DigiCert Certificate Management: Complete Automation Guide

Why Automate DigiCert Certificate Management?

DigiCert is one of the world's largest commercial Certificate Authorities, trusted by enterprises for high-assurance SSL/TLS certificates. However, manually managing DigiCert certificates at scale creates significant operational overhead:

• Manual Ordering: Logging into CertCentral for each certificate request
• Validation Delays: Domain control validation requires manual intervention
• Renewal Tracking: Spreadsheets and calendar reminders for expiration
• Deployment Gaps: Manual certificate installation creates outage risk

Automating DigiCert certificate lifecycle management eliminates these pain points while maintaining the security and trust that enterprise organizations require.

DigiCert CertCentral API Overview

DigiCert's CertCentral platform provides a comprehensive REST API for certificate lifecycle automation.

API Capabilities

Certificate Operations:

• Order new certificates
• Renew existing certificates
• Reissue with new keys
• Revoke compromised certificates
• Download certificates and chains

Domain & Organization:

• Pre-validate domains
• Manage organizations
• Configure DCV methods

Account Management:

• User and permission management
• Order history and reporting
• Balance and billing

Authentication

The DigiCert API uses API key authentication via the X-DC-DEVKEY header.

Automating Certificate Issuance

Step 1: Pre-Validate Domains

Pre-validating domains eliminates waiting time during certificate ordering. Submit domain validation requests with organization ID and validation type (OV, EV) along with DCV method (DNS CNAME recommended).

Step 2: Order Certificate

Once domains are pre-validated, certificates are issued instantly. Submit orders with common name, SANs, CSR, and signature hash algorithm.

Step 3: Download Certificate

Download the certificate with chain in PEM format using the certificate ID.

Domain Control Validation (DCV)

DigiCert supports multiple DCV methods that can be automated:

DNS CNAME Validation

The most reliable method for automation:

• Automatic DNS record creation
• Support for DNS providers (Route53, Cloudflare, etc.)
• Verification status monitoring
• Propagation checking with retry

HTTP Validation

For servers with HTTP access:

• Deploy validation file via TigerTrust agent
• Automated verification path management

Automated Renewal Workflow

Implement proactive renewal to prevent outages:

1. Check days until expiry
2. Generate new CSR if within renewal window
3. Submit renewal order
4. Wait for issuance
5. Deploy to servers

Enterprise Integration Patterns

Multi-Organization Management

For enterprises with multiple business units, configure separate organizations with their own auto-validation settings and default products.

Approval Workflows

Implement certificate request approvals for production certificates while allowing auto-approval for renewals.

Monitoring and Alerting

Track certificate status across your DigiCert portfolio:

• Expiration Monitoring: Alert 30, 14, and 7 days before expiry
• Validation Status: Track domain and organization validation
• Order Status: Monitor pending and failed orders
• Compliance: Ensure all certificates meet policy requirements

Best Practices

1. Pre-validate all domains - Eliminate issuance delays
2. Use API keys with appropriate scopes - Least privilege access
3. Implement retry logic - Handle API rate limits gracefully
4. Store certificates securely - Never commit to version control
5. Monitor continuously - Proactive alerting prevents outages

Conclusion

Automating DigiCert certificate lifecycle management transforms a manual, error-prone process into a reliable, scalable operation. By leveraging the CertCentral API with TigerTrust, organizations can achieve zero-touch certificate management while maintaining DigiCert's enterprise-grade security and trust.