SSL Certificates & TLS

Practical setup, management and troubleshooting guides for SSL Certificates & TLS.

Articles

Adding or removing names from a multi-domain certificate

Changing a multi-domain certificate requires a planned reissue and deployment. Adding a...

Checking which names a wildcard certificate protects

A wildcard such as *.example.com covers a single leftmost label, such as shop.example.com....

Choosing an SSL certificate for the names your website uses

A TLS certificate, often sold as an SSL certificate, helps browsers establish an encrypted...

Completing HTTP file-based certificate validation

File-based certificate validation requires the issuer's challenge to be publicly available at...

Completing a certificate authority's DNS validation request

DNS certificate validation proves control by publishing the certificate authority's exact...

Completing certificate domain validation by email

Email domain validation works when an authorised person receives and approves the certificate...

Creating a certificate signing request in Plesk

For a certificate ordered outside an automated Plesk workflow, generate a CSR in the domain's...

Finding and correcting mixed content on an HTTPS website

Mixed content occurs when an HTTPS page requests resources over insecure HTTP. Fix the resource...

Fixing a certificate hostname mismatch

A hostname mismatch means the certificate presented by the server does not cover the name the...

Fixing an incomplete certificate chain

An incomplete certificate chain means a client cannot build the required trust path from the...

Installing an issued certificate through cPanel

Install the issued certificate in the cPanel account serving the website, using its matching...

Installing and assigning an issued certificate in Plesk

Use the supported Plesk upload path for your certificate files, then confirm that the website...

Investigating a certificate warning in an email application

A mail certificate warning concerns the server your application is connecting to. Compare that...

Managing separate edge and origin certificates for a CDN

Track edge and origin certificates separately when a CDN or security proxy handles HTTPS. The...

Planning HSTS after every required hostname works with HTTPS

Enable HSTS only after the required website names work reliably over HTTPS and certificate...

Redirecting HTTP to HTTPS safely with an Apache .htaccess rule

Use an HTTPS redirect after the website has a valid certificate and works correctly over HTTPS....

Renewing and replacing SSL certificates under current validity limits

Renewal requires a valid certificate to be issued and installed before the current one expires....

Replacing a certificate when the private key is lost or exposed

A certificate cannot be installed with an unrelated private key. If the matching key is...

Requesting certificate revocation after a key compromise

Report a compromised certificate private key promptly and arrange revocation through the issuer...

Understanding a certificate issuance failure caused by CAA

A CAA failure can mean that your DNS policy does not authorise the requested certificate...