iis and ssl

First you have to get a SSL certificate for the site from a company that issues these such as Veritas. This may cost you in the neighborhood of around $800 or less. As you go through their submission form, they usually have detailed instructions on how to create the initial request from the version of web server you are running.

With IIS, you go into the admin console, select the properties of the web you are going to have the certificate for, and go to the "Directory Security" tab. From there, you select the "Server Certificate" button which launches a wizard for creating the certificate. At this point, select "create a new certificate". On the next screen, you will have the option to "prepare the request now, but send it later".You will be prompted to fill out the information for the company getting the SSL site so make sure you have all this on hand. You can prepare the request file as many times as you like, so just be sure you have the right information eventually in the output file. From there, you send this file to Veritas, they issue the actual certificate based on this initial request, then you will import the SSL certificate back in the same manner that you created the initial request.

Keep in mind that you have to have a separate IP address for each SSL site that you run. You cannot use Host headers and run multiple sites off the same IP address like HTTP. Other than that, you should be good to go. The hardest part of the process is getting the certificate from the issuing company, and like I said, they usually have very detailed instructions on how to set up the certificate if there isn't enough information here.