Creating a New Certificate Template in Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition

Windows 2003 Standard Edition CAs can issue only a limited set of certificates, so for some certificates, you might require Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition.

ITPro Today

January 29, 2006

1 Min Read
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I'm having trouble with Microsoft Certificate Services on my Windows Server 2003 system. I created a new certificate template by duplicating the existing User certificate template. I'm creating the new template because I want to change the certificate's validity period from 1 year to 3 years. I'm able to create the template and edit it in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Certificate Templates snap-in, but when I open the MMC Certification Authority snap-in and try to add my new template to the Certificate Templates folder, the new template isn't available.

This problem is a limitation of Windows 2003 Standard Edition, which evidently is running on your Certification Authority (CA) server. Windows 2003 Standard Edition CAs can issue only a limited set of certificates, which you can view in the Certificate Templates snap-in's Minimum Supported CA column. You'll notice that most templates can be granted by Windows 2003 Standard Edition servers, but some templates require Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition. Even if you create a certificate by duplicating a template that doesn't require Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition, the new template does require the enterprise edition.

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