How to get free SSL certificates via Let’s Encrypt ?

Security and privacy are even more important, and more and more are choosing to encrypt their website traffic using SSL certificates. Nowadays it is very easy for our shared, semi-dedicated and reseller hosting servers as it provides access to free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates straight from within cPanel in the most user-friendly way. In just a few clicks away, and in a matter of seconds, you can configure a free SSL certificate on your website!

What is Let’s Encrypt

Let’s Encrypt provide free SSL certificates via an automated process build up to eliminate manual SSL installation for secured websites. It provides digital certificates to the public in order to enable HTTPS (SSL/TLS) for websites, using a quick and easy process that anyone can take advantage of. These certificates are recognized by most common browsers today.

How does it work?

To understand the complete working of Let’s Encrypt, let’s walk up to the process of setting up a secured domain with a certificate created by a certificate agent who supports Let’s Encrypt. There are mainly two steps in this process to be followed.

• Agent proves to the CA that the web server actually controls a domain.
• Then, the agent can request for a certificate, renew, and revoke certificates for that particular domain.

By configuring the certificate within cPanel, Let’s Encrypt will issue a quarterly certificate to the domain name(s) you specify. Every 3 months this certificate will automatically get renewed. You also have the option to manually remove it from your domain if you no longer require the certificate. You simply configure the certificate within cPanel and are then able to visit your website using the https:// prefix. Presently there’s no charge for using Let’s Encrypt SSL.

How does Let’s Encrypt compare to commercial or paid for SSL certificate

Technically, Let’s Encrypt certificates and commercial SSL certificates achieve almost the same thing. There are, however, some significant differences you need to be aware of. Let’s Encrypt only supply Domain Validated certificates. These are certificates where you only need to be able to prove domain ownership. The certificates do not provide any kind of warranty over misuse. At the same time, they can not issue wildcard certificates. Maximum validity is set to 90 day and only offer community lead support.

Whereas Commercial CA’s supply/provide Domain Validated certificates that include a warranty. Approval can also be done using Email or file. This further makes using the certificate for systems such as email, load balancers, and firewalls much easier to configure. It can issue a certificate for up to 39 months. In short, if you want a quick and easy way of getting your website SSL secured for privacy or security reasons, Let’s Encrypt is a fantastic free option for you.

Are there any limits/How many certificates may I have?

You may, of course, only have one certificate active at a time on a specific domain. There are no restrictions or domain limit you may use Let’s Encrypt certificates with, and they will also work on addon and/or subdomains within your account.

Are there any other benefits?

Previously, when using SSL encrypted e-mail, you would need to use the server hostname in the incoming and outgoing server fields to prevent any certificate error warnings from appearing. With the Let’s Encrypt system and a valid Let’s Encrypt certificate on your domain, users should be able to switch to using their own hostnames (such as mail.yourdomain.tld) without a certificate warning.

Conclusion

Let’s Encrypt makes setting up an SSL certificate ultimately easy, which means you can’t stop yourself from installing it. Not only it helps you to keep your information safe, it also helps with your SEO efforts. Despite all, obtaining a Let’s Encrypt certificate won’t cost you a cent. Whereas other CAs are charging up to cent of dollars per year. For some types of certificates, opting for a comparable free alternative would be the smarter option.