Create self-signed certificate using IIS Manager

The fastest way to create certificate files, is using the makecert command. You can see how to do this here: https://brockallen.com/2015/06/01/makecert-and-creating-ssl-or-signing-certificates/

If you are having problems with makecert, you can also create certificates using the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. I’ll show you how I do it.

First I’ll create a self-signed certificate. Then I’ll export it, with the private key, to a .pfx file.

Start IIS Manager: Press Win-R, type inetmgr

If you don’t have it installed, open “Turn Windows features on or off” and make sure you have “IIS Management Console” checked:

Double-click “Server Certificates”:

In the menu to the right, double-click “Create Self-Signed Certificate…”

Give it a friendly name (makes it easier to find in your certificate store):

You should now see it in the list of server certificates:

Double-click it. Go to the Details tab and press “Copy to File…”. You should then start a wizard:

Choose a password. I’m using the default encryption:

Give it a name (a full path so you don’t have to go looking for it 😉

Check that the information is correct, and save it: