Here’s how to prevent site-wide warning messages caused by failed automatic renewals of free SSL (Let’s Encrypt).

What is Free SSL (Let’s Encrypt)?

Let’s Encrypt is a system that issues free SSL certificates, which verify your site’s domain and encrypt communication by switching it to HTTPS.
This service is operated by a nonprofit organization (ISRG) and sponsored by major companies such as Mozilla, Google, and Cisco.

Many web hosting services, such as Xserver, ConoHa WING, and Lolipop, use the Let’s Encrypt system for their free SSL certificates.

If a Let’s Encrypt certificate expires, your website may suddenly become inaccessible one day.

If you try to access a site with an expired SSL certificate, a full-screen warning page will appear—for example, “This connection isn’t private” in Chrome or “This website isn’t private” in Safari. Unless you click “Advanced” → “Proceed to this unsafe site,” you won’t even be able to view the site’s content.

Let’s Encrypt certificates need to be renewed at regular intervals. With many web hosting providers (such as Xserver, ConoHa WING, and Lolipop), once you enable Let’s Encrypt (free SSL) in the control panel, a tool automatically handles the renewal behind the scenes.
However, although rare, automatic renewal may fail due to temporary server issues, changes to the domain’s DNS settings, or ACME challenge failures.

ACME (Automatic Certificate Management Environment) is a communication protocol designed to fully automate the issuance, renewal, and revocation of certificates

.

What should you do if the automatic renewal of your Let’s Encrypt certificate fails and your site becomes inaccessible?

In this case, you will likely receive a notification from your server provider stating that the SSL renewal failed, or you may see a warning to that effect in your server control panel.
In such cases, SSL is often restored within a few days by manually reapplying for the free SSL certificate.
(If the issue isn’t resolved , you can temporarily switch to HTTP to restore the site’s visibility for the time being.)

*Note: Switching your site to HTTP may lower your search rankings and compromise security. We recommend installing a security plugin.

However, since Let’s Encrypt is free, its renewal periods are short, and SSL renewals may occasionally fail for no apparent reason. Therefore, if you prioritize the stability of your SSL certificate, you may want to consider switching to a paid SSL service.

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