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1. Overview

During the SSL certificate application process, Domain Control Validation (DCV) is required to verify your ownership or control of the domain. After the DCV is successfully completed, the SSL certificate is typically issued within about 30 minutes.

⚠️ Important: For email validation, the receiving email address must be either a domain-based email address or the domain registrant email address shown in the WHOIS record. All validation steps must be completed by the customer.

2. General Input Rules

2.1 Domain Format Requirements

When applying for an SSL certificate, the Domain information cannot be an IP address. It must be entered in domain format, such as xxx.xxx.xxx.

2.2 Common Input Errors

Error 1: Entering an IP address
Issue: An error appears when clicking “Submit” after “Save”
Cause: SSL certificates can only be bound to domain names, not IP addresses
Solution: Change it to the correct domain format

Error 2: Entering a specific domain for a wildcard certificate
Issue: A format error is shown during submission
Cause: A wildcard certificate must use the *.domain.com format
Solution: Change it to the wildcard format

3. Email Validation

3.1 Steps

Step 1: Select the validation method

• Enter the Domain information on the certificate application page

• Select the “DCV method” as the email validation address

• Click “Save”

• Click “Submit”

Step 2: Confirm submission

After the submission is successful, the page will jump to the confirmation page.

Step 3: Check the email and complete validation

• Log in to your mailbox and check the validation email sent by the certificate authority

• The email will contain a verification code and a verification link

• Click the “here” link in the email to open the verification page

• Enter the verification code from the email on the verification page

• Click “Next” to complete the validation

3.2 Validation Completed

• The page will display that the validation was successful

• The certificate status will be updated to validated

4. DNS Validation

4.1 Steps

Step 1: Select the validation method

• Enter the Domain information

• Select the “DCV method” as “DNS validation”

• Click “Save”

• Click “Submit”

Step 2: Obtain the validation information
After submission, the system will generate a DNS validation record, including:

Step 3: Add the record in DNS management

• Log in to your domain DNS management panel

• Find the domain that needs to be validated, and enter the validation value in the subdomain record section

• Fill in the record according to the information provided by the system

Step 3.1: Verify that the DNS record has taken effect

After adding the DNS record, you can use a DNS lookup tool to check whether the record has taken effect.

Visit DNS Lookup / DNS Record Query , enter your domain and host record, and check the resolution status. If it shows that the record has taken effect, the system will automatically complete the certificate validation.

5. HTTP/HTTPS Validation

5.1 Steps

Step 1: Select the validation method

• Enter the Domain information

• Select the “DCV method” as “HTTP validation”

• Click “Save”

• Click “Submit”

Step 2: Obtain the validation file information

The system will generate a validation file that needs to be created in the website root directory:

Step 3: Create the validation file in the website root directory

Example for Linux / Apache / Nginx environments:

Windows / IIS environment:

• Create a folder named .well-known in the website root directory

• Create a folder named pki-validation inside .well-known

• Create a text file in the pki-validation folder, for example: 007BDDFAC9157321D1071420BE72FEA8.txt

• Open the file with Notepad and paste the content provided by the system

• Save the file

Step 4: Test whether the file can be accessed

Open the validation URL in a browser:

• ✅ Normal: the browser displays the file content

• ❌ Abnormal: 404 Not Found or the file cannot be accessed

5.2 Validation Completed

After the file becomes accessible, the system will automatically detect it and complete the validation.

Certificate issuance time: After any of the above validation methods is completed, the SSL certificate is usually issued within about 30 minutes.

6. Frequently Asked Questions

6.1 What should I do if the certificate is still not issued after application?

If the certificate remains in “Pending” status for a long time, you can try the following:

• Visit the certificate status check tool: Sectigo Order Status Checker

• Select the purchased certificate order

• On the DCV validation information page, locate the two validation configuration options

• First change it to another option, then click “Save your changes”

• Then change it back to the original option and click “Save your changes” again

• If the configuration is correct, it will usually take effect immediately

6.2 What should I do if I entered incorrect information during the certificate application process?

Pending status:
The domain cannot be changed. You must wait until the certificate is issued, or cancel it and apply again.

Issued status:
You can click “Replace” in the backend to change the domain.

6.3 What should I do if I accidentally clicked the Cancel button?

Cancelled status explanation:

• A cancelled status cannot be restored

• No further operations can be performed

• You need to purchase the certificate again

7. Technical Support

If you encounter any validation issues, you can contact us in the following way:

Submit a ticket: Click “Submit Ticket” in the upper-right corner of the backend.