Question : SSL enabling OWA using your own Certificat Authotity

I need to setup OWA for a small organisation that is part of a franchise. When creating the certificate I will need to enter a common name (usually mail.domain.com) however I can't use the registered domain names since it is not own by the individual store. Is it acceptable to put in the public IP address of the exchange server and still get accepted by the certificate authority? Any pointers will be very much appreciated.

Answer : SSL enabling OWA using your own Certificat Authotity

If they don't have control over the domain, then what you do with the SSL certificate isn't going to help.
Self Generated SSL certificates always generate SSL errors, and I personally consider that a security risk.
If they cannot get a host name in the domain pointed to the Exchange server, then it doesn't matter what you put in as the common name, it isn't going to work.
SSL certificates should not be issued to IP addresses, plus the human mind doesn't cope well with remembering IP addresses for host names.

Probably your best option is to register your own domain name and then use that to get an SSL certificate from a commercial host. Exchange/IIS doesn't care what the name is, as long as the name matches what the users are entering in to their browser.

Simon.