IIS 8 – Default SSL Site Breaks SNI

iis-8snissl-certificatewindows-server-2012-r2

We have the following scenario in testing SNI on Windows Server 2012 R2 with IIS 8. Domain names and IP addresses listed below are fake and for example only.

WEB SITE NAME      IP ADDRESS     Host Name/Header (SNI)   Certificate Domain
==============================================================================
x.domain.com       10.10.0.1      x.domain.com             x.domain.com
y.domain.com       10.10.0.1      y.domain.com             y.domain.com

When only 'x.domain.com' and 'y.domain.com' are configured using SNI with their own certificates on the same IP address, both sites work fine in all browsers, but when you select either of the sites, IIS shows displays a message stating "No default SSL site has been created. To support browsers without SNI capabilities, it is recommended to create a default SSL site".

SNI Error

If I create a default SSL site (a site on the same IP address using HTTPS but with no host name/SNI) it breaks the certificates on the other SNI sites on the same IP address. If I add the default SSL site like the following

WEB SITE NAME      IP ADDRESS     Host Name/Header (SNI)   Certificate Domain
==============================================================================
somedomain.com     10.10.0.1      NULL                     somedomain.com

Once that exists (it doesn't matter what certificate I use), the other SNI domains on that IP address generate a certificate error as IIS is apparently feeding the users the certificate for the default SSL site instead of the certificate specified for the site in IIS.

Can anyone please shed some light on how to properly configure the default SSL site in IIS?

Best Answer

I think if you change the IP address for the somedomain.com binding to "All unassigned" rather than 10.10.0.1, it will stop getting in the way of your SNI sites [surprisingly].