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SSL Host Headers in IIS 7

SSL Host Headers in IIS 7 allow you to use one SSL certificate for multiple IIS websites on the same IP address. Through the IIS Manager interface, IIS only allows you to bind one site on each IP address to port 443 using an SSL certificate. If you try to bind a second site on the IP address to the same certificate, IIS 7 will give you an error when starting the site up stating that there is a port conflict. In order to assign a certificate to be used by multiple IIS sites on the same IP address, you will need to set up SSL Host Headers by following the instructions below.

What Type of SSL Certificate Do You Need?

Because you can only use one certificate, that certificate needs to work with all the hostnames of the websites that you use it with (otherwise you will receive a name mismatch error). For example, if each of your IIS 7 websites uses a subdomain of a single common domain name (like in the example below), you can get a Wildcard Certificate for *.mydomain.com and it will secure site1.mydomain.com, site2.mydomain.com, etc.

If, on the other hand, your IIS 7 sites all use different domain names (mail.mydomain1.com, mail.mydomain2.com, etc.), you will need to get a Unified Communications Certificate (also called a SAN certificate).

Setting up SSL Host Headers on IIS 7

1. Obtain an SSL certificate and install it into IIS 7. For step-by-step instructions on how to do this, see Installing an SSL Certificate in Windows Server 2008 (IIS 7.0).
   
   
2. Once the certificate is installed into IIS, bind it to the first site on the IP address.
   
   
3. Open the command prompt by clicking the start menu and typing “cmd” and hitting enter.
4. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\Inetsrv\ by typing “cd C:\Windows\System32\Inetsrv\” on the command line.
5. In the Inetsrv folder, run the following command for each of the other websites on the IP address that need to use the certificate (copy both lines):
   
   appcmd set site /site.name:"<IISSiteName>" /+bindings.[protocol='https',bindingInformation='*:443:<hostHeaderValue>']
   
   Replace <IISSiteName>  with the name of the IIS site and <hostHeaderValue> with the host header for that site (site1.mydomain.com)
   
   
6. Test each website in a browser. It should bring up the correct page and show the lock icon without any errors. If it brings up the web page of the first IIS site, then SSL Host Headers haven’t been set up correctly.

If you need to set up multiple site to use a single SSL certificate on IIS 6 or Apache, see How To Configure SSL Host Headers in IIS 6. For more information about SSL Host Headers in IIS 7 see IIS 7.0: Add a Binding to a Site and SSL certificates on Sites with Host Headers.

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Showing comments 1 to 20 of 21 | Next | Last

Z
Posts: 16

Multiple domain name bindings
Reply #21 on : Tue January 03, 2012, 20:43:36

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Whats the command line syntax for IIS7 to add multiple domain names for the same binding? For example, in IIS6 we would just separate each domain with a space like this:

cscript.exe adsutil.vbs set /w3svc/1/SecureBindings ":443:www01.domain.com" ":443:www02.domain.com"

Goycolea
Posts: 16

missing
Reply #20 on : Fri August 12, 2011, 12:09:52

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for those that have their HostHeader Blocked for writing need to go to:

Launch the Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
Select Start –> Run
Type in “MMC” and hit enter
From the console, select File –> Add / Remove Snap-in
Select Certificates from the Add / Remove dialog
Select Computer Account when prompt for which certificates the snap-in will manager.
Select Local Computer when prompted
Click OK to add the Snap-in to the MMC
Locate your SSL certificate
For self-signed (SELFSSL), look in Personal
For installed / purchased, look in the appropriate folder the certificate was originally installed in
Right click on the certificate and select properties
Edit the Friendly Name field so the name starts with an *

everything else is ok on this tutorial, great job !!

but is important tha the friendly name starts with an * or else you won't me able to write your host header.

