Certificate orders and requests
A certificate order and a certificate request are distinct objects in CertCentral, with separate pages, statuses, and actions. Understanding the difference helps users track certificate progress and take the correct action at each stage.
Certificate order
A certificate order is a record in CertCentral that DigiCert creates when processing begins for a certificate request. Find orders at Certificates > Orders.
The Orders page includes the following columns: Order, Certificate name, Order status, Certificate validity, Order date, Order end date, and Product.
An order carries one of the following statuses:
Pending: DigiCert is processing the order. The order may be waiting for domain control validation, organization validation, or payment processing. A pending order is not waiting for administrator approval.
Issued: DigiCert issued the certificate. The certificate is active.
Certificate request
A certificate request appears at Certificates > Requests when the account requires administrator or manager approval before DigiCert processes the order.
The Requests page includes the following columns: Order #, Common name, Product, Request type, Status, Division, and Requested on.
A request at this page carries the status Needs Approval. An administrator or manager must review and approve the request before DigiCert processes the request.
Request and order lifecycle
The following stages describe the certificate lifecycle from submission to issuance.
A user submits a certificate request.
If the account requires approval, the request appears at Certificates > Requests with status Needs Approval.
An administrator or manager approves the request.
The request becomes an order and moves to Certificates > Orders with status Pending.
DigiCert processes the order through domain validation and certificate issuance.
The order status changes to Issued.
If the account does not require approval, the request moves directly to stage four.
Roles that approve requests
Administrator and Manager roles approve standard certificate requests.
Extended Validation TLS, Code Signing, and Extended Validation Code Signing certificate requests require a specific subrole before approval:
EV Verified User: approves Extended Validation TLS certificate requests
CS Verified User: approves Code Signing certificate requests
EV CS Verified User: approves Extended Validation Code Signing certificate requests
What's next
Understand the Certificate validation for preparing to validate organization, domain, and enterprise certificates issuance and renewal