ACME
ACME is a Let'sEncrypt Client implementation for OpenWRT. It will request and store SSL / HTTPS Certificates for various purposes. It can be utilized by Apache, NGinx, UHTTPD, etc. on OpenWRT.
Choices
As with everything in the world, there are choices. This article describes two different ways to install the acme.sh script. One, the "Easy Way". Two, the longer OpenWRT way.
The Easy Way of Installing acme.sh
- Download the latest version of the script from here: https://github.com/acmesh-official/acme.sh(3.0.1 as of the writing of this article)
- Just to stay within the world of OpenWRT go ahead and install acme.sh the usual way: opkg update, opkg install acme acme-dnsapi luci-app-acme (2.8.5 is the latest OpenWRT version)
- Replace the /usr/lib/acme/acme.sh file with the one downloaded (3.0.1 or a more recent one)
- Create these directories: /etc/acme/certs and /etc/acme/config (they can be anywhere, but following the OpenWRT paradigm, this is where they'd naturally seem to go)
- Run the following command from within the /usr/lib/acme directory;
.acme.sh --install --home /usr/lib/acme --cert-home /etc/acme/certs --config-home /etc/acme/config --accountemail YourEmail@YourProvider.com --accountkey /etc/acme/account --useragent "" --log /var/log/acme.log- Add the following to the /etc/profile file;
export LE_WORKING_DIR="/usr/lib/acme"
export LE_CONFIG_HOME="/etc/acme/config"
alias acme.sh="/usr/lib/acme/acme.sh --config-home '/etc/acme/config'"
...all done. Using the acme.sh 'command' (actually a script) will now work like any other command within OpenWRT.
Installation (of basic files) the OpenWRT way
opkg update
opkg install acme acme-dnsapi luci-app-acme
Notes: The LuCI GUI is next to useless. It is an incomplete effort that isn't helpful. But thanks for trying. The run-acme script file included in the above installed packages appears to be used by the LuCI GUI as a 'wrapper' to make specific calls to the Acme.sh script. As of the writing of this, there appears to be no useful function of the acme service for OpenWRT.
Configuration (and more "installation") the OpenWRT way
Yes, the files have been installed, but according to the Acme.sh Documentation, one still needs to install it. The first part of the instructions on their site are completed by the OpenWRT OPKG utility. From there, only the ./acme.sh --install needs to be run (see below).
The below paths were chosen simply to fit into the OpenWRT path paradigm. The /etc/config/acme file is not modified by any of the above settings. The /etc/config/acme file is for the Acme LuCI GUI.
In order to run the below command and have it 'install' in an 'industry standard' (AKA, non-OpenWRT) manner, the OPKG installation directory needs to be moved (and the run-acme file needs to be copied too)
- mv /usr/lib/acme /usr/lib/acme.OPKG - Move the OpenWRT OPKG installation to another directory
- mkdir acme - Replace the acme directory
- cp /usr/lib/acme.OPKG/run-acme /usr/lib/acme/ - Copy the OpenWRT proprietary run-acme file to it's original directory and path so the LuCI GUI can access it.
Keep in mind when updating the Acme package(s) via OPKG, the acme.sh, run-acme, and dnsapi directory will be over written. But that's fine as the acme.sh.env file should be left in place. Run the below script from the above Moved / Named directory;
.acme.sh --install --home /usr/lib/acme --cert-home /etc/acme/certs --config-home /etc/acme/config --accountemail YourEmail@YourProvider.com --accountkey /etc/acme/account --useragent "" --log /var/log/acme.logIn the above command(s), the switches / settings / parameters are defined as follows;
- --home: The directory where the acme.sh script will be installed. Yes, the OpenWRT OPKG utility already installed the script here: /usr/lib/acme/acme.sh
- --config-home: The default directory where acme.sh writes / stores configuration information for each certificate that is obtained. This can be included with each certificate request configuration, meaning that each certificate request configuration can be stored in it's own directory. This setting in the LuCI GUI is defined as State directory.
- --cert-home: The default directory where the original copy of the certificate, key file, chain information, etc. will be stored. As with the certificate request configuration, this can be set with each certificate requested to a unique / different directory. This setting in the LuCI GUI is defined as State directory.
- --accountemail: An email address to receive notifications from Let's Encrypt about certificate updates, etc. and to configure account settings. Yup, Acme.sh, Certbot, etc. all set up accounts. Let's Encrypt information about accounts: https://letsencrypt.org/docs/account-id/ This setting in the LuCI GUI is defined as Account email.
- --accountkey: Path to store account information. This defaults to the same value as --config-home.
- --useragent: Acme.sh gives a useless circular definition for this parameter. Certbot's equivalent paramter is --user-agent, and is defined as follows: Set a custom user agent string for the client. User agent strings allow the CA to collect high level statistics about success rates by OS, plugin and use case, and to know when to deprecate support for past Python versions and flags. If you wish to hide this information from the Let's Encrypt server, set this to "". (default: CertbotACMEClient/1.4.0 (certbot; CentOS Linux 7 (Core)) Authenticator/XXX Installer/YYY (SUBCOMMAND; flags: FLAGS) Py/2.7.5).
- --log: The path to the log file. Useful, just in case something goes wrong, and put in a typical OpenWRT location for log files (remember the /var directory is a soft link to the /tmp directory, so information and log files stored there will not persist across reboots of a router.
The output of the command is as follows;
Installing to /usr/lib/acme
Installed to /usr/lib/acme/acme.sh
No profile is found, you will need to go into /usr/lib/acme to use acme.sh
Installing cron job
Good, bash is found, so change the shebang to use bash as preferred.
OKContents of the /usr/lib/acme/acme.sh.env file created by the 'installation';
export LE_WORKING_DIR="/usr/lib/acme"
export LE_CONFIG_HOME="/etc/acme/config"
alias acme.sh="/usr/lib/acme/acme.sh --config-home '/etc/acme/config'"The above information will need to be added as environment variables. In OpenWRT the file used for all profiles is /etc/profiles. By default, there's one Administrator User for OpenWRT and that's root. One could also modify the environment variables for just the root user in the root user's proflile. Either way, add the above lines to the file (in whatever scenario is chosen). Then log out and log back in. The acme.sh script should be available system wide for commands.
Functionality
Based on the script files, it appears the "ACME Service" can be triggered by CRON or a Start or Restart of the service.
Usage Via Command Line
Quick Notes
--cert-file: Path and File Name where certificate will be copied to (IE, the 'originals' are stored elsewhere)
--key-file: Path and File Name where key will be copied to (IE, the 'originals' are stored elsewhere)
--fullchain-file: Path and File Name where full-chain will be copied to (IE, the 'originals' are stored elsewhere)
--ca-file: Path and File Name where ca will be copied to (IE, the 'originals' are stored elsewhere)
--home
--cert-home
--config-home
Source: https://github.com/acmesh-official/acme.sh
Also see contents of acme.sh --help below.
Examples
- /usr/lib/acme/acme.sh --revoke --domain WhatEverDomainName.xyz
- /usr/lib/acme/acme.sh --list
- /usr/lib/acme/acme.sh --issue --webroot /usr/share/apache2/htdocs --domain WhatEverDomainName.xyz --home /etc/acme --cert-home /etc/acme/certs --config-home /etc/acme/config
- Subject Alternative Names can be used too (IE, more than one Domain Name can be associated with a certificate):
- /usr/lib/acme/acme.sh --issue --webroot /usr/share/apache2/htdocs --domain WhatEverDomainName.xyz,WhatEverOtherDomainName.xyz,Another.xyz,AndSoOn.xyz --home /etc/acme --cert-home /etc/acme/certs --config-home /etc/acme/config
- /usr/lib/acme/acme.sh --issue --webroot /usr/share/apache2/htdocs --domain WhatEverDomainName.xyz --domain WhatEverOtherDomainName.xyz --domain Another.xyz --domain AndSoOn.xyz --home /etc/acme --cert-home /etc/acme/certs --config-home /etc/acme/config
Certbot Comparisons
- Webroot Method
- Acme.sh: --webroot WhatEverPath
- Certbot: --webroot --webroot-path WhatEverPath (there are no parameters after --webroot, so it seems Acme.sh just combined the two commands since --webroot for Certbot implies --webroot-path would be needed, if there's no default)
- Get a Certificate
- Acme.sh --issue
- Certbot: certonly (no double dashes)
- Obtaining a Certificate via DNS
- Acme.sh --issue --dns dns_nsupdate --domain WhatEverDomain
- Certbot: certonly --dns-rfc2136 --dns-rfc2136-credentials WhatEverCredentialFile -d WhatEverDomain
Using DNS (BIND / Named) to Obtain a Certificate (with a Certbot comparison thrown in)
All of the below assume you are running your own fully functional BIND / Named server.
