How do I Issue a free SSL certificate?
Once logged into cPanel, we recommend you use the “Paper Lantern” theme. The plugin is present in x3, however it is not supported. The following instructions are similar in x3. By default, all new web hostings accounts purchased after January 1st, 2016 utilize the Paper Lantern theme. To learn how to change your theme, please view this article here.
CloudFlare Users Please Note: If you use CloudFlare, you will not be able to take advantage of Let’s Encrypt at this time. You must disable your CloudFlare from your website prior to enabling Let’s Encrypt. At this time, CloudFlare only supports paid SSL certificates purchased directly from them.
You will then be able to find the “Let’s Encrypt SSL” icon in the “Security” category:
or by searching for “SSL” in the top search bar:
The very first time you visit this page may take a few seconds, as it will register an anonymous account key with the Let’s Encrypt CA.
Prerequisites
There are two important prerequisites to be met in order for a certificate to be able to issued:
- The domain name(s) you want signed must be pointing to this cPanel server already
- The Let’s Encrypt CA must be able to visit
http://your-domain/.well-known/acme-challenge/xxxsuccessfully.
These directories/files will be created automatically, but you should take care that you do not have any .htaccess rules that prevent access.
Most users will fulfil these requirements automatically.
Issuing Process
The issuing section is composed of the domain the certificate will be issued for, any alias or parked domains pointing to this domain which can be included in this certificate, and an option to install this certificate for SMTPS/POP3S/IMAPS.
The process may take anywhere from 10 to 45 seconds, so do not navigate away from the page.
At completion, the keys and certificates should be installed on the server, with a success message:
If you get any errors, please open a Support Ticket.