CAA Record Generator Tool
Online CAA Record Generator Tool for Your Website
A CAA (Certificate Authority Authorization) record allows domain owners to specify which Certificate Authorities (CAs) are allowed to issue SSL/TLS certificates for their domain. CAA records enable domain owners to have more control over their TLS certificates and prevent unauthorized certificate issuance.
CAA records are defined in RFC 8659 and are now supported by most major CAs. They provide an extra layer of security and help improve the SSL/TLS ecosystem.
How CAA Records Work
A CAA record specifies one or more CAs that are authorized to issue certificates for a domain. This is done by setting the “issue” or “issuewild” property tags.
For example, a CAA record like:
example.com. CAA 0 issue "letsencrypt.org"Allows Let’s Encrypt to issue certificates for example.com. Any other CA that attempts to issue a certificate for this domain would be unauthorized and rejected.
CAA records are checked by CAs before issuing new certificates. If a CA issues a certificate despite not being authorized by the CAA records, browsers will reject that certificate as invalid.
Domain owners can also use the “iodef” tag to specify an email address or URL to report policy violation notifications if an unauthorized certificate is issued.
Benefits of CAA Records
- Prevent unauthorized certificate issuance for your domain
- Control which CAs can issue certificates for your domain
- Reduce risk of mistakenly issued or maliciously issued certificates
- Improve visibility into which certificates have been issued for your domain
- Support certification lifecycle management and compliance requirements
Using CAA Records Effectively
To gain the most benefit from CAA records, here are some tips on using them effectively:
- Select Reputable CAs: Make sure any CAs you authorize are established providers with strict validation processes. Avoid authorizing CAs with a poor reputation.
- Limit Wildcard Authorizations: Minimize use of “issuewild” authorizations unless strictly necessary. Requiring domain validation reduces risk.
- Monitor Notifications: Set up iodef reporting and monitor notifications to detect any unauthorized certificates.
- Review Annually: Revisit your CAA records yearly to remove old CAs and adjust to changing requirements.
- Use Standard TTL: A TTL of 86400 seconds (1 day) balances caching benefits with flexibility to make changes. Avoid extremely long TTLs.
Properly configured and monitored CAA records provide an important layer of SSL/TLS security for your domains.
Frequently Asked Questions: CAA Record Generator Tool
What are the key benefits of CAA records?
CAA records prevent unauthorized SSL/TLS certificate issuance and give you control over which CAs can issue certificates for your domains. They provide an extra layer of security.
What if a CA issues a certificate without authorization?
If a CA issues a certificate for your domain without being authorized in your CAA records, that certificate will be invalid and untrusted by browsers. You can report unauthorized issuance via the iodef tag.
Is the Sectigo tool free to use?
Yes, Sectigo provides their CAA Record Generator for free without requiring a paid account or login. Anyone can use it at no cost to generate CAA records.
Can I authorize multiple CAs in the Sectigo tool?
Yes, the tool supports selecting multiple approved CAs when generating your CAA records. You can authorize any combination of CAs as needed.
How often should I update my CAA records?
It’s recommended to review and update your CAA records annually. Remove old CAs that you no longer want to authorize and make any other policy changes needed.
What is an ideal TTL for CAA records?
A TTL of 1 day (86400 seconds) provides a good balance for CAA records. It avoids overly frequent DNS lookups while still allowing you to update records reasonably quickly.