AUTOMATED CERTIFICATES
Automated certificate renewal works so well that it created a new problem: a process running somewhere, configured by somebody who has left, that nobody will notice has stopped until a certificate expires.
The documentation for these tools is excellent as reference and almost useless operationally, because it explains how to set one up and never how to find one somebody else set up.
This guide covers how ACME actually works, where renewals commonly run, how to find yours, and what breaks them.
In this guide you will learn:
Challenge, validation, issuance, in plain terms.
HTTP, DNS and TLS-ALPN, and when each is the right one.
Six common places, in order of how often it is each.
The practical hunt, when nobody remembers.
Migrations, redirects, firewalls, and removed names.
Dry runs, staging endpoints, and rate limits.
Why wildcards force a different method.
The four facts that stop this recurring.
Chapter 1
Challenge, validation, issuance, in plain terms.
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guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.
Chapter 2
HTTP, DNS and TLS-ALPN, and when each is the right one.
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guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.
Chapter 3
Six common places, in order of how often it is each.
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guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.
Chapter 4
The practical hunt, when nobody remembers.
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guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.
Chapter 5
Migrations, redirects, firewalls, and removed names.
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guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.
Chapter 6
Dry runs, staging endpoints, and rate limits.
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guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.
Chapter 7
Why wildcards force a different method.
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guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.
Chapter 8
The four facts that stop this recurring.
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guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.
Check yours
Everything in this guide, checked on your domain in about ten seconds. Free, no account, every finding shown in full.