Install SSL Certificate for Nginx

Generate Certificate

Generate Certificate from Free Certificate Provider

This time we are using zerossl to generate free certificate. Use “Create Certificate”:

Input domain name of the certificate:

Free certificate only support 90 days duration:

Use autogenerate CSR

Select free plan

Domain validation is mandatory. We are using domain owner’s email to validate:

Email is sent for validation:

After validation, certificate can be downloaded:

Install Certificate for Nginx

Totally 3 files can be downloaded:

• ca_bundle.crt
• certificate.crt
• private.key

Concatenate Final Certificate File

cat certificate.crt ca_bundle.crt >> zero_ssl.crt

Rename crt file and key file

Configure Nginx

Modify conf file to use the new certificate

    server {
        listen       443 ssl;
        server_name  localhost;

        root         /usr/local/nginx/html;
        index        index.php;


        ssl_certificate            cert/20210904/zero_ssl.crt;
        ssl_certificate_key        cert/20210904/zero_ssl.key;
        ...

Restart Nginx

nginx -s reload

Verify Certificate