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How to Create a .wellknown/pki-validation Folder on a Windows IIS Server?

Updated on May 2, 2026

Overview

This guide provides step-by-step instructions to manually create a .wellknown/pki-validation directory on a Windows server hosting IIS. This setup is typically required to place a validation file (for example, sectigo.html) to support HTTP-based domain or organization validation.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

Administrative access to the Windows server hosting IIS

Access to IIS Manager on the server

Permission to use Command Prompt on the server

The validation file content (for example, the random number provided by Sectigo)

Procedure

Step 1: Identify the Website Root Directory in IIS

Open IIS Manager, expand Sites, and select the relevant website (for example, Default Web Site).
From the Actions panel, click Explore to open the physical root directory of the site in File Explorer. This helps confirm the correct path where the folders must be created.

Step 2: Open Command Prompt

You cannot create folders starting with a dot (.) such as .wellknown using Windows File Explorer.
Open Command Prompt with appropriate privileges to create these directories.

Step 3: Navigate to the Website Root Path

Based on the IIS configuration identified earlier, navigate to the website’s physical path.
In the example provided, the path is:

C:\inetpub\wwwroot\

Step 4: Create the .wellknown Folder

Run the following command from the website root directory:

mkdir .wellknown

This command creates the .wellknown directory required for validation.

Step 5: Create the pki-validation Subfolder

Next, create the pki-validation subdirectory inside .wellknown:

mkdir .\.wellknown\pki-validation

Step 6: Create the Validation File

Navigate to:

C:\inetpub\wwwroot\.wellknown\pki-validation

Create a file named sectigo.html and paste the random validation value provided for your certificate order into this file.
Save the file once complete.

Step 7: Configure Access to the Validation File

You can make the validation file accessible using one of the following methods: