Name: letsencrypt
Author: terminal-skills

Overview

Let's Encrypt provides free, automated TLS certificates. Certbot is the official client — obtains and renews certificates automatically. Supports Nginx, Apache, standalone, and DNS validation for wildcards.

Instructions

Step 1: Install Certbot

bash

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Step 2: Get Certificate

bash

# Automatic Nginx configuration
sudo certbot --nginx -d example.com -d www.example.com

# Standalone (no web server needed)
sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d example.com

# DNS validation (for wildcards)
sudo certbot certonly --manual --preferred-challenges dns -d "*.example.com"

Step 3: Auto-Renewal

bash

# Certbot installs a systemd timer automatically
sudo systemctl status certbot.timer
sudo certbot renew --dry-run    # test renewal

Step 4: Docker with Traefik

yaml

# docker-compose.yml — Automatic TLS with Traefik
services:
  traefik:
    image: traefik:v3
    command:
      - --entrypoints.websecure.address=:443
      - --certificatesresolvers.le.acme.email=admin@example.com
      - --certificatesresolvers.le.acme.storage=/acme/acme.json
      - --certificatesresolvers.le.acme.httpchallenge.entrypoint=web
    ports: ["80:80", "443:443"]
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
      - acme:/acme
volumes:
  acme:

Guidelines

Certificates valid for 90 days — auto-renewal handles this.
Rate limits: 50 certs per domain per week.
Use DNS validation for wildcard certs and internal servers.
For containers, Traefik or Caddy handle Let's Encrypt automatically.

letsencrypt

Usage

Getting Started

Example Prompts

Documentation

Overview

Instructions

Step 1: Install Certbot

Step 2: Get Certificate

Step 3: Auto-Renewal

Step 4: Docker with Traefik

Guidelines

Information

Use Cases