In this guide I will be showing you how to install Let’s Encrypt Wildcard SSL Certificate in cPanel using Certify The Web. With Certify The Web you can easily install and auto-renew free SSL/TLS certificates from letsencrypt.org and other ACME Certificate Authorities for your IIS/Windows servers or cPanel. Please see How to use the DigiCert certificate utility for Windows to create a CSR, Generate a self-signed SSL certificate: How to enable LDAP over SSL with a self-signed certificate.
Certify The Web is one good tool you can use to manage, install, and renew free SSL certificates for your Windows and other servers, it is also a Let’s Encrypt-powered Professional Certificate Management tool for Windows.
For further similar guide on SSL certificate you can check these: How to enable LDAP over SSL with a third-party Certificate such as DigiCert, How to generate your trial SSL Certificate using DigiCert PKI platform, and How to import SSL Certificate to Windows Server using DigiCert Utility. To download this tool go here https://certifytheweb.com/
Navigate to the Settings tab and click on the Certificate Authorities. Furthermore, Make sure the Preferred Certificate Authority is on Let’s Encrypt. Click on New Account
Type your email address, agree and click on Register Contact
Securing Subdomains: Generating a Wildcard SSL Certificate
However, After registering, click on New Certificate and type *.yourdomain.com in the domain input field where the * means secure all subdomains under the primary domain and click on the plus sign.
Added a wildcard domain
If you prefer to add a non-wildcard version, you can click on Yes or No
Nonetheless, Now click on the Authorization section on the right side and select dns-01 in the Challenge Type drop-down. In the DNS Update Method drop-down select (Update DNS Manually)
Moreover, Now Click on the Test button to test the domain status if everything appears ok
However, To move forward you need to create a DNS (TXT) record in your DNS settings, and you will receive a message like the one below in the email account that you configured earlier.
Open the DNS Settings and create your TXT Record.
Test in Progress
Choosing Deployment Mode: Selecting Certificate Store Only After Successful Test
However, Once the test is successful, you can go to the Deployment section, and in the Deployment Mode drop-down, you can select Certificate Store Only.
Moreover, The reason for this selection is that this will store the SSL certificate in your local database. Furthermore, Note that the SSL certificate obtained through the Certify the Web application has a PFX extension that is not compatible with the Apache server by default, so we must convert that file to make it compatible with the Apache server.
After this then Click on Request Certificate.
The Certificate ordering process.
SSL Certificate generated successfully
Nonetheless, Now click on the Managed Certificates tab and click on Status to verify the certificate details. However, As mentioned earlier, by default, the certificate is stored in the PFX extension and needs to be converted to be compatible with the Apache server.
So, on your local system create a directory where you will save the certificate and click on Tasks >> (Deployment Tasks) Add >> Deploy to Apache
Moreover, Paste your certificate directory path into the first output field and append a back-slash and type “wildcard.crt” or “wildcard.pem”. However, Then in the second output field, paste the directory path and append a back-slash and type “private.key” and in the last output field paste the directory path and type “CA.crt” or “CA.pem”.
After clicking on Deploy to Apache,
Note: Before running the deployment task, make sure to save it and run the task
Now open your cPanel to install these certificates.
You can either upload the certificate as a file or as a text.
Furthermore, You can now refresh your website check the padlock icon, and see if the site is now secure with Let’s Encrypt
I hope you found this blog post on How to install Let’s Encrypt Wildcard SSL Certificate in cPanel using Certify The Web interesting and helpful. However, If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask in the comment section.
