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Let’s Encrypt certificate: what it is and how it works

As we all know, SSL is a cryptographic protocol used to secure communication from the source (server) to the recipient (the customer's browser). https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security

Let's Encrypt is a Certification Authority (CA) that issues free Domain Validated (DV) certificates that last for 90 days.

The certificate issued by Let's Encrypt has the same characteristics as the DV SSL Certificate.

The integration and automation of Let's Encrypt on the cPanel platform is done through a special plug-in that allows you to:

  • require and install a Let's Encrypt certificate for any configured domain or subdomain that does not have one, or that has one:
    • self-signed
    • issued by Let's Encrypt but expired
    • issued by Let's Encrypt, valid but with an expiration date of less than 7 days
  • renew the Let's Encrypt certificate before it expires

The SSL check is performed automatically and at set intervals, so it may take some time (even a few hours) before the certificate for a new site is actually configured. The time it takes to issue a certificate may also depend on the availability of Let's Encrypt resources and on a number of limitations of the CA itself (available at: https://letsencrypt.org/docs/rate-limits/ ).

These limitations, briefly summarised, are as follows:

  • Max 20 certificates per week for sub-levels of the same domain.
  • Max 5 duplicate certificates.
  • Max 5 requests per user, per hostname, per hour

HOW TO OBTAIN THE LET'S ENCRYPT SSL CERTIFICATE AND WHERE TO VIEW IT

The procedure for requesting/installing/renewing certificates is fully automatic, to work it is necessary that:

  1. the domain/subdomain is configured on the Cpanel
  2. the domain/subdomain is pointed to the Linux Hosting platform with Cpanel
  3. the automatic SSL Certificate check is enabled (this option is enabled by default for all hosting packages)
  4. the domain/subdomain is included in the SSL check (this option is enabled by default for all domains/subdomains configured on the hosting service)

If you use services such as external CDN/PROXY or have a AAAA (for IPv6) record configured in your DNS zones, Let's Encrypt will not be able to be installed for your domain and you should consider purchasing one of the SSL Certificates available on our site.

You can view the SSL Certificates installed for the domain from the "SSL/TLS" section of Cpanel:

  1. Access your cPanel hosting
  1. Click on SSL/TLS in the Security section
  1. Click on Manage SSL Sites
  1. Select Details, to view the certificate

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