Manually install an SSL certificate on my Apache server (Ubuntu)

1. Find the directory on your server where certificate and key files are stored, then upload your intermediate certificate (gd_bundle.crt or similar) and primary certificate (.crt file with randomized name) into that folder.
• For security, you should make these files readable by root only.
2. Find your Apache configuration file.
• On default configurations, you can find a file named apache2.conf in the /etc/apache2 folder.
• If you have configured your server differently, you may be able to find the file with the following command:

grep -i -r "SSLCertificateFile" /etc/apache2/

• /etc/apache2/ may be replaced with the base directory of your Apache installation.
1. Open this file with your favorite text editor.
2. Inside your apache2.conf file, find the CODE_LESS_THAN VirtualHost CODE_GREATER_THAN block.
3. To have your site available on both secure (https) and non-secure (http) connections, make a copy of this block and paste it directly below the existing CODE_LESS_THAN VirtualHost CODE_GREATER_THAN block.
4. You can now customize this copy of the CODE_LESS_THAN VirtualHost CODE_GREATER_THAN block for secure connections. Here is an example configuration:

<VirtualHost xxx.xxx.x.x:443>
	DocumentRoot /var/www/coolexample
	ServerName coolexample.com www.coolexample.com
		SSLEngine on
		SSLCertificateFile /path/to/coolexample.crt
		SSLCertificateKeyFile /path/to/privatekey.key
		SSLCertificateChainFile /path/to/intermediate.crt
</VirtualHost>

• Don't forget the added 443 port at the end of your server IP.
• DocumentRoot and ServerName should match your original CODE_LESS_THAN VirtualHost CODE_GREATER_THAN block.
• The remaining/path/to/... file locations can be replaced with your custom directory and file names.
7. First, run the following command to check your Apache configuration file for errors:

apache2ctl configtest

1. Confirm that the test returns a Syntax OK response. If it does not, review your configuration files.

Warning: The Apache service will not start again if your config files have syntax errors.

1. After confirming a Syntax OK response, run the following command to restart Apache:

apache2ctl restart

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Article ID: 1490
Created On: Wed, Dec 2, 2020 at 8:47 PM
Last Updated On: Wed, Dec 2, 2020 at 9:08 PM

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