how to export an ssl certificate from one to another server? Server migration

Question

I have an ssl certificate on one server and i am migrating this machine. Can I simply copy paste that certificate? When I have ssl mods installed and enabled?

On the old server I use apache and on the new one we have nginx. At what do I have to pay attention too ?

(old server has ubuntu 10.10 new one has 12.04)

Solution

SSL certificates are static files, so to copy a certificate to a new server all you need to do is simply copy the files between machines. The only caveat is to make sure that you copy all of the files.

There are usually three:

• The certificate itself
• The private key used to create the above certificate
• The chain file, which traces which entities have signed the certificate (can be optional)

For switching from apache to nginx, you will need to read the nginx documentation on enabling SSL support.