Create the .well-known folder in IIS

Domain Validation can be a tricky thing, especially since it’s such an infrequent task. If you decided to use either the HTTP or the HTTPS Hash File domain validation methods and were wondering how to create a hidden directory within IIS, then this article is for you! Please review the following instructions to learn how to make the .well-known/pki-validation hidden directory using Microsoft IIS Manager.

To begin connect to your web server as an administrator and do the following:

1. Create the a well-known folder in a easily accessible location, such as within your Documents folder, or directly on the c:\.
2. Drill down on well-known and create a folder inside of it named pki-validation.
3. Drill down on pki-validation and move/paste the Hash File that was downloaded from your certificate-order’s validation page.
4. Open IIS Manager and right click on the website, select “Add Virtual Directory…“
5. For the Alias Entry field, enter .well-known and for the Physical Path field enter the location of the new well-known folder from Step 1.
6. Press OK to save the input and make the file accessible on the website.

Some common problems after creating the directory include receiving a 401 error on the hash file page.  You can correct this by:

7. Open IIS and select the website that received the 401
8. In the middle pane, look for the IIS section and open the Authentication icon
9. The middle area changes; select Windows Authentication and then click Providers from the Action pane on the right
10. The common issue is that NTLM is not at the top of the list. Move it there to correct the error.