Secure Nginx with Certbot SSL

Free Let's Encrypt certificates for your website

This comprehensive guide will walk you through securing your Nginx server with a free SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt using Certbot. SSL is essential for protecting your users' data and improving your site's SEO ranking.

1 Install Certbot and Nginx plugin

First, install Certbot and its Nginx plugin package using your package manager.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx

For other systems, check certbot.eff.org for specific instructions.

2 Obtain SSL Certificate

Run Certbot with the Nginx plugin to automatically obtain and install the certificate.

sudo certbot --nginx -d example.com -d www.example.com

Replace "example.com" with your actual domain

3 Follow the Prompts

Provide a valid email address for urgent renewal and security notices
Agree to the Let's Encrypt Terms of Service
Decide whether to redirect HTTP to HTTPS (recommended)

Test Automatic Renewal

Certbot sets up automatic renewal for you, but you can test the renewal process with:

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Certificates are valid for 90 days and should renew automatically. The command above verifies that automatic renewal works properly.

Success!

Your site should now be accessible via https:// and all traffic will be securely encrypted.

Additional Resources

Certbot Documentation

Official documentation for advanced configurations

Let's Encrypt Docs

Understanding how Let's Encrypt works

Need help? Found an issue? Contact us