Set the default action upon receipt of a certificate request

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To set the default action upon receipt of a certificate request

Log on to the system as a Certification Authority Administrator.
Open Certification Authority.
In the console tree, click the name of the certification authority (CA).

Where?
- Certification Authority (Computer)/CA name
On the Action menu, click Properties.
On the Policy Module tab, click Properties.

Click the option you want:

To	Do this
Have the certification authority administrator review every certificate request before issuing a certificate.	Click Set the certificate request status to pending.
Have the certification authority issue certificates based on the configuration of the certificate template	Click Follow the settings in the certificate template, if applicable. Otherwise, automatically issue the certificate..

Caution

In most cases, for security reasons, it is strongly recommended that all incoming certificate requests to a stand-alone CA be marked as "pending." Unlike enterprise certification authorities, stand-alone CAs do not use the Active Directory directory service, even if it is available, to verify that an individual or computer is authorized to be issued a certificate from the CA automatically. For stand-alone CA's, the CA administrator is responsible for verifying the identity of the certificate requestor.

Notes

To open Certification Authority, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Certification Authority.
If you change the setting from Set the certificate request status to pending to Always issue the certificate, this will apply only to certificate requests submitted to the CA after the default action has been changed. If there are pending requests held by the CA, these requests will stay pending until the CA administrator issues the certificates or denies the requests.
To review pending certificate requests, see Related Topics.
To stop and restart the Certificate Services service, see Related Topics.

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