How to Install Let's Encrypt on Oracle Linux

Securing your website with an SSL certificate is essential in today’s online world. In this guide, we will show you how to install Let’s Encrypt on Oracle Linux to obtain a free SSL certificate for your domain. Let’s Encrypt is a popular Certificate Authority (CA) that provides free SSL certificates for websites, making it easier and more affordable for website owners to secure their sites.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following:

An Oracle Linux server with root access
A registered domain name
A web server installed (Apache or Nginx)
Python installed on your server

How to Install Let’s Encrypt on Oracle Linux

Installing Certbot on Oracle Linux

Certbot is the official Let’s Encrypt client that simplifies the process of obtaining and renewing SSL certificates. To install Certbot, run the following commands:

sudo yum install -y epel-release
sudo yum install -y certbot

Install the Web Server Plugin

Certbot supports both Apache and Nginx. Depending on the web server you’re using, you need to install the corresponding plugin. If you’re using Apache, run the following command:

sudo yum install -y python2-certbot-apache

For Nginx, run this command:

sudo yum install -y python2-certbot-nginx

Obtain an SSL Certificate

Now that Certbot and the necessary plugin are installed, it’s time to obtain an SSL certificate. If you’re using Apache, run the following command:

sudo certbot --apache -d example.com -d www.example.com

Replace example.com and www.example.com with your domain name and its www subdomain.

If you’re using Nginx, use this command instead:

sudo certbot --nginx -d example.com -d www.example.com

Certbot will ask for your email address to register your account and send notifications about certificate expiration. It will also ask if you want to share your email with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). After that, it will automatically configure your web server to use the newly obtained SSL certificate.

Verify the Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate

To confirm that your SSL certificate is correctly installed and working, visit your website using HTTPS (e.g., https://example.com). You should see a padlock icon in the address bar, indicating that the connection is secure.

Set Up Let’s Encrypt Automatic Renewal

Let’s Encrypt certificates are valid for 90 days. To avoid manual renewal, set up an automatic renewal process using a cron job. First, open the crontab file:

sudo crontab -e

Add the following line to the file to run the renewal process every day at 3:30 AM:

30 3 * * * /usr/bin/certbot renew --quiet

Save and exit the file. Certbot will now attempt to renew the certificate daily, but it will only perform the renewal if the certificate is less than 30 days away from expiration.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Let’s Encrypt on your Oracle Linux server and obtained a free SSL certificate for your domain. Now your website is more secure and trustworthy for your visitors.

If you need further assistance with Oracle Linux, check out our other tutorials, such as:

Remember to keep your server and applications up to date, and always follow best security practices to maintain a secure and reliable web presence. Happy hosting!