How to Install and Configure an SSL Certificate with Let's Encrypt

Let's Encrypt provides free SSL certificates. Use Certbot to automate the process.

Install Certbot

# Ubuntu/Debian with Nginx
apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

# Ubuntu/Debian with Apache
apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y

Obtain a Certificate

# Nginx
certbot --nginx -d example.com -d www.example.com

# Apache
certbot --apache -d example.com -d www.example.com

Auto-Renewal

Certbot installs a systemd timer for automatic renewal. Verify:

certbot renew --dry-run

Manual Renewal

certbot renew

Certificate Location

/etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem
/etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem