diff --git a/cmd/fabric-ca-server/config.go b/cmd/fabric-ca-server/config.go
index 15d136e83..9982a207d 100644
--- a/cmd/fabric-ca-server/config.go
+++ b/cmd/fabric-ca-server/config.go
@@ -335,16 +335,17 @@ func createDefaultConfigFile() error {
 	if len(pass) == 0 {
 		return errors.New("An empty password in the '-b user:pass' option is not permitted")
 	}
-	// Get hostname
-	myhost, err := os.Hostname()
+
+	var myhost, caName string
+	var err error
+	myhost, err = os.Hostname()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	// Get domain name
-	caName := strings.Join(strings.Split(myhost, ".")[1:], ".")
-	if caName == "" {
-		caName = myhost
-	}
+
+	// Get hostname
+	caName = getCAName(myhost)
+
 	// Do string subtitution to get the default config
 	cfg := strings.Replace(defaultCfgTemplate, "<<<ADMIN>>>", user, 1)
 	cfg = strings.Replace(cfg, "<<<ADMINPW>>>", pass, 1)
@@ -358,3 +359,23 @@ func createDefaultConfigFile() error {
 	// Now write the file
 	return ioutil.WriteFile(cfgFileName, []byte(cfg), 0644)
 }
+
+// getCAName returns CA Name
+// If ca.name property is specified (via the environment variable
+// 'FABRIC_CA_SERVER_CA_NAME' or the command line option '--ca.name' or
+// in the configuration file), then its value is returned
+// If ca.name property is not specified, domain is extracted from the hostname and is
+// returned
+// If domain is empty, then hostname is returned
+func getCAName(hostname string) (caName string) {
+	caName = viper.GetString("ca.name")
+	if caName != "" {
+		return caName
+	}
+
+	caName = strings.Join(strings.Split(hostname, ".")[1:], ".")
+	if caName == "" {
+		caName = hostname
+	}
+	return caName
+}
diff --git a/cmd/fabric-ca-server/main_test.go b/cmd/fabric-ca-server/main_test.go
index db2a6e0dd..47c8360b7 100644
--- a/cmd/fabric-ca-server/main_test.go
+++ b/cmd/fabric-ca-server/main_test.go
@@ -73,6 +73,28 @@ func errorTest(in *TestData, t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// Tests for the getCAName function
+func TestGetCAName(t *testing.T) {
+	var testCases = []struct {
+		input    string // input
+		expected string // expected result
+	}{
+		{"server1.acme.com", "acme.com"},
+		{"server1.net1.acme.com", "net1.acme.com"},
+		{".com", "com"},
+		{"server2", "server2"},
+		{"foo.", "foo."},
+		{".", "."},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		n := getCAName(tc.input)
+		if n != tc.expected {
+			t.Errorf("getCAName returned unexpected value '%s' for '%s', expected value is '%s'",
+				n, tc.input, tc.expected)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestErrors(t *testing.T) {
 	os.Unsetenv(homeEnvVar)
 	_ = ioutil.WriteFile(badSyntaxYaml, []byte("signing: true\n"), 0644)
@@ -82,8 +104,9 @@ func TestErrors(t *testing.T) {
 
 	errorCases := []TestData{
 		{[]string{cmdName, "init", "-c", initYaml}, "option is required"},
-		{[]string{cmdName, "init", "-b", "user:pass", "ca.key"}, "too many arguments"},
-		{[]string{cmdName, "init", "-b", "user::"}, "Failed to read"},
+		{[]string{cmdName, "init", "-n", "acme.com", "-b", "user::"}, "Failed to read"},
+		{[]string{cmdName, "init", "-c", ymlWithoutCAName, "-n", "", "-b", "user:pass"}, caNameReqMsg},
+		{[]string{cmdName, "init", "-b", "user:pass", "-n", "acme.com", "ca.key"}, "too many arguments"},
 		{[]string{cmdName, "init", "-c", badSyntaxYaml, "-b", "user:pass"}, "Incorrect format"},
 		{[]string{cmdName, "init", "-c", initYaml, "-b", fmt.Sprintf("%s:foo", longUserName)}, "than 1024 characters"},
 		{[]string{cmdName, "init", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("%s.yaml", longFileName), "-b", "user:pass"}, "file name too long"},
@@ -92,8 +115,7 @@ func TestErrors(t *testing.T) {
 		{[]string{cmdName, "init", "-c", initYaml, "-b", "user:"}, "empty password"},
 		{[]string{cmdName, "bogus", "-c", initYaml, "-b", "user:pass"}, "unknown command"},
 		{[]string{cmdName, "start", "-c"}, "needs an argument:"},
-		{[]string{cmdName, "start", "-c", startYaml, "-d", "-b", "user:pass", "ca.key"}, "too many arguments"},
-		{[]string{cmdName, "start", "-c", ymlWithoutCAName, "-b", "user:pass"}, caNameReqMsg},
+		{[]string{cmdName, "start", "-c", startYaml, "-b", "user:pass", "ca.key"}, "too many arguments"},
 	}
 
 	// Explicitly set the default for ca.name to "", this is to test if server