The process of obtaining, setting up, keeping an eye on, renewing, and safeguarding SSL/TLS certificates—which encrypt communication between a website or server and its users—is known as SSL certificate administration.
Here is a concise summary:
Important Procedures for SSL Certificate Administration
Purchasing and Installing
Use free solutions like Let us Encrypt or purchase from a reputable Certificate Authority (CA).
On your server, create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR).
Set up the certificate on your application, load balancer, or web server.
Configuration Make sure your server is HTTPS enabled. Set up redirects from HTTP to HTTPS. Make sure that TLS 1.2 and 1.3 encryption mechanisms are robust. Turn off out-of-date ones (TLS 1.0/1.1, SSLv3).
Keeping an eye on and tracking
Keep track of every SSL certificate across all domains and servers.
Keep an eye on the dates of expiration (certs often last 90 days to 2 years).
Look for configuration errors (poor ciphers, mixed content, etc.).
Automation and Renewal
To prevent downtime or browser warnings, renew before it expires.
Utilize Let us Encrypt automation technologies (such as Certbot and ACME clients).
Tools for central certificate administration, such as Cloudflare, Sectigo, Venafi, and DigiCert CertCentral.
Best Practices for Security
To manage several sites, use SAN (multi-domain) or wildcard certificates.
To find instances of mis-issuance, use Certificate Transparency (CT) logs.
Instantly revoke all compromised certificates.
Private keys should be safely stored with strict permissions.
⚙️ SSL Certificate Management Tools
Open Source/Free: SSLMate, acme.sh, Smallstep, Certbot.
Enterprise: Sectigo Certificate Manager, DigiCert CertCentral, and Venafi.
Integrations with cloud providers include Google Cloud Certificate Manager, Azure Key Vault, and AWS Certificate Manager.
✅ To put it briefly, SSL certificate administration keeps your app or website safe, prevents outages, and upholds user confidence.
Do you like me to write a detailed tutorial on automating SSL certificate maintenance as well, so you never have to do it by hand again?