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Free SSL certificates with Let's Encrypt

ssl-cert

This is a guide on how to get free SSL certificates with Let’s Encrypt with NGINX

Prerequisites

  • A domain name
  • A server with NGINX installed
  • A user with sudo privileges

Step 1: Point your domain to your server

You need to point your domain to your server’s IP address. You can do this by adding an A record in your domain registrar’s DNS settings.

Step 2: Configure NGINX

You need to configure NGINX to serve your domain. Create a new server block configuration file in /etc/nginx/sites-available/ directory.

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com

Add the following configuration to the file:

server {
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
    }
}

Save the file and create a symbolic link to the sites-enabled directory:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Test the NGINX configuration:

sudo nginx -t

If the test is successful, reload NGINX:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

Step 3: Install Certbot

Certbot is a free, open-source software tool for automatically using Let’s Encrypt certificates on manually-administrated websites to enable HTTPS.

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

Step 4: A and CNAME records

Add an A record for your domain and a CNAME record for www.yourdomain.com in your domain registrar’s DNS settings.

Example:

A record: yourdomain.com -> your server's IP address
CNAME record: www.yourdomain.com -> yourdomain.com

Step 5: Obtain SSL certificate

Run the following command to obtain an SSL certificate for your domain:

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

Certbot will automatically configure NGINX to use the SSL certificate.

Step 6: Verify SSL certificate

Visit your domain in a web browser and verify that the SSL certificate is working.

Conclusion

You now have free SSL certificates with Let’s Encrypt on your NGINX server. Your website is now secure and encrypted.