Auto-Install Free SSL – Generate & Install Free SSL Certificates

(Please check the Details tab for MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.)

Video Tutorial: [cPanel] How to install the plugin and generate & install a Free SSL Certificate for your WordPress website

Video Tutorial: [Plesk] How to install the plugin and generate & install a Free SSL Certificate for your WordPress website

AUTOMATIC INSTALLATION (POPULAR AND EASIEST)

1. 01Log in to the WordPress dashboard (backend/ admin area).
2. 02Then navigate to the ‘Plugins’ menu in the sidebar, and click the ‘Add New’ option.
3. 03In the ‘Search plugins…’ field, type this keyword: ‘Auto-Install’.
4. 04Once you find this plugin, click ‘More Details’ and the ‘Install Now’ button.
5. 05Finally, click the ‘Activate’ button.

Now, check the AFTER ACTIVATION section below.

MANUAL INSTALLATION

1. 06Download the ‘Auto-Install Free SSL’ plugin zip file by clicking the ‘Download’ button at the top-right of this page.

Now check either the WordPress, cPanel or FTP section below. If your web hosting control panel is other than cPanel, the steps are similar to cPanel.

WordPress

1. 07Log in to the WordPress dashboard.
2. 08Then navigate to the ‘Plugins’ menu in the sidebar, and click the ‘Add New’ option.
3. 09Click ‘Upload Plugin’ button.
4. 10Click ‘Choose File’ button and select the downloaded zip file.
5. 11Click ‘Install Now’ button.
6. 12Click ‘Activate Plugin’ button.

Now, check the AFTER ACTIVATION section below.

cPanel

1. 13Log in to your cPanel and click the ‘File Manager’ menu.
2. 14Browse to the document root of your WordPress website and then open the /wp-content/plugins/ directory.
3. 15Click the ‘Upload’ menu at the top.
4. 16You see a new window. Drag and drop the plugin’s zip file. It will be uploaded in a few seconds (depending on your internet connection speed). Click Go Back to the “/home/username/public_html/wp-site-document-root/wp-content/plugins” link at the bottom.
5. 17Right-click on the plugin’s zip file, click ‘Extract’, and then click the ‘Extract Files’ button. After completion, you get Extraction Results. Click the ‘Close’ button here.
6. 18Click the ‘Go’ button (at the top-left) to refresh the directory structure. You see the ‘auto-install-free-ssl’ directory here.
7. 19Now check the point-number 2 below.

FTP

1. 20Extract the plugin’s zip file to your computer. You see a folder ‘auto-install-free-ssl.x.x.x’ (the latest version in place of x.x.x), and inside it, the ‘auto-install-free-ssl’ folder. You need to upload this.
2. 21Log in to your web server with your favorite FTP client (e.g., FileZilla).
3. 22Browse to the document root of your WordPress website and then the /wp-content/plugins/ directory.
4. 23Upload the ‘auto-install-free-ssl’ folder here.
5. 24Now check the point-number 2 below.

2.- Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to the ‘Plugins’ page. You see, ‘Auto-Install Free SSL’ is listed here. Click the ‘Activate’ option here. You’re done!

AFTER ACTIVATION

After activating ‘Auto-Install Free SSL’, you’ll be redirected to a page (powered by freemius) where we request you opt-in to our security & feature update notifications and non-sensitive diagnostic tracking. You’ll get links there to learn about this in detail. Then you may or may not allow us to opt-in as you wish. We appreciate your help improving the plugin by letting us track a few non-sensitive usage data.

How to generate a Free SSL Certificate

Generating a free encryption certificate is straightforward. Please follow the steps below:

1. 25After the previous step, you’ll be redirected to the Generate SSL page (in most cases). Otherwise, navigate to the ‘Auto-Install Free SSL’ menu in the sidebar, and click the ‘Generate SSL’ option. Screenshot here.
2. 26On the next page, i.e., the ‘Generate Free SSL Certificate’ page, read & agree to the Let’s Encrypt™ Subscriber Agreement and FreeSSL.tech Terms of Service & Privacy Policy by clicking the relevant checkboxes. Then click the ‘Next Step’ button and ‘OK’ in the confirmation dialog box. Screenshot here.
3. 27Wait a few seconds. Then you see the second step: ‘Verify Domain’. Please check the screenshot . You have two methods, HTTP-01 and DNS-01, to verify your domain ownership. You need to complete any one method. We are discussing only the HTTP-01 method, the most popular, easiest, and time-saving method.

