Obtaining an SSL certificate can be quick and free. Let\u2019s Encrypt<\/a> is a prominent and trusted provider of free SSL certificates through the help of the automated client Certbot<\/a>.<\/p>\n Today, I\u2019ll share more detail on SSL, HTTPS, Let\u2019s Encrypt<\/a> and Certbot<\/a> as well as how to manually install, manage, and renew a free SSL certificate on your web server to secure your WordPress website so it displays error-free in Chrome.<\/p>\n An SSL certificate is a public digital document issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) for a domain name that binds a cryptographic key to its attached website.<\/p>\n All websites with a valid SSL certificate use HTTPS and SSL protocol, which encrypts communication between the website\u2019s server and end user\u2019s browser.<\/p>\n Having a valid SSL certificate for your website confirms that your site is trustworthy for users to enter information as opposed to a website simply posing with \u201chttps\u201d in their URL. It also prevents hackers from hijacking the connection to obtain unauthorized access.<\/p>\n For details, check out Why HTTPS and SSL for WordPress Websites are Absolutely Essential<\/a>.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s Encrypt<\/a> is a automated CA provided by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG), a non-profit that\u2019s dedicated to making the internet a more secure place. Let\u2019s Encrypt only issues free SSL certificates, and the process is expedited by running a certificate management agent on the web server.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s Encrypt<\/a> authenticates a Domain Validation (DV) certificate, which is the lowest level certificate a CA offers, and only confirms that a website owns the domain name to which it claims.<\/p>\n As of January 2018, Let\u2019s Encrypt also offers a wildcard certificate<\/a>, which allows you to secure all subdomains of a website with a single certificate. For example, info.example.com<\/em> and about.example.com<\/em>.<\/p>\n You also must have the specific ACMEv2 protocol and as a result, a client that has been updated to support ACMEv2.<\/p>\n For details, check out ACME Client Implementations<\/a>.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s Encrypt<\/a> certificates are valid for 90 days, no exceptions, and they recommend renewal every 60 days so you have 30 days to work out any possible issues. Although, it\u2019s possible to configure automatic renewal, depending on your server.<\/p>\n The easiest way to obtain a free SSL certificate from Let\u2019s Encrypt is through your web hosting.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s Encrypt has partnered with many web hosts<\/a> as well as a number of providers that enable Let\u2019s Encrypt and redirect to HTTPS by default.<\/p>\n If your hosting service isn\u2019t aware of Let\u2019s Encrypt, you can contact them and let them know it\u2019s an option.<\/p>\n If your hosting service doesn\u2019t have compatibility, one of the easiest ways to put a Let\u2019s Encrypt free SSL Certificate on your web server is with Certbot<\/a>, which is an automatic client that fetches and deploys your SSL certificate on your web server.<\/p>\n According to the Certbot documentation<\/a>, \u201cCertbot aims to build a network that is more structurally private, safe and protected against censorship.\u201d<\/p>\n Certbot is packaged for a variety of different operating systems and servers. The best way to figure out an ideal setup is to go to Certbot\u2019s website<\/a> and read the specific installation instructions.<\/p>\n In most cases, you need root access or admin-level capabilities to authorize CertBot.<\/p>\n Installation will typically occur via SSH, a secure shell cryptographic protocol that allows file transfers over insecure networks. Popular SSH Clients are Terminal<\/a> for Mac OS X and PuTTY<\/a> for Windows.<\/p>\n Depending on your setup and the needs of your site, there are multiple ways to install a Let\u2019s Encrypt DV certificate on your site. The Certbot website walks you through the installation<\/a> process based on your specific server setup.<\/p>\n As previously mentioned, you can also install a certificate automatically through your web host if they have chosen to make this option available. Consult your host\u2019s documentation for setup instructions as each web host varies.<\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to install a wildcard certificate, you\u2019ll have to use a DNS plugin.<\/p>\n You can check out the Certbot Documentation<\/a> for details.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have server software such as Apache or Nginx, for example, and you\u2019re not interesting in getting any, the standalone plugin approach is a suitable option.<\/p>\n The plugin will need to bind to web server ports 80 (for HTTP) or 443 (for SSL) to validate the domain so it\u2019s possible you may need to free up those ports on your server beforehand.<\/p>\n They\u2019re both used to load your site, but Certbot can throw errors if neither are available. The process of closing and opening ports depends on your operating software, so consult the specific documentation needed as necessary.