Goycolea

jonhos
Posts: 16

Excellent
Reply #19 on : Tue August 09, 2011, 14:27:02

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Great Post, still needing this in 2011

MS botched this part, glad you got it figured out

siteadmin
Posts: 1

Re: Using separate SSL Cert for subdomain (non-wildcard)
Reply #18 on : Mon August 01, 2011, 21:32:19

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Hi Glenn,

You can't use two different SSL certificates with just one IP address. If you need to use two separate certificates, you'll need to have a unique IP for each site and then just install the certificates like normal (you won't need to set up SSL Host Headers)

Glenn
Posts: 16

Using separate SSL Cert for subdomain (non-wildcard)
Reply #17 on : Mon August 01, 2011, 11:20:16

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We have a non-wildcard SSL cert installed for our domain, www.ourdomain.com. All SSL requests are directed through port 444 via the load balancers. We have a subdomain, test.ourdomain.com in which we need to install a separate non-wildcard SSL Cert. We’ve purchased an SSL Cert with the CN test.ourdomain.com which is to be used for our subdomain.

I’m looking to confirm that my installation of the subdomains SSL Cert on IIS7 is correct; I believe it is thanks to this article. I created a new binding for test.ourdomain.com, using https on port 444 and I set the SSL Certificate to the test.ourdomain.com Cert which was an option in the drop down. Next, I ran the command:

‘appcmd set site /site.name: test.ourdomain.com /bindings.[protocol='https',bindingInformation='*:444:'].bindingInformation:*:444:test.ourdomain.com’

This then correctly set the host header of the existing binding to be test.ourdomain.com and thus requests to https://test.ourdomain.com will in turn use the non-wildcard SSL Cert test.ourdomain.com while the domain itself will continue to use the existing SSL Cert www.ourdomain.com. Again, just looking for confirmation that this sounds correct, thanks in advance!

Parrotlover77
Posts: 16

Re: SSL Host Headers in IIS 7
Reply #16 on : Tue February 15, 2011, 09:46:34

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If you have a lot of IPs and a lot of sites on those different IPs, I find it a lot easier to just modify the existing HTTPS binding, with the certificate already selected, than to create a new one and hope it selects the right certificate (frequently it won't select any).

appcmd set site /site.name:"<IISSiteName>" /bindings.[protocol='https',bindingInformation='<IPAddress>:443:'].bindingInformation:<IPAddress>:443:<hostHeaderValue>

Stian Sandberg
Posts: 16

Add a * to friendly name
Reply #15 on : Fri November 12, 2010, 04:17:53

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If you add a * to the friendly name of the wildcard certificate, you will be able to set tha host name in IIS. :)
http://blog.armgasys.com/?p=80

Marco
Posts: 16

You saved my butt
Reply #14 on : Wed September 22, 2010, 06:56:02

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The writer of this article should receive a statue. Configured in 10mins what took me already days in front to find out.

Robert
Posts: 3

Re: IP Address - All Unassigned?c
Reply #13 on : Tue September 14, 2010, 08:00:04

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Hi ScottDaytonOH,

1) You can leave "All Unassigned" if the server only has one IP address. Otherwise, I would enter the, IP address that the site will use?

2) The hostname is what allows the certificate to work on another IIS site. Currently the GUI doesn't allow you to enter a hostname for use with https which is why you need to use the command line.

ScottDaytonOH
Posts: 1

IP Address - All Unassigned?
Reply #12 on : Mon September 13, 2010, 08:11:26

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We're loading two HTTPS domains on one server, the outside world will see one IP address. One of the tech guys at VeriSign told me that IIS7 isn't friendly using one IP for multiple HTTPS domains. So... I landed here. Simple enough solution, but two questions.

1) Where the "Add Site Binding" has "IP Address" with a default of "All Unassigned", should I leave that or direct it to our servers IP (172.16.0.4)?

2) Is it important to put a Host name in? I saw in the AppCmd information that it has a space for a host name, but in the GUI information a host name was not added.

