What is a Wildcard Certificate?
What Is A Wildcard SSL Cert? – A single SSL/TLS certificate with a wildcard character (*) in the domain name field is known as a wildcard certificate.
This enables the certificate to protect many subdomain names (hosts) under the same base domain.
A wildcard certificate for *.(domain name).com, for example, might be used for www. (domain name).com, mail. (domain name).com, and store. (domain name).com, as well as any other subdomain names in the (domain name).com domain.
To see if the subdomain name in this sort of certificate matches, the client performs a shell expansion technique.
What Is the difference between a SAN certificate and a Wildcard certificate?
Multiple domains and hostnames with domains can be supported by a Subject Alternative Name (SAN) certificate. Because SANS certificates are not limited to a particular domain, they are more flexible than Wildcard certificates.
Combining the features of both allows you to secure a considerably larger number of domains while also allowing you to utilize them on any number of sub-domains.
Only non-Wildcard names are allowed to be used as SAN.
What Is A Wildcard SSL Cert?
When wanting to secure some subdomains with a single certificate, such secure. (domain name).com’, ‘www.(domain name).com’, and mail. (domain name).com’, an SSL/TLS Wildcard certificate should be considered.
The common name for the SSL/TLS Wildcard Certificate shall be entered in the format ‘*.(domain name).com’.
How do I add SAN?
You can add up to 24 additional SANs to a single certificate using the SAN capability available during your Wildcard SSL/TLS purchase.
Note: It’s critical to consult the product documentation to make sure the server where the certificate will be deployed supports wildcard certificates.
Do SSL/TLS Wildcard Certificates work with all servers and browsers?
Most servers accept SSL/TLS Wildcard certificates. If you’re still unsure, ask your server seller for help.
Can I use the same IP address for all of the subdomains?
Yes, indeed. Because the same certificate is used to secure all of the subdomain names connected with a domain name, an IP address can be shared by all of them. Because SSL/TLS is an IP-based protocol, a Wildcard certificate can be set up for usage with name-based virtual hosts rather than IP-based virtual hosts in this scenario.
Licensing updates are not required.
Multiple Servers with TLS/SSL Wildcard Certificates
A TLS/SSL Wildcard certificate protects all subdomains linked with a domain name on a single server. If there are many servers involved, the certificate and its matching private key must be used on all of them.
Please note that using a single certificate on many devices can increase network security risks, and DigiCert expressly disclaims any duty for security breaches caused by the distribution of a single private key over several devices.