BIND / Named Stuff to do
First generate a "user name / password" (AKA nametypeand key)
- Acme.sh: dnssec-keygen -a hmac-sha512 -b 512 -n USER WhatEverFileOrKeyName (Thankfully, OpenWRT's dnssec-keygen cannot create SHA512 keys, so you'll need access to another Linux System like CentOS to generate the key file)
- Example: dnssec-keygen -a hmac-sha512 -b 512 -n USER ACME
- Look for a .key and .private file in the directory the dnssec-keygen command was run in.
- Copy the files to the bind / named directory, for OpenWRT it is /etc/bind OR be in that directory when the dnssec-keygen command is run
- From the WhatEverName.private file, copy the information after the Key: line, IE Key: aBunchOfNumbersAndLetters (without copying Key:)
- Add this information to the /etc/bind/named.conf file (default file location for many flavors of Linux)
key "acme" {
algorithm hmac-sha512;
secret "WhatEverTheStringOfTextIsInThePrivateFile";
};- Add this information to the specific zone that will be updated (If the below allow-update directive is in place and has an existing key, just add the additional key line);
zone "WhatEverZoneName.comORorgORnet" {
type master;
allow-update {
key acme;
};
file "/etc/bind/masters/WhatEverZoneName.comORorgORnet";
};Acme.sh Stuff to do
This needs a dedicated article...
Files
/etc/config/acme: OpenWRT configuration file that receives / sends information from LuCI GUI
config acme
option state_dir '/etc/acme'
option account_email 'email@example.org'
option debug 0
config cert 'example'
option enabled 0
option use_staging 1
option keylength 2048
option update_uhttpd 1
option update_nginx 1
option webroot ""
option dns ""
list domains example.org/etc/acme: Storage location for certificates, referenced by /etc/config/acme /etc/init.d/acme: Service stop / start file
#!/bin/sh /etc/rc.common
USE_PROCD=1
START=50
SCRIPT=/usr/lib/acme/run-acme
start_service()
{
procd_open_instance
procd_set_param command $SCRIPT
procd_set_param file /etc/config/acme
procd_set_param stdout 1
procd_set_param stderr 1
procd_close_instance
}
reload_service() {
rc_procd start_service "$@"
return 0
}
stop_service() {
return 0
}
boot() {
touch "/var/run/acme_boot"
start
}
service_triggers()
{
procd_add_reload_trigger acme
}/usr/lib/acme/acme.sh: Appears to be a generic shell script. It can be used via the command line and is also used by the below /usr/lib/acme/run-acme "wrapper". Below is the help file;
https://github.com/Neilpang/acme.sh
v2.8.5
Usage: acme.sh command ...[parameters]....
Commands:
--help, -h Show this help message.
--version, -v Show version info.
--install Install acme.sh to your system.
--uninstall Uninstall acme.sh, and uninstall the cron job.
--upgrade Upgrade acme.sh to the latest code from https://github.com/Neilpang/acme.sh.
--issue Issue a cert.
--signcsr Issue a cert from an existing csr.
--deploy Deploy the cert to your server.
--install-cert Install the issued cert to apache/nginx or any other server.
--renew, -r Renew a cert.
--renew-all Renew all the certs.
--revoke Revoke a cert.
--remove Remove the cert from list of certs known to acme.sh.
--list List all the certs.
--showcsr Show the content of a csr.
--install-cronjob Install the cron job to renew certs, you don't need to call this. The 'install' command can automatically install the cron job.
--uninstall-cronjob Uninstall the cron job. The 'uninstall' command can do this automatically.
--cron Run cron job to renew all the certs.
--toPkcs Export the certificate and key to a pfx file.
--toPkcs8 Convert to pkcs8 format.
--update-account Update account info.
--register-account Register account key.
--deactivate-account Deactivate the account.
--create-account-key Create an account private key, professional use.
--create-domain-key Create an domain private key, professional use.
--createCSR, -ccsr Create CSR , professional use.
--deactivate Deactivate the domain authz, professional use.
--set-notify Set the cron notification hook, level or mode.
Parameters:
--domain, -d domain.tld Specifies a domain, used to issue, renew or revoke etc.
--challenge-alias domain.tld The challenge domain alias for DNS alias mode: https://github.com/Neilpang/acme.sh/wiki/DNS-alias-mode
--domain-alias domain.tld The domain alias for DNS alias mode: https://github.com/Neilpang/acme.sh/wiki/DNS-alias-mode
--force, -f Used to force to install or force to renew a cert immediately.
--staging, --test Use staging server, just for test.
--debug Output debug info.
--output-insecure Output all the sensitive messages. By default all the credentials/sensitive messages are hidden from the output/debug/log for secure.
