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Domain prevalidation: Revalidate your domain before validation expires

For quicker certificate issuance, keep your domain's validation current

DigiCert recommends keeping your domains' validation up to date for quicker certificate issuance.

You don't need to wait until your domain's validation expires to revalidate it. With CertCentral, you can revalidate a domain at any time. This domain management feature enables you to complete the domain's validation early, so your immediate certificate issuance process continues without interruption.

Items to note about domain validation:

  • Per industry standards, a domain's validation is valid for 397 days (approximately 13 months).

  • If you order a certificate while the domain's revalidation is pending, we use the domain's current validation to issue the certificate if it is still valid.

Submit domain for revalidation

  1. In your CertCentral account, in the left main menu, go to Certificates > Domains.

  2. On the Domains page, select the domain to revalidate.

  3. On the Domain details page, in the Domain control validation DCV section, select the DCV method you want to use to demonstrate control over the domain

    • Verification email

      An email recipient follows the instructions in a confirmation email sent for the domain. DigiCert can send three sets of DCV emails: WHOIS-based, constructed, and DNS TXT-based.

    • DNS TXT record

      Add a DigiCert-generated random value (provided for the domain in your CertCentral account) to the domain’s DNS as a TXT record.

    • DNS CNAME record

      Add a DigiCert-generated random value (provided for the domain in your CertCentral account) to the domain’s DNS as a CNAME record. Then, add dcv.digicert.com as the CNAME target.

    • HTTP practical demonstration

      Host a file containing a DigiCert-generated random value (provided for the domain in your CertCentral account) at a predetermined location on your website.

    • HTTP Practical Demonstration with unique filename

      Host a file with a random filename that contains a DigiCert-generated random value (provided for the domain in your CertCentral account) at a predetermined location on your website.

  4. When ready, select Submit For validation.

What's next

Use the selected DCV method to complete domain validation and demonstrate control over your domain. For more information, see Domain prevalidation: Domain control validation (DCV) methods.

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