Another Big Milestone – Let's Encrypt is now offering Free HTTPS certificates to everyone.

Let's Encrypt has opened to the public, allowing anyone to obtain Free SSL/TLS (Secure Socket Layer/ Transport Layer Security) certificates for their web servers and to set up HTTPS websites in a few simple steps (mentioned below).

Let's Encrypt – an initiative run by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) – is a new, free, and open certificate authority recognized by all major browsers, including Google's Chrome, Mozilla's Firefox and Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

The Free SSL Certification Authority is now in public beta after testing a trial among a select group of volunteers.

Why Let's Encrypt?

Let's Encrypt promised to offer a certificate authority (CA) which is:

• Free – no charge for HTTPS certs.
• Automatic – the installation, configuration as well as the renewal of the certificates do not require any administrator action.
• Open – the automatic issuance, as well as renewal procedures, will be published as the open standard.
• Transparent – the records of all certs issuance or revocation will be available publicly.
• Secure – the team is committed to being a model of best practice in their own operations.
• Cooperative – Let's Encrypt is managed by a multi-stakeholder organization and exists to benefit the community, not any of the consortium members.

How to Install Let's Encrypt Free SSL Certificate

First of all, let's say you want to get a certificate for example.com. To run the installation using the official Let's encrypt method, you must have root access to your example.com web server, but unfortunately many of us use shared hosting plan like I am using the "PersonalClass" plan on Arvixe and we don't have root access to the server. What about us? Can't we use enjoy the benefit of free SSL? Well the answer is "Yes, you can". Below is a tutorial where admin using shared hosting and not having root access can also install the free SSL.

So, let's begin...

First, let me introduce you to https://gethttpsforfree.com/ which is a web based client for LetsEncrypt. Admin who does not have root access to their server can obtain the ssl certificate from this website.

Step 1: Go to https://gethttpsforfree.com/

Step 2: Follow the instruction as on the website for Account Info, Certificate Signing Request and Sign API Requests. (Use putty or any other ssh client to run the commands)

Step 3: Now there is a small problem with the step "Verify Ownership" as the current elgg's htaccess file forbiddens all the files/folder starting with dot (.) to be accessed via any browser and it's generate a 403 forbidden error for the validation path ".well-known/acme-challenge/" on your server. (Detailed discussion here). Now to validate your account you need a small modification in your htaccess file until there is a permanent fix for this. (View ticket here). You need to comment out "RewriteRule (^\.|/\.) - [F]" line by inserting "#" at the beginning of the line to make .well-know folder accessible for validation process. Once validated you can remove the # symbol and your htaccess file will be back to original format.

Step 4: Once validated, you will get your certificate and permission file. You need to save your cert and pem file with the content provided on gethttpsforfree on your local system.

Step 5: Login to your cpanel and click on "SSL/TLS Manager". Upload your private key obtained in step 1 at "Private Keys (KEY)" section and the certificate file obtained in step 4 at "Certificates (CRT)" section within your SSL/TLS Manager page.

Step 6: After successfully uploading the file, visit "Manage SSL sites" and install the uploaded certificate,

Congratulation you have successfully installed SSL certificate for your example.com domain.

How to Renew Let's Encrypt Free SSL Certificate

It is important to note that the beta version of Let's Encrypt issues certificates that expire after 90 days. So, to renew your SSL certificate, you need go through the entire process again after expiration.

FREE HTTPS Certificates for Everyone!

So, now it's time for the Internet to take a significant step forward in terms of security and privacy. With Let's Encrypt, the team wants HTTPS becomes the default and to make that possible for everyone, it had built Let's Encrypt in such a way that it is easy to obtain and manage.

Let's Encrypt had signed its first free HTTPS certificate in September, and its client software emerged in early November. Since then the team has been finding flaws in their systems before going public.

If you want to check on how the ssl looks or if you want to check the certificate, then feel free to visit my site www.campuskarma.in