To set the default action upon receipt of a certificate request

1. Log on to the system as an Administrator.
2. Open Certification Authority.
3. In the console tree, click the name of the certification authority (CA).
   • Certification Authority (computer)
   • CA name
4. On the Action menu, click Properties.
5. On the Policy Module tab, click Configure.

6. 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 always issue a certificate upon receiving a certificate request.	Click Always issue the certificate.

7. Stop and restart the Certificate Services service.

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 CAs, stand-alone CAs do not use Active Directory, 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, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Certification Authority.
• This procedure applies only to stand-alone CAs. You cannot change the default action of enterprise certification authorities upon the receipt of a certificate request.
• 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.