Installing SSL Certificates with Certbot, the Let’s Encrypt SSL Client

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Securing your website with an SSL certificate is crucial for protecting user data and maintaining trust. In this guide, we’ll show you how to install SSL certificates using Certbot and Let’s Encrypt, a user-friendly tool and a non-profit certificate authority, respectively.

We’ll cover the basics of SSL certificates and their importance, walk you through the installation and configuration of Certbot, and explain how to obtain and manage Let’s Encrypt certificates. Plus, we’ll share tips and best practices for securing your website with SSL.

By the end, you’ll know how to leverage these tools to establish a safe online environment for your users. Let’s dive in!

  1. Install Snap Store:

First, update your system package list and install the Snap Store:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install snapd -y

  1. Install Canonical Core Files for Snap:

Once Snap is installed, add the Canonical Core files required for Snap packages:

sudo snap install core

  1. Install Certbot:

After setting up the necessary Snap components, install Certbot using the following command:

sudo snap install certbot –classic

  1. Prepare Certbot:

Finally, create a symbolic link to ensure that the Certbot binaries are accessible:

sudo ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot

  1. Install the SSL Certificate:

With Certbot installed, you can now generate an SSL certificate for your website domain. Replace “yourdomain.com” with your actual domain name in the following command:

sudo certbot –nginx -d yourdomain.com

Certbot will automatically configure your NGINX server to use the newly issued SSL certificate.

  1. Test Automatic Renewal:

To ensure the certificate will automatically renew, run a dry-run command to simulate the renewal process:

sudo certbot renew –dry-run

If the output indicates that a renewal would be triggered, automatic renewal is properly configured.

With these steps, you have successfully installed an SSL certificate for your website using Certbot and the Let’s Encrypt certificate authority. Your website should now be accessible via HTTPS, providing secure communication between your server and visitors’ web browsers.

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