Do I need to repeat domain validation (DV) for subdomains?

The answer depends on the DV method that you originally used. Email validation is scoped differently than the CNAME and File Lookup methods.

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So, you’ve gotten an SSL/TLS certificate and validated your base domain, but now you need certificates to cover additional subdomains. Can you re-use your previous validation, or do you need to repeat the process?

  • If you have validated example.com, you do not need to go through domain validation for a new CSR for info.example.com (or any other subdomain of example.com) unless the original validation has expired. (Note: DV is valid for 825 days between validations.)
  • If you are adding info.example.com to the CSR of a previously-issued certificate covering example.com (for example, when reprocessing a multi-domain certificate), you do not need to go through domain validation for info.example.com unless the original validation has expired.
  • However, in both of the above cases, if your initial validation was for info.example.com, you do need to go through domain validation for example.com or www.example.com (but not for www.info.example.com).
Note: If you add a new domain name when reprocessing a multi-domain certificate and wish to use the CNAME or file lookup validation method, you will need to create a new CNAME or file for validation. These DV methods both require a unique value that is incorporated into the CNAME or file.
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