HTTP-01

Please follow these steps:

1. 28Log in to your web server with an FTP client (e.g., FileZilla) or the file manager of your web hosting control panel.
2. 29Browse to the document root of your WordPress website. It will be like: /home/username/public_html/wp-site . Create a directory, ‘.well-known’ and another directory, ‘acme-challenge’ , inside the ‘.well-known’ directory.
3. 30Click the links’ Challenge File 1′ and ‘Challenge File 2’ to download the HTTP-01 challenge files. Please remember that if the www. alias of your WordPress website doesn’t point to your web server (i.e., offline), you get only one challenge file.
4. 31Upload the downloaded challenge files to the ‘acme-challenge’ directory.
5. 32Uploaded files should be available at ‘Link 1’ and ‘Link 2’. Please click the links. The content/text of the links should EXACTLY match the content of the downloaded files. If it matches correctly, click the ‘Verify Domain (HTTP-01) & Generate Free SSL’ button, and in the confirmation dialog box, click ‘OK’.

Now wait a few seconds, and you will see a free SSL certificate has been issued to your WordPress website. The page looks like this screenshot . Download the SSL, Private Key, and CA Bundle files ( .pem ) by clicking the links.

After this, log in to your web hosting control panel and install the SSL certificate on your WordPress website.

How to install the SSL certificate with cPanel

1. 33Log in to your cPanel.
2. 34Type ‘SSL’ in the ‘Search Tools’ text box (in the upper-right corner).
3. 35You get a few search results instantly. Click on the ‘SSL/TLS’. (Don’t click the ‘SSL/TLS Status’.)
4. 36On the SSL/TLS page, you get an option ‘INSTALL AND MANAGE SSL FOR YOUR SITE (HTTPS)’ at the bottom with a link ‘Manage SSL sites.’ Click it.
5. 37On the next page, i.e., ‘Manage SSL Hosts’, you get a section at the bottom, ‘Install an SSL Website’. Here you get a form to install the SSL certificate.
6. 38From the ‘Select a Domain’ drop-down menu, select the domain of your WordPress website.
7. 39Open the ‘certificate.pem’ file (you downloaded it) in a text editor and copy all its content/text, including ‘—–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—–’ and ‘—–END CERTIFICATE—–’. Paste it in the ‘Certificate: (CRT)’ text area.
8. 40Similarly, paste all the content of the ‘private.pem’ file in the ‘Private Key (KEY)’ text area.
9. 41Then paste all the content of the ‘cabundle.pem’ file in the ‘Certificate Authority Bundle: (CABUNDLE)’ text area.
10. 42Now click the ‘Install Certificate’ button and wait a few seconds. Then you get the confirmation dialog box ‘SSL Host Successfully Installed.’ Click ‘OK’.

How to install the SSL certificate with Plesk

1. 43Log in to your Plesk control panel.
2. 44Click the ‘Websites & Domains’ option in the left menu.
3. 45Click on the website for which you need an SSL certificate. There are several options under it.
4. 46Click the option ‘SSL/TLS Certificates’.
5. 47Click the ‘Manage’ button on the next page in the ‘Download or remove existing certificates’ option.
6. 48Click the ‘Add SSL/TLS Certificate’ button on the next page.
7. 49You got the ‘Add SSL/TLS Certificate’ page.
8. 50In the ‘Certificate Name’ text field, write a name.
9. 51You got a section at the bottom of the page, ‘Upload the certificate as text’. Here you have a form to install the SSL certificate.
10. 52Open the ‘certificate.pem’ file (you downloaded it) in a text editor and copy all its content, including ‘—–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—–’ and ‘—–END CERTIFICATE—–’. Paste it in the ‘Certificate’ text area of Plesk.
11. 53Similarly, paste all the content of the ‘private.pem’ file in the ‘Private key’ text area of Plesk.
12. 54Then paste all the content of the ‘cabundle.pem’ file in the ‘CA certificate’ text area of Plesk.
13. 55Now click the ‘Upload Certificate’ button.
14. 56The uploaded SSL certificate is listed on the next page.
15. 57Again, click ‘Websites & Domains’ in the left menu.
16. 58Click the website for which you need an SSL certificate.
17. 59Click the ‘Hosting & DNS’ tab and the ‘Hosting Settings’ option.
18. 60On the next page, i.e., the ‘Hosting Settings’ page, click the ‘Certificate’ selection field and select the certificate we just uploaded.
19. 61Click the ‘Apply’ button and then click ‘OK’.
20. 62Congratulations! The SSL certificate has been installed successfully.

Now you can access your website with ‘https://’ .

The options will differ if your web hosting control panel is anything other than cPanel and Plesk, but the concept is similar.

NOTE: The free SSL security certificate issued by Let’s Encrypt™ expires in 90 days. So you need to spend time repeating the process of generating and installing an SSL certificate every 60 days. They recommend renewing 30 days before expiry.

Click the ‘Re-generate (renew) SSL’ button to start renewing.

However, the premium version of this plugin generates (issue/renew) and installs the free SSL certificate automatically. Please check the video tutorial (1:42 min) below and see how easy it is.

Are you interested? Click here to BUY the PREMIUM VERSION .

How to Activate Force HTTPS / HTTPS Redirect

After installing the SSL certificate, please perform the following steps:

1. 63In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to the ‘Auto-Install Free SSL’ menu in the sidebar, and click the ‘Force HTTPS’ menu.
2. 64On the next page, click the ‘Activate Force HTTPS’ button. Then click OK.
3. 65You’ll be logged out and redirected to the WordPress login page. Please log in again.
4. 66Now refresh the website’s home page. You’ll see the padlock.

Troubleshooting

Access the ‘Log’ menu within the ‘Auto-Install Free SSL’ menu in the left-hand sidebar. Be sure to review the log for any insights.

If you encounter issues with the Let’s Encrypt™ API connection and wish to log Let’s Encrypt™ server response details for each API call, you can achieve this by writing the following URL in the address bar by replacing ‘www.example.com’ with your domain name, and hit enter:

http://www.example.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=auto_install_free_ssl&log_all_ca_server_response=yes

To stop logging

SSL installation fails with “Certificate verification failed!” How can I fix the issue?

After generating an SSL certificate with this plugin, if SSL installation fails and you see such an error message: “Certificate verification failed! The system did not find the root certificate that corresponds to the supplied Certificate Authority Bundle’s intermediate certificate. Please supply a full Certificate Authority Bundle with the root certificate included.”

Previously, only the intermediate certificate was included in the CA bundle, which caused installation failures on hosting servers (including cPanel servers) where the root certificate was not present in the local trust store.

Version 4.6.3 and later now always includes the root certificate in the CA bundle, which resolves this error. Please update the plugin to the latest version.

This fix also ensures correct handling of Let’s Encrypt’s newer Generation Y chains, which can contain more than three certificates.

How do I install the ‘Auto-Install Free SSL’ plugin?

Please click here to learn about plugin installation.

Does installing the free SSL plugin will instantly turn my site into HTTPS?

Sorry, it doesn’t. Installing the plugin and installing SSL certificates are two different processes. After installing this plugin, you need to do some steps. Please check the ‘AFTER ACTIVATION’ section in the documentation .

However, the Premium plugin installs SSL certificates with complete automation. Please check the video tutorial (1:42 min) at the top of this page and see how easy it is.

My website doesn’t accept credit cards. Why do I need an SSL certificate?

Please check the ‘Benefits of installing an SSL certificate on your WordPress website’ above.

How do I generate a free SSL certificate?

Please check the documentation . This documentation is for the free version of the plugin.

If you want complete automation, please check the Premium version’s video tutorial (1:42 min) at the top of this page.

How do I install an SSL certificate on my WordPress website?

Please click here to learn about installing an SSL certificate on your WordPress website.

FYI, the Premium version installs SSL certificates with complete automation.

I see a blank page when I try to generate an SSL certificate. How can I fix it?

Please check the log. It is located in the plugin menu. Most probably, you see an error saying ‘unable to register the account’ along with the following text in the log: urn:ietf:params:acme:error:invalidEmail

Let’s Encrypt™ API throws this error if an invalid email was set as the admin email of your WordPress website, for example, “yourname@yourdomain.mamp” or “anything@example.com”. Let’s Encrypt™ expects we should register an account with a working email.

To fix this, please update this plugin to the latest version and try generating the SSL again. Then you’ll get a text field to update the admin email address.

Feel free to contact us through the WordPress support forum if you still need help with any issues (with the complete log).

I have installed an SSL certificate but still don’t see any PADLOCK in the browser’s address bar. Why?

Please visit the plugin’s ‘Force HTTPS’ page and click the ‘Activate Force HTTPS’ button.

After installing an SSL certificate, I clicked the ‘Activate Force HTTPS’ button. But I got this error: “No valid SSL is installed”. How can I fix it?

This is a temporary issue. You may wait 24 hours or follow these steps:

Please access your website with HTTPS (e.g., https://example.com). If you are sure that the SSL certificate is installed correctly and the padlock is visible, please log in to your WordPress dashboard, open a new tab, write the following URL in the address bar by replacing ‘www.example.com’ with your domain name, and hit enter:

http://www.example.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=aifs_force_https&aifsaction=aifs_force_https_override&checked_ssl_manually=done&valid_ssl_installed=yes How do I deactivate the HTTPS redirect?

Please click the ‘Revert to HTTP’ button on the plugin’s ‘Force HTTPS’ page.

