How to Install an SSL certificate on Titan FTP Server

This guide gives you step-by-step instructions on how to install an SSL certificate on Titan FTP Server. It also explains how Titan handles intermediate certificates.

Generate a CSR code on Titan FTP Server

If you have already generated the CSR code on another platform and received the SSL certificate from your CA, skip part one and go straight to the installation steps.

When you apply for a commercial SSL certificate, one of your first steps is to create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) and send it to your SSL provider for validation. The CSR is a block of text that contains your contact details in encoded form.

You have two options:

• Use our CSR Generator to create the CSR automatically.
• Follow our step-by-step tutorial on how to generate a CSR in Titan FTP Server.

You can open the CSR file with any text editor, such as Notepad. During your SSL certificate order, submit the CSR code to your Certificate Authority.

Install an SSL certificate on Titan FTP Server

Step 1: Prepare your SSL files

After you receive the SSL certificate from your CA, download the ZIP folder and extract its files. Depending on your provider, you should have the following ready:

• The signed SSL certificate.
• The intermediate SSL certificate (some CAs ship a CA bundle that contains the root and intermediate certificates).
• Your private key, generated together with the CSR.

Titan FTP accepts two formats. You can import PEM files (such as .crt, .pem, or .key) or a single .pfx file (also called PKCS#12). A PFX bundle usually contains everything you need in one file: the certificate, the private key, and the CA chain.

Titan does not force a specific file extension. Whether your certificate ends in .pem, .crt, or .cer, it works as long as it is properly formatted as PEM or PFX.

Step 2: Locate your private key

Find the private key file that was created during CSR generation on Titan FTP Server (or on another system). It is in the directory you specified when you saved your CSR.

If the key is encrypted, you will be prompted for its passphrase during import. If it is unencrypted, leave the password field blank.

Step 3: Import the signed SSL certificate

• Open the Titan FTP Server Administrator.
• Select the domain you want to secure and log in.
• Expand Your Server > Services > FTPS/SSL, then click Manage Certificates.
• In the Certificate Management window, click Import.
• In the Import Certificate window, select the Import my Certificate and Private Key from separate files option. (If you have a single PFX bundle, choose Import my Certificate and Private Key from a single file (PKCS#12) instead and point it at your .pfx file.)
• Under Certificate filename, click the three-dot button and select your SSL certificate (the .pem or .crt file).
• Under Private Key filename, click the three-dot button and select your private key (the .key file).
• Enter the password you set for your private key during CSR generation, then confirm it. Leave it blank if the key has no passphrase.
• Enter a unique friendly name for your certificate.
• Click Import.

What about intermediate certificates?

Titan handles intermediates in two ways:

• If you use a .pfx file, it can already contain the full chain, so no extra action is needed.
• If you use separate PEM files, append the intermediate certificates directly after your server certificate in a single file, then select that combined file during import.

To build that combined file on a system with OpenSSL, concatenate the certificate and the CA bundle into one full-chain file:

cat yourdomain.crt yourdomain.ca-bundle > yourdomain_fullchain.crt

On Windows without OpenSSL, open both files in a plain-text editor and paste the intermediate certificate block below your server certificate block, keeping each BEGIN and END line intact. Save the result and select it as the certificate file during import.

Step 4: Assign your SSL certificate and enable FTPS

After the import finishes, assign the certificate to the server and turn on FTPS:

• In the Titan FTP Administrator, return to Services > FTPS/SSL.
• From the Certificate dropdown, select the friendly name of your SSL certificate.
• Confirm that FTPS is enabled and choose your mode (explicit FTPS on the standard FTP port, or implicit FTPS on its dedicated port) to match how your clients connect.
• Click Apply (top right) to save and activate the settings.

Your SSL certificate is now installed on Titan FTP Server, and the server can accept encrypted FTPS connections.

Test your SSL installation

After you install the certificate, run a quick check for configuration errors and weak settings. Connect an FTPS client to the server and confirm that the TLS handshake succeeds and that the certificate is presented with its full chain.

You can also confirm the chain from any machine with OpenSSL by connecting to the FTPS port (explicit FTPS on port 21 in this example) and reading the certificate Titan serves:

openssl s_client -connect yourdomain.com:21 -starttls ftp -servername yourdomain.com

For a broader scan of your certificate and its trust chain, use our SSL Checker.

Frequently Asked Questions