This tutorial walks through the steps to automate the installation of SSL certificates on a Windows server using AutoInstall SSL.
Technical Requirements
AutoInstall SSL requires that you have admin access (eg. via RDP or SSH) to your server. AutoInstall SSL for Windows is not compatible with shared hosting environments (typically accessed via control panels such as cPanel or Plesk) or website editors (such as Wix, Shopify, Squarespace, etc.) AutoInstall SSL is compatible with almost any dedicated or VPS hosting where you have root/admin level access to the server. (Including cloud servers like AWS EC2, Azure VMs, etc.)
AutoInstall SSL supports IIS on Windows Server 2016, 2019, or 2022.
Installation Instructions
Follow these steps to install an SSL certificate on your server and have it automatically managed by AutoInstall SSL:
- In CertPanel.com, after purchasing an SSL certificate, click “Start Certificate Enrollment”. Note: AutoInstall SSL currently supports DV, single domain SSL certificates.
- Choose or enter your domain name. You don’t need to include www. at this point (it can be added later).
- Choose the “Automatic Installation” option.
- Enter your contact details and click continue.
- Choose Windows as your server type and choose whether to protect domain.com only or to protect domain.com and www.domain.com (if you choose to protect www.domain.com, be sure you have DNS records setup for the www. subdomain).
- Connect to your web server as an administrator (typically this is done using Remote Desktop Protocol/RDP) and open Windows PowerShell.
- Copy the agent installation command provided into the PowerShell terminal and press enter. Once complete, a new terminal window will open.
- Copy the provided installcertificate command into the terminal window on your server and press enter. Review the settings, then type “y” and press enter to confirm. AutoInstall SSL will now complete the entire SSL certificate installation process (generate CSR, submit to CA, download validation file, place validation file at correct location, wait for validation, download certificate, install certificate, and restart web server).
- You’re done! AutoInstall SSL will keep your certificate up to date so it never expires.
Tips
- AutoInstall SSL uses file validation by default. This is the simplest method and is recommended for most use cases. You can change it to use DNS validation if needed by following these instructions.
- AutoInstall SSL will automatically setup a scheduled task and check your SSL certificate every day. If it needs to be updated (for example, when the certificate will expire soon), AutoInstall SSL will automatically update your SSL certificate.