I appreciate the article and would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks,
Scott

Madman
Posts: 16

Change an existing HTTPS Bindung Hostsname/Hostheader
Reply #11 on : Mon July 12, 2010, 09:34:44

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Scott Monaghan:

Try this it worked for me:
It changes the hostheader / host name of an existing https binding

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753195%28WS.10%29.aspx

Dave Armga
Posts: 16

Host Headers SSL via the UI
Reply #10 on : Thu June 24, 2010, 14:54:44

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You can also define SSL based Host Headers in IIS7's UI. It turns out to be pretty easy!

Check out
http://blog.armgasys.com/?p=80

Hopefully this saves someone some time and grief.

cbuzzsaw
Posts: 16

IIS 7 does allow you to edit host headers for SSL...caveat
Reply #9 on : Wed June 16, 2010, 13:28:44

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Oh, an important thing I forgot to mention while using the GUI to modify host headers, this only works if you have a single wildcard certificate for every site on the server. Otherwise, you will get a surpose with it updating all of your sites with the last bound certificate. Microsoft recommends using netsh and appcmd or setting the certificate ssl bindings and iis bindings, respectively. In certain instances the gui and the API will work but take precautions.

Good Luck,
cbuzzsaw

cbuzzsaw
Posts: 16

IIS 7 does allow you to edit host headers for SSL...
Reply #8 on : Wed June 16, 2010, 12:31:10

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To tell IIS 7 manager to allow you to edit the host headers for HTTPS bindings simple give your certificate a friendly name starting with an asterisk "*". This will tell the IIS GUI to unprotect the header field. Bizzare I know but it works...

Enjoy,
Chris

Robert
Posts: 3

Re: What if we only want one site to handle ssl requests
Reply #7 on : Fri April 23, 2010, 20:53:46

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Hi Scott,

I'm not aware of an easy way to do that other than moving the other sites to a different IP address. Because SSL maps to an IP address, it will always go to the site with the certificate no matter what name you use. You might be able to detect the name they are using and redirect somehow.

Scott Monaghan
Posts: 16

What if we only want one site to handle ssl requests
Reply #6 on : Fri April 23, 2010, 13:48:43

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I'm currently hosting several sites on a shared server, and one site has an SSL certificate.

The problem is when someone tries to access another site on my server with https://, it redirects to the SSL site since all incoming traffic over 443 is handled by that one website.

What I'd like to do is set up my server so it only accepts requests to 443 using the www.sslsite.com domain.

I was trying to use appcmd to accomplish this but I've had no luck. I'm able to create a binding, but as soon as I add the certificate in IIS it clears out the host name.

Any ideas?

Robert
Posts: 3

Re: great, but...
Reply #5 on : Thu January 28, 2010, 07:39:11

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Hi Michael,

IIS doesn't allow you to add a hostname when setting up the binding for port 443. You just need to have a binding for port 80 with the appropriate hostname and then run the appcmd with that same hostname. You only bind the certificate to port 443 on one of the sites. The rest are bound using the appcmd.

michael
Posts: 16

great, but... (2)
Reply #4 on : Thu January 28, 2010, 05:26:51

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Sorry. I can only add a host header with appcmd from the command line, not in the server manager. This field is always grayed out.

Michael

michael
Posts: 16

great, but...
Reply #3 on : Thu January 28, 2010, 05:22:04

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After installing the certificate for one specific web site (say www.domain1.xy), I can access it via https. But when I call any other site (say www.domain2.xy) via https, I get redirected to the one site with the certificate.

When I edit the binding in the server manager, I can either add a host header or choose a certificate, but when I choose a certificate, the host header ist gone and the field is grayed out.

Any way to use a certificate for a web site AND a host header? Do I need a special kind of certificate for that? (I just created one for testing purposes).

Best wishes
Michael

Thanks
Michael

spills
Posts: 16

Awesome
Reply #2 on : Fri January 22, 2010, 10:21:39

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You would think iis-7 would allow you set this up via management UI -- oh well. Your article saved me a whole lot of hassle -- thanks.

Showing comments 1 to 20 of 21 | Next | Last

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