How To Install Certbot on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Certbot on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. In today’s digital age, ensuring the security of your website is paramount. One fundamental aspect of web security is the use of SSL/TLS certificates to encrypt data transmitted between your website and its visitors. Certbot, a free and open-source tool, simplifies the process of obtaining and renewing SSL/TLS certificates.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of Certbot on Ubuntu 22.04. You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 22.04 and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint, Elementary OS, Pop!_OS, and more as well.

Prerequisites

• A server running one of the following operating systems: Ubuntu 22.04, 20.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint.
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
• An active internet connection. You’ll need an internet connection to download the necessary packages and dependencies for Certbot.
• A non-root sudo user or access to the root user. We recommend acting as a non-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.

Install Certbot on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Jammy Jellyfish

Step 1. First, make sure that all your system packages are up-to-date by running the following apt commands in the terminal.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Step 2. Installing Certbot on Ubuntu 22.04.

• Method 1: Installing Certbot using the Snap package

Install the Certbot Snap package:

sudo snap install --classic certbot

Create a symbolic link to the Certbot command:

sudo ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot

Verify that Certbot is installed correctly by running the following command:

certbot --version

Certbot is now ready to use. You can obtain a certificate by running the following command:

If your web server is Apache, install the Certbot Apache plugin:

sudo certbot --apache

If you’re using Nginx as your web server, use this command instead:

sudo certbot --nginx

Step 3. Certbot Renewal Configuration.

• Setting Up Automatic Renewal

SSL/TLS certificates have a limited validity period. Certbot can automate the renewal process for you. To set up automatic renewal, add a cron job that runs twice a day:

sudo crontab -e

Add the following line to the crontab file:

0 */12 * * * /usr/bin/certbot renew --quiet

This job will check for expiring certificates every 12 hours and renew them if necessary.

You can manually test the renewal process with the following command:

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Step 4. Verifying SSL/TLS Certificate Installation.

• Web Browser Testing

Open your web browser and visit your secured domain (e.g., https://your_domain.com). You should see a padlock icon in the address bar, indicating a secure connection.

• SSL Labs or Other Online Tools.

Online services like SSL Labs offer in-depth SSL/TLS server testing. Enter your domain to check for potential issues or vulnerabilities.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Certbot. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing Certbot on the Ubuntu system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official Certbot website.