Securing your website with HTTPS is essential for providing a safe browsing experience. Let’s Encrypt offers a free SSL certificate, and using Certbot, you can easily obtain and manage these certificates on an Ubuntu VPS. Follow this step-by-step guide to install Let’s Encrypt on your Ubuntu server.

Prerequisites:
– An Ubuntu server (20.04, 22.04, or similar)
– A domain name pointing to your server’s IP address.
– A web server (e.g., Apache or Nginx) installed and running.

Step 1: Update Your Server
Before installing any new packages, make sure your server is up to date:
“`
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
“`
This ensures that all software is current and that there are no security issues.

Step 2: Install Certbot
Certbot is a tool that automates the process of obtaining and renewing SSL certificates from Let’s Encrypt.

– For Apache, install Certbot with the following command:
“`
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y
“`
– For Nginx, use this command instead:
“`
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y
“`

Step 3: Obtain an SSL Certificate
Now that Certbot is installed, you can request an SSL certificate.

– For Apache:
“`
sudo certbot –apache
“`
– For Nginx:
“`
sudo certbot –nginx
“`

During the process, Certbot will ask for your email address (for renewal notifications) and agree to the Let’s Encrypt terms of service. Certbot will automatically configure your web server and install the SSL certificate.

Step 4: Verify the SSL Certificate
To ensure that your SSL certificate is installed correctly, open your web browser and navigate to https://yourdomain.com. You should see a padlock icon next to your domain in the browser address bar, indicating that your site is secured.

Step 5: Automate Certificate Renewal
Let’s Encrypt certificates expire every 90 days, but Certbot makes it easy to renew them automatically. To verify that the renewal process is working, run:
“`
sudo certbot renew –dry-run
“`
If there are no errors, your certificates will automatically renew when needed.

Step 6: Manually Renew SSL Certificates (if needed)
If, for some reason, automatic renewal fails, you can manually renew your certificate with:
“`
sudo certbot renew
“`

Conclusion:
That’s it! You’ve successfully installed a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt on your Ubuntu VPS. Your website is now more secure, and visitors can enjoy a safe browsing experience with HTTPS. Remember to periodically check your SSL certificate’s status and keep Certbot updated for the best performance.

Additional Tips:
– If you encounter issues during the installation process, check the Certbot logs located at /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log.
– For troubleshooting common issues, visit Certbot’s official documentation: https://certbot.eff.org/