Prerequisites
- A VPS running Ubuntu 20.04/22.04 or CentOS 7/8
- A domain pointed to your VPS IP
- Nginx or Apache installed
Step 1 – Install Certbot
On Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y
On CentOS:
sudo yum install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y
Step 2 – Obtain a Certificate (Nginx)
sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com
Follow the prompts. Certbot will automatically configure Nginx for HTTPS.
Step 3 – Obtain a Certificate (Apache)
sudo certbot --apache -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com
Step 4 – Test Auto-Renewal
Certificates expire every 90 days. Test the auto-renewal:
sudo certbot renew --dry-run
Certbot adds a cron job automatically. No manual renewal needed.
Step 5 – Verify HTTPS
Visit https://yourdomain.com in your browser. You should see a padlock icon.
Use SSL Labs (ssllabs.com/ssltest) to get a full report on your certificate quality.
Wildcard Certificates
For subdomains (*.yourdomain.com), use DNS challenge:
sudo certbot certonly --manual --preferred-challenges dns -d *.yourdomain.com
For help with wildcard SSL on webzworld VPS, contact our support team.