Free SSL certificates with Let's Encrypt

Let's Encrypt provides free, automatically renewing SSL certificates trusted by every browser. The easiest way to use it is Certbot.

1. Install Certbot

On Ubuntu with Nginx:

apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

With Apache, install python3-certbot-apache instead.

2. Request the certificate

certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com

Certbot verifies you control the domain (it must already point to this server), installs the certificate and configures HTTPS redirection for you.

3. Confirm auto-renewal

Certificates last 90 days, but Certbot installs a renewal timer automatically. Test it with:

certbot renew --dry-run

If the dry run succeeds, you never need to think about it again. Visit https://yourdomain.com and look for the padlock.