Alternatively, open the email you received after activating the HTTPS redirect (or Force HTTPS) and click the link to deactivate HTTPS redirect and revert to HTTP. The subject line of that email is “‘Auto-Install Free SSL’ has activated Force HTTPS on your website YourDomain.com”. [Replace YourDomain.com with your WordPress website’s domain].

Are my website’s WWW and non-WWW versions included in the free SSL certificate?

If your website is accessible with WWW and non-WWW versions of the domain name (e.g., www.example.com and example.com) and both A record points to the same IP address, our plugin will include both versions in the free SSL certificate.

Why is the validity of the free SSL certificate 90 days? Is it a trial?

The validity period of free HTTPS certificate being 90 days is not a trial but rather a design choice of Let’s Encrypt™ that prioritizes security. With shorter validity periods, Let’s Encrypt™ encourages frequent certificate renewal, ensuring that websites always have up-to-date and secure certificates. This approach reduces the potential impact of compromised certificates.

The premium version of this plugin renews SSL certificates automatically. Automated renewal processes also make it easier for website owners to maintain security without manual intervention. While the 90-day validity might seem short, the automated renewal process ensures seamless and continuous protection for your website’s users.

Please click here to learn the statement of Let’s Encrypt™.

Does this plugin generate free SSL certificates for bare IP addresses (e.g., https://204.12.132.37)?

Let’s Encrypt™ issues SSL certificates for domain names rather than bare IP addresses. Free TLS certificates are designed to secure domain names, providing encrypted connections between users and websites. Using SSL certificates with domain names is considered the industry’s best practice.

If you’re looking to secure a website, it’s recommended to associate a domain name with the IP address rather than using the bare IP address. This enhances the user experience and aligns with security and usability standards.

Does this plugin issue free SSL certificates for localhost?

Let’s Encrypt™ does not issue SSL certificates for localhost. Let’s Encrypt™ certificates are intended for public domain names, which are accessible via the internet for the domain control validation (DCV) process. Since localhost is a local server and a hostname used for development, it is not publicly accessible and cannot be validated online using the HTTP-01 challenge (the most common method).

After you complete developing the website in the local development environment, please do the following to secure your website with a free SSL certificate:

1. 01Use an existing web hosting server or hire a new one that is publicly accessible, i.e., available online.
2. 02Use an existing domain name or purchase a new domain name.
3. 03Associate the domain name with the IP address or nameservers of the online web hosting server, i.e., set A records or NS records.
4. 04Migrate the website from your local development environment to the online web hosting server using a Migration and Backup Plugin, like ‘Duplicator’.
5. 05If the domain name mentioned in steps 2 and 3 is different from your local hostname, replace it with the new domain name across all database tables using a plugin like ‘Better Search Replace’.

Rest assured, after you complete the above steps, you can easily generate an SSL certificate with this plugin, i.e., ‘Auto-Install Free SSL’. We’ve made the process as straightforward as possible for your peace of mind.

However, if you use a registered domain name (for your WordPress website), mapped to the localhost IP address (e.g., 127.0.0.1), and use the DNS-01 challenge for the domain control validation (DCV), our plugin will create a free SSL certificate for your registered domain name. Then you can download the SSL certificate files from our plugin’s ‘Generate SSL’ page and manually install them on the local server. In that case, we recommend you map the registered domain name to the localhost IP address (e.g., 127.0.0.1) using your local computer’s host file, but don’t set A records pointing to the localhost IP with your domain registrar. Use your domain registrar only to set TXT records for the DNS-01 challenge. Please read this for more information: https://letsencrypt.org/docs/certificates-for-localhost

Will this plugin create free SSL certificates for a registered domain name mapped to a localhost IP address (e.g., 127.0.0.1)?

It is possible only if you can use the DNS-01 challenge for the domain control validation (DCV).

However, using the HTTP-01 challenge (the most common method), it is not possible. If you map a registered domain name to a localhost IP address, it is still a localhost and can’t be accessed online. This means that the domain name is only accessible from your local computer and cannot be used to get a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt™ using the HTTP-01 challenge. For more details, please refer to the previous FAQ.

Why does this plugin need my web server to serve static files?

Let’s Encrypt™ issues free SSL certificates only after successful domain control validation (DCV).

Let’s Encrypt™ HTTP-01 challenge works by creating a specific text file with specific content in a specified directory (.well-known/acme-challenge/) of the document root of the website, as defined by the ACME standard. The file name and its content are variable. Our plugin creates this file with the specific text by automatically communicating with the Let’s Encrypt™ API server, and as per their requirements. Users of the free version can download the static file and upload it to the specified directory. The premium plugin uploads this file to the specified directory automatically.

It’s the responsibility of your web server to make the static file available at the specific public URL. This is the standard behavior of every web server. To validate your domain control, Let’s Encryp