This directive points to a file with certificate data in PEM format. At a minimum, the file must include an end-entity (leaf) certificate. The directive can be used multiple times (referencing different filenames) to support multiple algorithms for server authentication - typically RSA, DSA, and ECC. The number of supported algorithms depends on the OpenSSL version being used for mod_ssl: with version 1.0.0 or later, openssl list-public-key-algorithms will output a list of supported algorithms, see also the note below about limitations of OpenSSL versions prior to 1.0.2 and the ways to work around them.

The files may also include intermediate CA certificates, sorted from leaf to root. This is supported with version 2.4.8 and later, and obsoletes SSLCertificateChainFile . When running with OpenSSL 1.0.2 or later, this allows to configure the intermediate CA chain on a per-certificate basis.

Custom DH parameters and an EC curve name for ephemeral keys, can also be added to end of the first file configured using SSLCertificateFile . This is supported in version 2.4.7 or later. Such parameters can be generated using the commands openssl dhparam and openssl ecparam . The parameters can be added as-is to the end of the first certificate file. Only the first file can be used for custom parameters, as they are applied independently of the authentication algorithm type.

Finally the end-entity certificate's private key can also be added to the certificate file instead of using a separate SSLCertificateKeyFile directive. This practice is highly discouraged. If it is used, the certificate files using such an embedded key must be configured after the certificates using a separate key file. If the private key is encrypted, the pass phrase dialog is forced at startup time.

DH parameter interoperability with primes > 1024 bit

Beginning with version 2.4.7, mod_ssl makes use of standardized DH parameters with prime lengths of 2048, 3072 and 4096 bits and with additional prime lengths of 6144 and 8192 bits beginning with version 2.4.10 (from RFC 3526), and hands them out to clients based on the length of the certificate's RSA/DSA key. With Java-based clients in particular (Java 7 or earlier), this may lead to handshake failures - see this FAQ answer for working around such issues.

Default DH parameters when using multiple certificates and OpenSSL versions prior to 1.0.2

When using multiple certificates to support different authentication algorithms (like RSA, DSA, but mainly ECC) and OpenSSL prior to 1.0.2, it is recommended to either use custom DH parameters (preferably) by adding them to the first certificate file (as described above), or to order the SSLCertificateFile directives such that RSA/DSA certificates are placed after the ECC one.

This is due to a limitation in older versions of OpenSSL which don't let the Apache HTTP Server determine the currently selected certificate at handshake time (when the DH parameters must be sent to the peer) but instead always provide the last configured certificate. Consequently, the server may select default DH parameters based on the length of the wrong certificate's key (ECC keys are much smaller than RSA/DSA ones and their length is not relevant for selecting DH primes).

Since custom DH parameters always take precedence over the default ones, this issue can be avoided by creating and configuring them (as described above), thus using a custom/suitable length.

Example

SSLCertificateFile "/usr/local/apache2/conf/ssl.crt/server.crt"