Certbot
Certbot is a free, open-source tool that automates the process of obtaining and renewing SSL/TLS certificates for your web server. In this guide, we will walk you through the process of using Certbot to request a certificate for your Apache2 web server.
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Before getting started, please make sure that your server meets the following requirements:
- Apache2 web server is installed and configured
- Your website is up and running
- You have sudo access on your server
- Your domain name is pointed to the server’s IP address
Now, let’s get started with the steps to request a certificate using Certbot:
Step 1: Install Certbot Certbot is available in most Linux distribution’s official repositories. You can install it on your server using the following command:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install certbot python3-certbot-apache
Step 2: Verify that Certbot can communicate with the Let’s Encrypt CA Before requesting a certificate from Let’s Encrypt, you need to make sure that your server can communicate with the Let’s Encrypt CA. You can do this by running the following command:
sudo certbot --apache
If this is the first time you are using Certbot, it will ask you to provide an email address and agree to the terms of service. Once you have provided the necessary information, Certbot will communicate with the Let’s Encrypt CA and verify that it can issue certificates for your domain.
Step 3: Request a certificate To request a certificate for your domain, run the following command:
sudo certbot --apache -d continentlegends.games -d www.continentlegends.games
Replace “example.com” and “www.example.com” with your actual domain name(s). Certbot will ask you to select an option for how you want to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS. Choose the option that best fits your needs.
Step 4: Verify that the certificate was installed correctly Certbot should automatically configure Apache2 to use the new SSL/TLS certificate. To verify that the certificate was installed correctly, open your website in a web browser and make sure that the padlock icon appears in the address bar. If you see a padlock icon, then the certificate was installed correctly.
Step 5: Set up automatic renewal of the certificate Let’s Encrypt certificates are valid for 90 days. To ensure that your certificate does not expire, you should set up automatic renewal. Certbot can do this for you automatically. Run the following command to set up automatic renewal:
sudo certbot renew --dry-run
This will simulate the renewal process to make sure that everything is set up correctly. If you see no errors, then Certbot is configured to renew your certificate automatically.
Congratulations! You have successfully requested and installed an SSL/TLS certificate for your Apache2 web server using Certbot.