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How to install a free SSL certificate with Let's Encrypt on your hosting
Free SSL certificate on cPanel hosting: how AutoSSL installs and renews Let's Encrypt, how to check that HTTPS works and how long certificates last.
Rackone · 2 min read
In this article
A free SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt encrypts the traffic between your website and its visitors. On cPanel hosting, AutoSSL issues and renews it for you: these three steps check that every domain is covered.
1. Open SSL/TLS Status in cPanel
In the control panel of your hosting, under Security, open SSL/TLS Status.
2. Find your domain
Search for the domain, or click Show Unsecured Domains. Check www and mail too: they cover your email.
3. Read the certificate status
A covered domain shows an AutoSSL DV certificate; an unsecured one shows why, usually a domain that does not point to the hosting yet. Fix the DNS, and AutoSSL issues the certificate at its next run.
How do you check that HTTPS works?
Open your site with https://: it must load with no security warning. Do not look for a padlock: Chrome replaced it with a settings icon in 2023, because HTTPS is now the norm.
How long does a free SSL certificate last?
A Let's Encrypt certificate lasts 90 days, and AutoSSL renews it when fewer than 29 days remain. Lifetimes keep shrinking, to 45 days at Let's Encrypt by 2028 and 47 days for every public certificate from 2029: automatic renewal absorbs the change.
A free certificate proves control of the domain, not who runs the site. When a customer, a tender or an auditor must be able to verify the company behind the site, the choice is an OV or EV certificate, in Italian. Every cPanel hosting plan includes the free SSL certificate.
Written by Rackone
