How do I issue and activate a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate for my domain name?

Using SSL and HTTPS for your website is considered essential for every website, as it ensures that communications between the server and website visitors are encrypted and secure. An SSL certificate protects personal data, improves site credibility, and enhances SEO. With free SSL certificates, you can have automatic SSL for your domain at no cost, and without needing renewal in the future. They are activated easily and quickly and ensure that your site will always operate with HTTPS.

1. Log in to DirectAdmin by typing your domain domainname.tld:2222 and enter your username and password.
2. Click on Domain Setup.
3. Click on your domain
   
4. Select “Secure SSL” (if not already selected).
5. Click Modify if step (4) was necessary.
   
6. Click on “SSL Certificates” (located in the “Account Manager” area).
7. Click on “Get automatic certificate from ACME Provider”.
8. In Certificate Entries, select all the hostnames you want SSL to apply to. Usually it’s sufficient to select them all. However, if the DNS is elsewhere, then select only the hostnames that resolve to this hosting server.
9. Click Save.
   

In a few minutes the site will respond with SSL, you can test for example a static file with https in your browser. Often, subsequent changes are required in your platform so that it writes links with https.

In addition to the Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate provider, the ZeroSSL provider is also automatically supported, you can select it above as “ACME provider”.

The certificate will renew automatically at regular intervals without any action from you.
The SSL certificate is provided free of charge.