Securing your website with an SSL/TLS certificate is crucial for protecting data, ensuring user trust, and improving search engine rankings. Let's Encrypt provides free, automated, and open certificates, and Plesk makes the installation process straightforward. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the steps to install a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate for your domain within your Plesk control panel.

Important Pre-installation Check

Note: Before proceeding with the installation of a Let's Encrypt certificate, it is essential to ensure that your domain name correctly resolves to the public IP address of your Plesk server from the internet. If you are uncertain about your domain's DNS resolution, we recommend using a reliable tool such as DNS Lookup by MxToolBox to verify its availability and proper configuration.

Step-by-Step Installation Guide

1. Access Your Plesk Control Panel

Begin by logging into your Plesk account. You can typically access Plesk through a web browser using your server's IP address or hostname, followed by the Plesk port (e.g., https://your-server-ip:8443).

• Log in to Plesk

2. Ensure Necessary Extensions Are Installed

To leverage Let's Encrypt functionality within Plesk, you need to have the 'SSL It!' and 'Let's Encrypt' extensions installed. These extensions streamline the process of obtaining and managing SSL certificates.

• Install extensions: Make sure both SSL It! and Let's Encrypt extensions are active in your Plesk instance.

3. Verify Hosting Settings for SSL/TLS Support

Before installing the certificate, confirm that SSL/TLS support is enabled for your domain. This setting is crucial for your website to be able to use an SSL certificate.

1. Navigate to Domains and select your specific domain (e.g., example.com).
2. Proceed to Hosting & DNS, then click on Hosting Settings (or simply Hosting).
3. Locate the option for SSL/TLS support. If it is currently disabled, enable it by checking the box.
4. Click OK or Apply at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

4. Navigate to SSL/TLS Certificates Management

Once SSL/TLS support is active for your domain, you can proceed to the dedicated section for managing certificates.

1. From the main Plesk dashboard, go to Domains and select your domain (e.g., example.com).
2. Click on the SSL/TLS Certificates option to access the certificate management interface.

5. Initiate Let's Encrypt Certificate Installation

In the SSL/TLS Certificates section, you will find options to install various types of certificates. To get a free certificate, you will use the Let's Encrypt option.

1. Scroll to the bottom of the page to the section titled More options.
2. Click on the Install button located under Install a free basic certificate provided by Let's Encrypt.

6. Configure Certificate Options

Before the certificate is issued, you will be presented with several options to customize its scope. It is highly recommended to select options that provide broad coverage for your domain and associated services.

Consider enabling the following recommended options:

• Secure the domain name: This ensures your primary domain (e.g., example.com) is covered by the certificate.
• Include a "www" subdomain for the domain and each selected alias: This option extends certificate coverage to the "www" version of your domain (e.g., www.example.com), which is common for websites.
• Secure webmail on this domain: If you host webmail services (e.g., Horde, Roundcube) on your domain, this ensures the connection is encrypted.
• Assign the certificate to mail domain: This secures your mail server (e.g., POP3, IMAP, SMTP) for the domain, encrypting email communications.

Note: The Email address specified during this step is crucial. Let's Encrypt will use this address to send important notifications, warnings, and expiration reminders regarding your certificate. Plesk typically pre-fills this field with the email address associated with the domain owner.

7. Complete the Installation Process

After selecting your desired options, the final step is to initiate the certificate generation and installation.

1. Click the Get it free button.

Understanding Your New SSL Certificate

Upon completing these steps, a new SSL/TLS certificate from Let's Encrypt will be generated and automatically assigned to your domain within Plesk. This certificate will immediately begin securing your website and any other services you selected. Let's Encrypt certificates are valid for a period of 90 days. However, thanks to the SSL It! extension in Plesk, your certificate will be automatically renewed before its expiration, ensuring continuous security for your domain without manual intervention.