Version 2 certificate templates

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Version 2 certificate templates

Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, and Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition, certification authorities support two types of certificate templates: version 1 and version 2. Version 2 templates are new to the Windows Server 2003 family. They allow customization of most settings in the template. Several preconfigured version 2 templates are supplied in the default configuration, and more can be added as necessary. This allows complete configuration flexibility for administrators.

Version 2 templates are only available as part of a certification authority that is installed as an enterprise certification authority. For that reason, they require Active Directory. Although Version 2 templates can be created and duplicated in the Windows Server 2003 family, certificates that are based on Version 2 templates can only be issued by a certification authority that is running Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition.