Certbot Installation Guide

Certbot is a free and open-source ACME client for Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS certificate automation. Developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Certbot automates the process of obtaining and renewing SSL/TLS certificates from Let's Encrypt, providing a free alternative to commercial certificate authorities like DigiCert, Comodo, or GoDaddy

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Certbot is a free and open-source ACME client for Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS certificate automation. Developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Certbot automates the process of obtaining and renewing SSL/TLS certificates from Let's Encrypt, providing a free alternative to commercial certificate authorities like DigiCert, Comodo, or GoDaddy

1. Prerequisites

  • Hardware Requirements:
  • CPU: 1 core minimum
  • RAM: 512MB minimum
  • Storage: 100MB for installation
  • Network: HTTPS access to Let's Encrypt servers
  • Operating System:
  • Linux: Any modern distribution (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, openSUSE)
  • macOS: 10.12+ (Sierra or newer)
  • Windows: Windows 10+ with WSL2
  • FreeBSD: 11.0+
  • Network Requirements:
  • Port 80/443 (default Certbot port)
  • Port 80 for HTTP-01 challenge, Port 443 for TLS-ALPN-01 challenge
  • Dependencies:
  • Python 3.6+, nginx/Apache (for web server plugins)
  • System Access: root or sudo privileges required

    • 2. Supported Operating Systems

    This guide supports installation on:

  • RHEL 8/9 and derivatives (CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux)
  • Debian 11/12
  • Ubuntu 20.04/22.04/24.04 LTS
  • Arch Linux (rolling release)
  • Alpine Linux 3.18+
  • openSUSE Leap 15.5+ / Tumbleweed
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15+
  • macOS 12+ (Monterey and later)
  • FreeBSD 13+
  • Windows 10/11/Server 2019+ (where applicable)

    • 3. Installation

    RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux

    bash 
    # Install EPEL repository if needed
sudo dnf install -y epel-release

# Install Certbot
sudo dnf install -y certbot

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now certbot

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=80/443/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
certbot --version

    Debian/Ubuntu

    bash 
    # Update package index
sudo apt update

# Install Certbot
sudo apt install -y certbot

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now certbot

# Configure firewall
sudo ufw allow 80/443

# Verify installation
certbot --version

    Arch Linux

    bash 
    # Install Certbot
sudo pacman -S certbot

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now certbot

# Verify installation
certbot --version

    Alpine Linux

    bash 
    # Install Certbot
apk add --no-cache certbot

# Enable and start service
rc-update add certbot default
rc-service certbot start

# Verify installation
certbot --version

    openSUSE/SLES

    bash 
    # Install Certbot
sudo zypper install -y certbot

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now certbot

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=80/443/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
certbot --version

    macOS

    bash 
    # Using Homebrew
brew install certbot

# Start service
brew services start certbot

# Verify installation
certbot --version

    FreeBSD

    bash 
    # Using pkg
pkg install certbot

# Enable in rc.conf
echo 'certbot_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service certbot start

# Verify installation
certbot --version

    Windows

    bash 
    # Using Chocolatey
choco install certbot

# Or using Scoop
scoop install certbot

# Verify installation
certbot --version

    Initial Configuration

    Basic Configuration

    bash 
    # Create configuration directory
sudo mkdir -p /etc/letsencrypt

# Set up basic configuration
# Configuration details will vary based on your specific needs
# See official documentation for detailed configuration options

# Test configuration
certbot certificates

    5. Service Management

    systemd (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, openSUSE)

    bash 
    # Enable service
sudo systemctl enable certbot

# Start service
sudo systemctl start certbot

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop certbot

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart certbot

# Check status
sudo systemctl status certbot

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u certbot -f

    OpenRC (Alpine Linux)

    bash 
    # Enable service
rc-update add certbot default

# Start service
rc-service certbot start

# Stop service
rc-service certbot stop

# Restart service
rc-service certbot restart

# Check status
rc-service certbot status

    rc.d (FreeBSD)

    bash 
    # Enable in /etc/rc.conf
echo 'certbot_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service certbot start

# Stop service
service certbot stop

# Restart service
service certbot restart

# Check status
service certbot status

    launchd (macOS)

    bash 
    # Using Homebrew services
brew services start certbot
brew services stop certbot
brew services restart certbot

