Columbia University GeoTrust Certificate

Columbia University Information Technology has purchased a block of SSL Server Certificates from GeoTrust. These certificates are available to the University community for $125 per year.

Who Is Eligible?

Columbia University departments and affiliates.

Do I Have To Use A CUIT GeoTrust Certificate?

No. You may use any authority you like, including an authority that does not charge for signing. You may even sign your own.

Why Use A Commercial Authority When Some Authorities Sign For Free?

Generally speaking, the root certificates of commercial authorities will be embedded in more browsers than the root certificates of non commercial authorities. This is referred to as browser ubiquity.

Why Use A CUIT GeoTrust Certificate?

CUIT GeoTrust Certificates come with an unlimited server license. This means if you offer a service www.dept.columbia.edu and that service is provided by two physical machines, you may install the certificate on both machines. Most commercial authorities require the purchase of additional licenses in order to do this.

Additionally, we manage the vendor relationship for you, and we verify the certificate is compatible with the CUIT Internet Software.

How Long Is A CUIT GeoTrust Certificate Good For?

Certificates are valid for 1 year from when they are issued. You will receive email directly from GeoTrust starting 90 days before expiry.

What About The Columbia CA?

The Columbia certificate authority will no longer sign certificates and is no longer supported. Existing certificates will not be revoked, however we recommend a transition plan be established for when they expire.

How Do I Request Or Renew A CUIT GeoTrust Certificate?

Visit the request form. You will be required to login with your UNI and password.

You may submit a renewal request up to 90 days in advance of your certificate's expiration.

How Long Does It Take For GeoTrust To Sign My Certificate Request?

Approvals may take up to 5 business days. Initial requests for non-.columbia.edu domains will take longer and will require additional information to be submitted.

How long are GeoTrust Certificates valid?

We use one-year certificates to make it easy for budgeting. Users may request certificates to be valid for up to five years. (There is a cost savings.)

Reusing CSRs for Certificates

Certificate Signing Requests (CSR) shall not be reused. Users must generate and submit new CSRs whenever certificates are renewed.

Reusing Private Keys for Certificates

Private keys shall not be reused. Users must generate new private keys whenever certificates are renewed.

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