<\/p>\n After making sure Certbot is installed and that either port 80 or 443 is available, enter the command below into your SSH client. Note that depending on which port you use, the command will be slightly different.<\/p>\n Breaking it down, certonly<\/strong> obtains (or in certain contexts, renews) a certificate, but does not install it, –standalone<\/strong> tells Certbot to run a standalone web server for authentication, –preferred-challenges<\/strong> designates the post that Certbot will use and -d<\/strong> specifies the domain name for which you\u2019re requesting an SSL certificate.<\/p>\n After running the command, you\u2019ll be prompted to enter your email address and agree to the terms and conditions.<\/p>\n When finished, you\u2019ll receive a message telling you the process is complete as well as the location of your certificate.<\/p>\n Using the webroot method is an option if you have the capabilities to modify content on your server. The webroot method of installing a certificate places a validation file at a specific location on your web server.<\/p>\n This method is handy because you don\u2019t have to switch any ports and don\u2019t need to fret about bringing down a live site during the installation process.<\/p>\n It may be important to know that to use the webroot plugin, you need to make sure your server is configured to show files from hidden directories, and specifically, the \/.well-known folder.<\/p>\n Run this command in your SSH client to install the webroot method:<\/p>\n The certonly<\/strong> command obtains the certificate, –webroot<\/strong> tells Certbot the method we\u2019re using, and you\u2019ll need to include -w<\/strong> or –webroot-path<\/strong> and then the file path containing the uppermost directory that has the files served by your web server, –webroot-path \/var\/www\/html<\/strong> being a common webroot path.<\/p>\n For details, check out the Certbot documentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n All keys and issued certificates can be found at \/etc\/letsencrypt\/live\/$domain<\/em>, which is kept updated when renewals occur.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a list of the files in your certificate:<\/p>\n If you would like to check your file contents of the directory, use the ls \/etc\/letsencrypt\/live\/example.com<\/em> command in your SSH client to display the listing.<\/p>\n Certbot aims to make renewal as easy as possible by checking all installed certificates for impending expiration and then attempting to renew them.<\/p>\n The command below checks multiple certificates and always takes into account whether or not they\u2019re near expiry.<\/p>\n It will renew any certificate that has less than 30 days of validity left. You can run it as frequently as you want as there\u2019s no danger of early renewal.<\/p>\n If you have multiple domain names and would like to renew only one of them, this command using certonly<\/strong> will do the trick:<\/p>\n Please note<\/em>: Certbot recommends including -n<\/strong> or –noninteractive<\/strong> to prevent blocking user input.<\/p>\n Installing an SSL certificate is an essential security measure for any WordPress site. Let\u2019s Encrypt and Certbot provide quick and free ways to secure your domain and website with HTTPS and an SSL certificate.<\/p>\n For a comprehensive details, check out the extensive Certbot documentation<\/a> and community forum<\/a>.<\/p>\n Were you able to successfully install a free SSL certificate with Let\u2019s Encrypt? What are your reasons for installing an SSL certificate? Share your experience in the comments below.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Chrome displays a warning for any site that doesn\u2019t have an \u201chttps\u201d prefix in the URL. Installing a free SSL certificate fixes this warning for WordPress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[246,245,243,228],"class_list":["post-2800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tutorials","tag-certbot","tag-lets-encrypt","tag-ssl","tag-wordpress-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What is SSL and HTTPS, and Why Do I Need It?<\/h2>\n
What is Let\u2019s Encrypt?<\/h2>\n
Types of Certificates<\/h3>\n
How to Get a Certificate<\/h2>\n
![\"Certbot](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/07\/Certbot.png\")
Installing Certbot<\/h3>\n
Installing The Certificate<\/h3>\n
Standalone Mode<\/h4>\n
\n\n\/\/For Port 80\ncertbot certonly --standalone --preferred-challenges http -d example.com\n\n\/\/For Port 443\ncertbot certonly --standalone --preferred-challenges tls-sni -d example.com\n\n<\/pre><\/pre>\n
Webroot Plugin<\/h4>\n
\n\ncertbot certonly --webroot -w \/var\/www\/example -d www.example.com -d example.com\n\n<\/pre><\/pre>\n
Where Your Certificates are Located<\/h4>\n
\n
Renewing Your Certificate<\/h3>\n
\n\ncertbot renew\n\n<\/pre><\/pre>\n
\n\ncertbot certonly -n -d example.com -d www.example.com\n\n<\/pre><\/pre>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
FURTHER READING<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n\n