# Check status
brew services list | grep certbot

    Windows Service Manager

    powershell 
    # Start service
net start certbot

# Stop service
net stop certbot

# Using PowerShell
Start-Service certbot
Stop-Service certbot
Restart-Service certbot

# Check status
Get-Service certbot

    Advanced Configuration

    Advanced Certbot Configuration

    See the official documentation for advanced configuration options including:

  • High availability setup
  • Performance tuning
  • Security hardening
  • Integration with other services

    • Reverse Proxy Setup

    nginx Configuration

    nginx 
    upstream certbot_backend {
    server 127.0.0.1:80/443;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name certbot.example.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name certbot.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/certbot.example.com.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/certbot.example.com.key;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://certbot_backend;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

    Apache Configuration

    apache 
    <VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName certbot.example.com
    Redirect permanent / https://certbot.example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName certbot.example.com
    
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/certbot.example.com.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/certbot.example.com.key
    
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    
    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:80/443/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:80/443/
</VirtualHost>

    HAProxy Configuration

    haproxy 
    frontend certbot_frontend
    bind *:80
    bind *:443 ssl crt /etc/ssl/certs/certbot.pem
    redirect scheme https if !{ ssl_fc }
    default_backend certbot_backend

backend certbot_backend
    balance roundrobin
    server certbot1 127.0.0.1:80/443 check

    Security Configuration

    Security Best Practices

    bash 
    # Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R certbot:certbot /etc/letsencrypt
sudo chmod 750 /etc/letsencrypt

# Configure firewall rules
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=80/443/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Enable SELinux policies (if applicable)
sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect on

    Database Setup

    Not applicable

    Performance Optimization

    8. Performance Tuning

    bash 
    # System tuning for Certbot
echo 'net.core.somaxconn = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv4.tcp_max_syn_backlog = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

# Monitor performance
certbot renew --dry-run

    Monitoring

    Monitoring Setup

    bash 
    # Basic monitoring
sudo systemctl status certbot
sudo journalctl -u certbot -f

# Set up health checks
curl -f http://localhost:80/health || exit 1

    9. Backup and Restore

    Backup Procedures

    bash 
    #!/bin/bash
# Backup script
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/certbot"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
tar -czf /backup/certbot-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /etc/letsencrypt

# Restore procedure
# Stop service, restore files, restart service
sudo systemctl stop certbot
# Restore backed up files
sudo systemctl start certbot

    6. Troubleshooting

    Common Issues

    1. Service won't start:

    bash 
    # Check logs
sudo journalctl -u certbot -f
sudo tail -f /var/log/certbot/certbot.log

# Check configuration
certbot certificates

# Check permissions
ls -la /etc/letsencrypt

    2. Connection issues:

    bash 
    # Check if service is listening
sudo ss -tlnp | grep 80/443

# Test connectivity
telnet localhost 80/443

# Check firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

    3. Performance issues:

    bash 
    # Check resource usage
top -p $(pgrep certbot)

# Check disk I/O
iotop -p $(pgrep certbot)

# Check network connections
ss -an | grep 80/443

    Integration Examples

    Example Integration

    yaml 
    # Docker Compose example
version: '3.8'
services:
  certbot:
    image: certbot:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/etc/letsencrypt
      - ./data:/etc/letsencrypt
    restart: unless-stopped

    Maintenance

    Update Procedures

    bash 
    # RHEL/CentOS/Rocky/AlmaLinux
sudo dnf update certbot

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade certbot

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -Syu certbot

# Alpine Linux
apk update && apk upgrade certbot

# openSUSE
sudo zypper update certbot

# FreeBSD
pkg update && pkg upgrade certbot

# Always backup before updates
tar -czf /backup/certbot-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /etc/letsencrypt

# Restart after updates
sudo systemctl restart certbot

    Regular Maintenance Tasks

    bash 
    # Log rotation
sudo logrotate -f /etc/logrotate.d/certbot

# Clean old logs
find /var/log/certbot -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -delete

# Check disk usage
du -sh /etc/letsencrypt

# Verify configuration
certbot certificates

# Test functionality
certbot renew --dry-run

    Additional Resources

  • Official Documentation
  • GitHub Repository
  • Community Forum
  • Best Practices Guide

    • ---

    Note: This guide is part of the HowToMgr collection. Always refer to official documentation for the most up-to-date information.

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