Understanding Comodo Root Signing Certificate and Comodo Intermediate Certificate

Comodo Root & Intermediate Certificate: A Detailed Explanation

Certificate Authorities (COMODO CA) use root and intermediate certificates that need to be installed along with the site’s domain certificate on the web browser. This enables web browsers and mobile phones to connect seamlessly to the secured domain. If you don’t download and install a root and intermediate certificate, you might receive an error from your browser.

Before focusing on the root and intermediate certificates, you should get yourself a Comodo SSL Certificate. Depending on your needs, it will be worth noting the difference between a Wildcard & Multi-Domain (SAN) SSL Certificate. For instance, if you’re a big organization and need to secure an unlimited number of subdomains regularly, you might want to go for Wildcard SSL Certificates.

During the SSL installation process, you might be asked to install an intermediate or root certificate. In this article, we’ll give you an overview of Comodo Root Certificate and Comodo Intermediate Certificate and how you can download and install them.

Comodo Root Certificate

Comodo Root Certificates are Comodo’s issuing roots. As such, all other Comodo SSL certificates are issued by it and its descendants and are chained back to it. It’s important because a Comodo SSL certificate can only be trusted if it’s chained to a root either directly or through intermediaries. Comodo Root CA Certificates are some of the most trusted certificates in the world with over 100 million websites secured. All root certificates have a long lifespan, generally going over 20 years.

Steps to Install Comodo Root Certificate:

It’s pretty uncommon to install a Comodo root certificate directly. Comodo is a universally trusted Certificate Authority and the Comodo Root Certificate is already a part of most major root programs. If you need to download the root for any reason it’s available on Comodo’s website.

Comodo Intermediate Certificate

A Comodo Intermediate Certificate can be a part of the certificate chain which leads back to the trusted Comodo Root Certificate. Most Certificate Authorities don’t issue directly from the Comodo RSA Certification Authority root because it’s incredibly valuable and if it’s compromised, the fallout would be severe. As such, a Comodo Intermediate Certificate is used for two primary purposes:

• For the purposes of cross-signing, i.e., using the Comodo RSA Certification Authority’s intermediary if another Certificate Authority doesn’t have a root.
• The Certificate Authority can issue from it and sell it to another Certificate Authority without a trusted root.

Steps to Install Comodo Intermediate Certificate:

Installing a Comodo Intermediate Certificate is extremely simple. You can do so by following this link — Download Comodo Intermediate Certificate.

How to Install the SSL on a Different Server?

If you want to install or transfer your SSL certificate from one server to a different server, you need to follow these steps:

• Export the SSL certificate — including the Comodo Intermediate Certificate and Private Key — from your current server.
• Convert the SSL into the correct file type depending on the new server’s requisite format.
• Import the SSL certificate — including the Comodo Intermediate Certificate and Private Key — into the new server.
• Convert a Certificate to PEM: CRT to PEM, CER to PEM, DER to PEM

For a detailed overview of how to install the SSL certificate into different servers, read the following article on SSL Certificate Installation Guides.

Here we understand the properties and installation process of Comodo Root Certificate and Comodo Intermediate Certificate.