• Home
  • Knowledge Base
  • This certificate is invalid for use with Exchange – Reason: Private Key missing

This certificate is invalid for use with Exchange – Reason: Private Key missing



The "private key missing" error message is typically encountered when you are trying to install an SSL/TLS certificate on a Microsoft Exchange server, but the private key is not associated with the certificate.

A private key is an integral part of an SSL/TLS certificate and is used to encrypt and decrypt information exchanged between the server and the client. Without the private key, the certificate cannot be used to establish a secure connection.

This error can be caused by several issues, including:
  1. The private key was not generated at the same time as the certificate
  2. The private key was lost or deleted
  3. The private key was not exported or backed up properly
  4. The certificate was imported without the associated private key


To resolve this issue, you will need to obtain a new private key and associate it with the certificate. You can either generate a new key pair and request a new certificate from your CA or if you have a backup of the private key, you can import it to the server and associate it with the certificate.

It is important to note that certificate and key should match and should be associated with the same certificate request. You should also ensure that you are installing the correct certificate and private key on the correct server.