind the certificate to your Sitecore sites:

• For each Sitecore site (CM, CD, etc.)
• Edit bindings
• Add HTTPS binding and select your certificate

Updating Hosts File

Add entries to your hosts file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts):

127.0.0.1 sitecore.local
127.0.0.1 cm.sitecore.local
127.0.0.1 www.sitecore.local

For Sitecore Containers (Docker)

If using Sitecore Docker containers, you’ll need to:

1. Place the certificate in your Docker build context
2. Update your docker-compose.override.yml to include the certificate
3. Configure Traefik or your reverse proxy to use the certificate

Important Notes

• Self-signed certificates will show browser warnings (this is normal for local development)
• For production environments, always use certificates from trusted Certificate Authorities
• Make sure your certificate’s subject name matches your Sitecore hostnames
• You may need to restart IIS after certificate installation

Would you like more specific instructions for any particular part of this process?