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Generating Self Signed Certificate

These steps shows how you can generate a self signed certificate for authorization purposes on Azure Entra Apps.

  1. Generate a Private Key
openssl genrsa -out key.pem 2048

This creates a 2048-bit RSA private key saved as key.pem.

2. Generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)

openssl req -new -key key.pem -out cert.csr

You'll be prompted to enter details like:

  • Country Name
  • State/Province
  • Locality
  • Organization Name
  • Common Name (use localhost or your domain)
  • Email Address

3. Generate a Self-Signed Certificate - selef signed certificate in base64 encoding

openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in cert.csr -signkey key.pem -out cert.pem

This creates a certificate valid for 1 year (365 days) using the private key.

4. (Optional) Convert to PFX Format : Private Key + certificate + key chain

If you need a .pfx file (e.g., for Windows or SharePoint integration):

openssl pkcs12 -export -out certificate.pfx -inkey key.pem -in cert.pem

You’ll be prompted to set a password for the .pfx.

5. Binary Format Public Certificate (Optional) - actual public certificate in binary certificate

You upload the public certificate (not the private key) to the App Registration:

openssl x509 -outform der -in cert.pem -out cert.cer

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