How to Install SSL Certificate on Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

A Step-By-Step Guide to Installing SSL Certificate on Google Cloud Platform

Installing an SSL certificate is essential if you’re utilizing Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to encrypt all data transactions & guarantee the security of your users. With SSL Certificate installed, you can fend against malicious attacks & give your users a safe browsing environment. We’ll walk you through the process of installing an SSL certificate on your Google Cloud Platform in this manual.

Generate CSR and Private Key

Even before you install your SSL certificate on GCP, you must generate a CSR – Certificate Signing Request. It is a piece of code that contains the details of the entity requesting it – domain name and public key. Generating CSR is not as complicated as it sounds. With our easy-to-use CSR generator tool, you can generate a high-quality CSR in just a few clicks. All you must do is fill in the necessary information.

Read Also: How to Generate CSR in Google Cloud Platform?

SSL Installation Steps for Google Cloud Platform

Once your certificate is signed by the Certificate Authority & the files are sent to you via email, it’s time to install it. The installation process starts with gathering all the essential SSL files.

Extract the SSL certificate files from the ZIP file which was sent by the Certificate Authority in you inbox It includes the following important SSL files.

• Yourdomain.crt
• Yourdomain.p7b
• Yourdomain.ca-bundle

Though the Zip file contains three types of files, you only need the Yourdomain.crt and Yourdomain.ca-bundle files to install an SSL Certificate on Google Cloud Platform. Hence, you must make sure these two files are accessible for the installation process.

Perform the Following Steps

• Begin by signing into your Google Cloud account.
• Then go to the App Engine Menu. You can do that by clicking on Products & Services.
• The App Engine will open, where you will open Settings and click on the SSL certificates. From there, select Upload a new certificate to open the Add a new SSL certificate menu.
• This menu has two boxes where you can paste encrypted data of the Certificate and Private Key.
• Paste the private key code, including the —–BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY—– and —–END RSA PRIVATE KEY—– tags, into the Unencrypted PEM encoded RSA private key box.
  • Your Private Key code generated with the CSR (Certificate Signing Request) for your domain name.

Note: You can find the file containing the Private Key code in the same directory as the CSR file.

• For the “PEM encoded X.509 public key certificate” box, you’ll need to use your SSL certificate along with the corresponding CA-bundle.
• The CA-bundle for your certificate is in the downloaded archive as yourdomain.ca-bundle.
• The certificate field should contain a combined SSL certificate and CA-bundle codes.
• To complete the field, just paste the content of yourdomain.crt and yourdomain.ca-bundle files with the CA-bundle code (yourdomain.ca-bundle content) pasted directly underneath the certificate code without any additional spaces.

Note: Alternatively, you can upload the files directly using the Browse option. To proceed with the upload, all you must do is provide a Private Key file and a combined certificate file.

• Once you’ve provided the certificate and Private Key, you can proceed with the installation process. For that, you must click Upload.
• Under Enable SSL for the following custom domains, you must mark the domains you want to secure on the Edit Certificate screen. This is the final step. After this, your certificate will be installed and ready to use on Google Cloud!

If you want to detect any issues in the SSL installations, you can always go for online SSL Checker Tool. It will help you verify the installation process.