n order to generate a CSR in plesk, follow the steps below
1) Log into your plesk control panel
2) click on the domain you need to generate your CSR for. This should drop down a list of options including 'Secure Your Sites'
3) Click 'SSL Certificates' (or 'Secure your sites' if you are using an older version of the plesk panel)
4) Click Add SSL Certificate
5) Enter a name for the certificate, its best to use the domain name for this but you can use anything
6) Enter the requested information i.e State, Location, Organisation name, Domain name. **if using the basic cert, make sure to enter your domain with the www prefix to ensure the cert covers both the www and non-www version of your site. Your phone number should be in the format 44.12345678 where the 44 replaces the initial 0
7) Enter a valid email address
8) Click request
The CSR is now generated
If you now click on the cert in the list, then scroll down you can see the CSR text, it will look something like the below:
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----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-----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
