SSL certificate for server

Organisational units at the University of Vienna can equip their servers with SSL certificates to establish an encrypted connection between the server and the user’s device.

An SSL certificate contains detailed information about the server to which you connected. It aims to guarantee that the owner of a website is in fact who they say they are.

The IT representatives are mainly responsible for ordering and managing the SSL certificates.

 Please note: SSL certificate service interruption

Users can only request or renew SSL certificates from Sectigo until 9 January 2025. In order to process all requests in a timely manner, we ask you to take the following deadlines into account:

  • Request new certificates by 31 December 2024.
  • Renew certificates that expire in the first half of 2025 by 31 December 2024 at the latest. These are then expected to be valid for another year from the renewal date.

Please also check whether processes or services provided by your unit will be affected by the temporary suspension of the ZID’s SSL certificate service. If necessary, take appropriate measures. For example, from 1 January 2025, no new domains of the University of Vienna can be activated for the allocation of SSL certificate services.


What happens next?

The European research and education network GÉANT is working hard to find a successor provider. However, a seamless transition to a new service provider on 10 January 2025 is not possible. Even after the transition, it is unlikely that all the usual services will be available immediately, as they will still have to be implemented in the ZID’s SSL certificate service. 

The ZID aims to restore the previous scope of services for you as quickly as possible. 

Unfortunately, the ZID has no further information on specific dates or services offered (such as API access, ACME access, types of certificates available) at this time.

If you have any questions, please use the Servicedesk form IT-Security (login).

 Direct Link

Form Request a Certificate

Submit a request for an SSL certificate.

Requirements

  • SSL certificates of the University of Vienna are free for users.
  • SSL certificates can only be issued to domains owned by the University of Vienna. If your domain is currently registered to another owner, you can transfer it to the University of Vienna.
  • It is not possible to issue SSL certificates to domains that are registered to individual employees or students of the University of Vienna.
  • SSL certificates of the University of Vienna must not be used for commercial purposes.
  • Special rules may need to be observed for financial transactions.
  • The domain with all services must be hosted on the servers of the University of Vienna. Justified exceptions require the approval of the IT security.

Requesting an SSL certificate

The request for a SSL certificate has to be submitted directly to the partner organisation via the form Request a Certificate.

  1. On the website, click Your Institution.
  2. Enter University of Vienna in the search box. Choose the respective entry.
  3. Log in via Weblogin of the University of Vienna. 
    The request has to be made by an active employee with an e-mail address of the University of Vienna.
  4. The ZID checks the request and approves it.
     
  • Requests for certificates for domains that do not end on univie.ac.at take longer to process. Therefore, make your request in due time.
  • A Wildcard certificate for *.univie.ac.at can only be issued in case of special technical reasons. If necessary, choose a multi-domain certificate instead or add a comment to your request for a Wildcard certificate, specifying the technical reasons.
     

 Note

The ZID aims at approving certificates as fast as possible. However, we cannot guarantee a maximum processing time for domain requests.

Renewing an SSL certificate

New SSL certificates are valid for a maximum of 1 year. If necessary, it can be renewed before the end of the validity period.

From a technical point of view, a certificate is not extended when it is renewed, but reissued. If you apply for a renewal via the Enrolled Certificates page, you only need to replace the certificate after it has been issued, but not the Private Key on the server.

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