How to Generate CSR in Node.js Web Server?

This guide will show you how to generate a Certificate Signing Request in a Node.js Web Server.

You have two options to generate CSR.

1. Automatic CSR Generation Tool
2. Make use of the Crypto Module.

Generating CSR on NodeJS is very easy & quick using our CSR generation tool.

Steps to Generate CSR in Node.js using the Crypto Module:

Generate a private key using the following code. The key will be required to generate the CSR.

const privateKey = crypto.createPrivateKey({
modulusLength: 2048,
publicKeyEncoding: {
type: 'spki'
},
privateKeyEncoding: {
type: 'pkcs1'
}
});

Define your certificate details in an X509 name object; this includes basic information like common name (CN), country, organization, etc.

For example:

const x509name = {
CN: 'example.com',
O: 'Example Org',
C: 'IN'
};

Use the x509name object and private key to generate the CSR.

const csr = crypto.createCSR({
name: x509name,
privateKey
});

Convert the CSR string to PEM format; this is the standard format for CSRs. Use the following command:

const csrPEM = crypto.CSR_to_PEM(csr);

Your CSR PEM string is ready to be submitted to a certificate authority for signing and issuing an SSL certificate.

You can save the CSR PEM to a file using fs.writeFileSync() or any other file writing method.

That’s the basic process to generate a CSR in Node.js using the crypto module.

Next Step: Steps to Install SSL Certificate on Node.js