Let's Encrypt with Certbot in Nginx - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Let's Encrypt with Certbot

📖 Scenario: You are setting up a secure website using nginx web server. To make your website safe, you want to add a free SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt. This certificate will encrypt the data between your website and visitors.We will use Certbot, a tool that helps get and install these certificates automatically.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to configure nginx and use Certbot to get a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate and enable HTTPS on your website.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a basic nginx server block configuration file for your domain

Add a variable for your domain name

Use Certbot command to request and install the SSL certificate

Show the nginx status to confirm HTTPS is enabled

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Websites need SSL certificates to secure user data and improve trust. Let's Encrypt provides free certificates, and Certbot automates their installation and renewal.

💼 Career

Many DevOps and system administrator roles require setting up secure web servers with automated SSL management to ensure safe and reliable web services.

1

Create nginx server block configuration

Create a file named /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com with this exact content:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    root /var/www/example.com/html;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Nginx

# Create the nginx server block configuration file with the exact content
# Your code here

Need a hint?

This is the basic nginx configuration for your website listening on port 80 (HTTP).

2

Add domain variable for Certbot

Create a shell variable named DOMAIN and set it to example.com.

Nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    root /var/www/example.com/html;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

# Define the domain variable
# Your code here

Need a hint?

This variable will be used in the Certbot command to specify your domain.

3

Request and install SSL certificate with Certbot

Write the Certbot command to request and install a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate for the domain stored in $DOMAIN. Use the nginx plugin and run it in non-interactive mode with email [e-mail] and agree to terms of service.

Nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    root /var/www/example.com/html;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

DOMAIN=example.com

# Run Certbot command to get and install SSL certificate
# Your code here

Need a hint?

This command tells Certbot to use the nginx plugin to automatically configure SSL for your domain.

4

Check nginx status to confirm HTTPS

Write the command to check the nginx service status to confirm it is running with the new SSL configuration.

Nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    root /var/www/example.com/html;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

DOMAIN=example.com

sudo certbot --nginx -d $DOMAIN -d www.$DOMAIN --non-interactive --agree-tos --email [e-mail]

# Check nginx service status
# Your code here

Need a hint?

This command shows if nginx is active and running with the new SSL setup.