Bind Certificate With Windows Server 2003

On Windows Server 2003 configurations the Netsh.exe command is not supported. The user can however use the httpcfg command supplied with Microsoft Support Tools.

The Windows Server 2003 Support Tools can be downloaded, refer to the Microsoft Learn article Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 Support Tools.

After installing the support tools use the following command to bind an SSL certificate with a chosen HTTP port:

httpcfg set ssl -i 0.0.0.0:8012 -h 7cc85c21bbdcfc68e630d4a497d4948298ebdcb7

Note:
The above is one command and should be entered on 1 line.

At the -h parameter, paste the value copied to the clipboard in the previous steps making sure that spaces are removed from the hexadecimal string.

If this command is successful, it will report the message:

"HttpSetServiceConfiguration completed with 0."

Note: If the user enters an invalid thumbprint, the command will still succeed, but the client will not be able to communicate with the service as the thumbprint does not refer to a valid certificate.

This command binds the certificate with the thumbprint indicated with the -h flag to the port indicated by the -i flag. The port is specified as the IP address of the computer followed by the port. The IP address 0.0.0.0 specifies the local computer.