Installing Free SSL Certificates on a Virtual Server (VPS)

While our control panel automatically issues and binds certificates for Shared Hosting plans, managing SSL on a Virtual Server (VPS) is different. Because you have full administrative control over the operating system, the most efficient way to handle free SSL certificates (like Let's Encrypt) is to use an automated tool directly on the server.

We recommend using an ACME Client. These tools verify your domain, install the certificate, and schedule automatic renewals so you don't have to repeat the process every 3 months.

Prerequisites

• Point your Domain: Ensure your domain name is already pointed to your VPS IP address via DNS.
• Open Port 80: The validation process usually requires Port 80 (HTTP) to be open in your firewall.

For Windows Servers (IIS)

For Windows Server using IIS, we recommend win-acme, a simple, open-source tool.

1. Download the Tool
   • Log in to your VPS via Remote Desktop.
   • Download the latest version of win-acme from www.win-acme.com.
   • Extract the zip file to a permanent location (e.g., C:\win-acme).
2. Run the Wizard
   • Right-click wacs.exe and select Run as Administrator.
   • Press N to "Create new certificate".
   • Select the option for Single binding of an IIS website (or use "Full options" for advanced setups).
   • Select your website from the list provided.
3. Completion
   • The tool will verify your domain, generate the certificate, and automatically bind it to your site in IIS.
   • It also creates a scheduled task to renew the certificate automatically.

For Linux Servers (Nginx/Apache)

For Linux servers, the industry standard is Certbot.

1. Connect via SSH
   • Log in to your server using your SSH client.
2. Install Certbot
   • Instructions vary by distribution (Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian), but generally, you will use snapd or your package manager.
   • Example for Ubuntu:
     sudo snap install --classic certbot
3. Run Certbot
   • Execute the command for your specific web server:
   • For Nginx: sudo certbot --nginx
   • For Apache: sudo certbot --apache
4. Completion
   • Follow the on-screen prompts to select your domain.
   • Certbot will obtain the certificate and automatically update your Nginx/Apache configuration files to enable HTTPS.
   • Automatic renewal is usually configured by default.

Alternative: Manual Method (Not Recommended)

You can still use our control panel to generate a Free Certificate, export it to PFX, and manually import it into your server. However, we do not recommend this for VPS users because you will have to manually repeat the Export/Import/Binding process every 90 days when the certificate expires.