Encrypt SSL certificate
The Internet Security Research Group created Let’s Encrypt, a free certificate authority (ISRG).
Let’s Encrypt offers two different kinds of certificates. Standard single-domain SSL and Wildcard SSL cover not just a single domain but also all of its subdomains. Both kinds of SSL certificates are valid for 90 days and are automatically renewed on SiteGround servers after they are installed. Such certificates are domain-validated, do not necessitate a dedicated IP address, and are compatible with all SiteGround hosting packages.
Fundamentals of let’s encrypt
Let’s Encrypt fundamentals are as follows:
- Domain name owners can get free trustworthy certificates for their websites.
- Server software can receive a certificate, anonymously configure it, and manage its renewal through contact with the CA.
- Let’s Encrypt is intended to provide a platform for spreading best practices for TLS (Transport Layer Security).
- All certificates that have been issued or withdrawn will be made available to the public.
- As an open standard, the ACME protocol will be made available to the public.
What is Certificate Authority?
CAs are organizations that cryptographically verify TLS/SSL certificates to certify their authenticity. To check site certificates, browsers and operating systems maintain a list of trustworthy CAs.
Until recently, the majority of CAs were for-profit businesses that charged for authentication and signing services. By totally automating the process and depending on sponsorship and contributions to pay for the necessary infrastructure, Let’s Encrypt has rendered this process free for users.
What is an SSL and SSL certificate and how does it all work?
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, and it’s the industry standard for keeping an internet connection secure and securing any sensitive data passed between two systems, preventing thieves from reading and altering any data provided, including potentially personal information. SSL is offered in CyberPanel at the time of creating a website.
A public-key key certificate, commonly known as an SSL certificate, is a cryptographic file stored on your web server that aids in the establishment of safe, encrypted internet communication. SSL certificates have two main functions:
Provide encryption: When a user’s browser links to your website using SSL, the information exchange is encrypted, making it unreadable to thieves trying to eavesdrop.
Authentication and trust: An SSL certificate obtained from a reputable certificate authority serves as authentication and trust. As a result, your visitors will be certain that they have arrived at the correct website and that any personal information they provide will be kept private.
When a visitor tries to connect to your website via the internet, both communication parties—client and server—go through a number of processes to verify each other’s identity before creating a relationship and sharing data. An SSL handshake is a name for this procedure. A session key is also generated during this procedure, which permits symmetric encryption of the specific session after both participants have successfully authenticated each other.
How to get a let’s encrypt SSL certificate?
To obtain a certificate for a domain, the requester must demonstrate that he is the owner of that domain. The following is how confirmation works: a certbot application is installed on the server of a domain’s website. This program downloads a certain file (the check file) from the Let’s Encrypt server. The check file is placed in the a.well-known directory created by the bot application within the web server’s directory.
Let’s Encrypt downloads the check file from the domain of the server it’s checking in the second stage of the confirmation procedure. Let’s encrypt and compares the file’s name and contents against its own check file if it is available. If everything is in order, Let’s Encrypt distributes three SSL certificates and a file containing a private key.
Enter the command line of your site’s server and install the certbot program to complete the certificate configuration.
Choose your web server and operating system for your website. For Apache and Nginx, there are specific plugins that allow you to install in interactive mode. Because we were unable to obtain certificates using the plugins, we recommend utilizing the webroot method.
For certbot to place the check file, Apache includes a virtual host. After that, we executed the following command:
sudo certbot certonly –webroot -w /etc/httpd/www -d ineedcertfromletsencrypt.tk
to seek and receive SSL certificates for the domain ineedcertfromletsencrypt.tk It is a free domain that has been registered for the purpose of this tutorial. /etc/httpd/www is the path to the virtual host directory in the command line.
There are some key prerequisites for receiving the certificates, regardless of which web server you’re using for your domain.
- Ports 80 and 443 should be open on the web server.
- The contents of the host should be accessible. It must be accessed via the URL http://domainname.com/.wellknown/checkfile, where the domain name is the name of the domain for which you need a certificate, and the check file is the name of the testing file.
- Certbot should be allowed to write to and read from the /.well-known folder, as well as create subdirectories within it (.well-known to be exact).
If all of the prerequisites were met and the certification procedure was completed successfully, your certificates will be located in the /etc/letsencrypt/archive/ folder (where your domain’s name is).
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