Install Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate in Lighttpd

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following prerequisites in place:

1. A running instance of Lighttpd on your server.
2. A domain name associated with your server’s IP address.
3. Shell access or SSH credentials to your server.

Now, let’s dive into the steps required to install a Let’s Encrypt certificate in Lighttpd:

Step 1: Install Certbot

Certbot is a command-line tool provided by Let’s Encrypt for obtaining and managing SSL certificates. We need to install Certbot on our server.

Step 2: Obtain SSL Certificate

Now that we have Certbot installed, we can proceed with obtaining the SSL certificate for your domain.

• Stop the Lighttpd service:

$ sudo systemctl stop lighttpd

• Run the following command to obtain the certificate:

$ sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d your-domain.com

Replace your-domain.com with your actual domain name. Make sure the command executes successfully, and the certificate files are generated.

• Start the Lighttpd service:

$ sudo systemctl start lighttpd

Step 3: Configure Lighttpd for SSL

With the SSL certificate in place, we need to configure Lighttpd to utilize the certificate for secure connections.

• Open the Lighttpd configuration file:

$ sudo nano /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf

• Add the following lines to the configuration file:

$SERVER["socket"] == ":443" {
    ssl.engine = "enable"
    ssl.pemfile = "/etc/letsencrypt/live/your-domain.com/fullchain.pem"
    ssl.privkey = "/etc/letsencrypt/live/your-domain.com/privkey.pem"
}

Replace your-domain.com with your actual domain name.

• Save and exit the file.
• Restart the Lighttpd service for the changes to take effect:

$ sudo systemctl restart lighttpd

Step 4: Automate Certificate Renewal

Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates have a validity period of 90 days. To ensure uninterrupted SSL protection, we should automate the certificate renewal process.

• Open the crontab for editing:

$ sudo crontab -e

• Add the following line at the end of the file:

0 0 * * * certbot renew --quiet

This instructs the system to automatically renew the certificates daily at midnight.

• Save and exit the file.

Step 5: Test SSL Configuration

Now that everything is set up, it’s time to test our SSL configuration.

• Open your web browser and enter your domain name with https:// prefix (e.g., https://your-domain.com).
• If the SSL installation is successful, you should see a padlock icon or a similar indication of a secure connection in your browser’s address bar.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed a Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate in Lighttpd. Your website is now secured with encrypted communication.