Getting a certificate is one of those things you have to do a couple times a year, but something that I never remember how to do.
Since I’m trying to get HTTPS working for Video Viewer, I figured I’d write a quick guide so that I can do it quickly again next time.
To do this you need to already have a domain name registered and access to set some TXT values in the DNS. I use Amazon Route 53 because I’m an Amazon shill, but there are plenty of other options out there (some are even free).
This guide is also only for Ubuntu and similar systems. If you are on Windows I suggest you install Bash On Ubuntu on Windows. You can have an almost complete bash shell on your Windows machine. It’s a killer feature.
Install certbot using the instructions below. Alternatively follow the link to see if there is a better option for your set up.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:certbot/certbot
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install certbot
Run certbot.
sudo certbot -d <YOUR_DOMAIN_HERE> --manual --preferred-challenges dns certonly
Follow the prompts.
certbot will then request you add a DNS TXT record to prove you own the domain. Do this before continuing.
The certificate and private key will be saved to your machine for you to do as you please.
The certificate will be valid for 90 days. Renewing the certificate is out of scope for this post. Expect another post in about 91 days
This service is provided completely free. If it helped you out as much as it’s helped me, you should consider donating the price of a coffee to Let’s Encrypt as a thank you.
If you enjoyed the content please consider leaving a comment, sharing or hiring me.
Cheers,
Michael