Generally, CAs provide detailed instructions for the installation of their SSL certificates; however, I’ll cover some broad points here.
The CA from which you order a certificate will email you either the certificate, or a link at which you can download it. Follow the instructions provided precisely—especially with regards to opening a certificate in a text editor. Do not use a word processor or rich text editor, as the certificate code can become corrupted. You should also take care to ensure that no leading or trailing spaces follow the beginning and end of the certificate code—see Example 4.1, “Example Emailed Certificate”
Example 4.1. Example Emailed Certificate
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- MIICzjCCAjegAwIBAgIBAjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQQFADCBrDELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMx ETAPBgNVBAgTCFZpcmdpbmlhMRQwEgYDVQQHEwtTcHJpbmdmaWVsZDEYMBYGA1UE ChMPSlJJIFdvcmxkLCBJbmMuMRAwDgYDVQQLEwdPbnRhcmlvMR0wGwYDVQQDExRv bnRhcmlvLmpyaXdvcmxkLmNvbTEpMCcGCSqGSIb3DQEJARYaYmlsbGZAb250YXJp by5qcml3b3JsZC5jb20wHhcNMDUwNDA3MjI0MTU3WhcNMDYwNDA3MjI0MTU3WjCB rDELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxETAPBgNVBAgTCFZpcmdpbmlhMRQwEgYDVQQHEwtTcHJp bmdmaWxlZDEYMBYGA1UEChMPSlJJIFdvcmxkLCBJbmMuMRAwDgYDVQQLEwdPbnRh cmlvMR0wGwYDVQQDExRPbnRhcmlvLmpyaXdvcmxkLmNvbTEpMCcGCSqGSIb3DQEJ ARYaYmlsbGZAb250YXJpby5qcml3b3JsZC5jb20wgZ8wDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQAD gY0AMIGJAoGBAM81vIgjw0DWAfReVKthdvwe4YP4Z29UU2QZKx/cTt7pJYnW2vnD pieGoIyiWr5qW+rmtEFRe1yqarZxU0oGyz2w/1ZlOrhU6vBvsa4JOY6DndSixiRq jVpzspNk9iJUA5AcjKQVC7SCgDHeySLyHm/zzNKOlATRge3HMgge/qzbAgMBAAEw DQYJKoZIhvcNAQEEBQADgYEAS6MTN6SWlXu24JhNBPjYpwNs/h0HJ+s4uZnQAq49 pPoRm8omMFx4ilEwuihIUnH0Q9rG6hViiThq6pxRj3gkY8UJ5UaKuXr9yLcfNGf5 r6iaPTHeiauHVqXeBfY+ZWTWlIl9FNePo8Sc9eYI8s/KuR+dn97iYmTAHC8kOzlY gGg= -----END CERTIFICATE-----