--webroot, -w /path/to/webroot Specifies the web root folder for web root mode.
--standalone Use standalone mode.
--alpn Use standalone alpn mode.
--stateless Use stateless mode, see: https://github.com/Neilpang/acme.sh/wiki/Stateless-Mode
--apache Use apache mode.
--dns [dns_cf|dns_dp|dns_cx|/path/to/api/file] Use dns mode or dns api.
--dnssleep [120] The time in seconds to wait for all the txt records to take effect in dns api mode. Default 120 seconds.
--keylength, -k [2048] Specifies the domain key length: 2048, 3072, 4096, 8192 or ec-256, ec-384.
--accountkeylength, -ak [2048] Specifies the account key length.
--log [/path/to/logfile] Specifies the log file. The default is: "/root/.acme.sh/acme.sh.log" if you don't give a file path here.
--log-level 1|2 Specifies the log level, default is 1.
--syslog [0|3|6|7] Syslog level, 0: disable syslog, 3: error, 6: info, 7: debug.
These parameters are to install the cert to nginx/apache or any other server after issue/renew a cert:
--cert-file After issue/renew, the cert will be copied to this path.
--key-file After issue/renew, the key will be copied to this path.
--ca-file After issue/renew, the intermediate cert will be copied to this path.
--fullchain-file After issue/renew, the fullchain cert will be copied to this path.
--reloadcmd "service nginx reload" After issue/renew, it's used to reload the server.
--server SERVER ACME Directory Resource URI. (default: https://acme-v01.api.letsencrypt.org/directory)
--accountconf Specifies a customized account config file.
--home Specifies the home dir for acme.sh.
--cert-home Specifies the home dir to save all the certs, only valid for '--install' command.
--config-home Specifies the home dir to save all the configurations.
--useragent Specifies the user agent string. it will be saved for future use too.
--accountemail Specifies the account email, only valid for the '--install' and '--update-account' command.
--accountkey Specifies the account key path, only valid for the '--install' command.
--days Specifies the days to renew the cert when using '--issue' command. The default value is 60 days.
--httpport Specifies the standalone listening port. Only valid if the server is behind a reverse proxy or load balancer.
--tlsport Specifies the standalone tls listening port. Only valid if the server is behind a reverse proxy or load balancer.
--local-address Specifies the standalone/tls server listening address, in case you have multiple ip addresses.
--listraw Only used for '--list' command, list the certs in raw format.
--stopRenewOnError, -se Only valid for '--renew-all' command. Stop if one cert has error in renewal.
--insecure Do not check the server certificate, in some devices, the api server's certificate may not be trusted.
--ca-bundle Specifies the path to the CA certificate bundle to verify api server's certificate.
--ca-path Specifies directory containing CA certificates in PEM format, used by wget or curl.
--nocron Only valid for '--install' command, which means: do not install the default cron job. In this case, the certs will not be renewed automatically.
--noprofile Only valid for '--install' command, which means: do not install aliases to user profile.
--no-color Do not output color text.
--force-color Force output of color text. Useful for non-interactive use with the aha tool for HTML E-Mails.
--ecc Specifies to use the ECC cert. Valid for '--install-cert', '--renew', '--revoke', '--toPkcs' and '--createCSR'
--csr Specifies the input csr.
--pre-hook Command to be run before obtaining any certificates.
--post-hook Command to be run after attempting to obtain/renew certificates. No matter the obtain/renew is success or failed.
--renew-hook Command to be run once for each successfully renewed certificate.
--deploy-hook The hook file to deploy cert
--ocsp-must-staple, --ocsp Generate ocsp must Staple extension.
--always-force-new-domain-key Generate new domain key when renewal. Otherwise, the domain key is not changed by default.
--auto-upgrade [0|1] Valid for '--upgrade' command, indicating whether to upgrade automatically in future.
--listen-v4 Force standalone/tls server to listen at ipv4.
--listen-v6 Force standalone/tls server to listen at ipv6.
--openssl-bin Specifies a custom openssl bin location.
--use-wget Force to use wget, if you have both curl and wget installed.
--yes-I-know-dns-manual-mode-enough-go-ahead-please Force to use dns manual mode: https://github.com/Neilpang/acme.sh/wiki/dns-manual-mode
--branch, -b Only valid for '--upgrade' command, specifies the branch name to upgrade to.
--notify-level 0|1|2|3 Set the notification level: Default value is 2.
0: disabled, no notification will be sent.
1: send notifications only when there is an error.
2: send notifications when a cert is successfully renewed, or there is an error.
3: send notifications when a cert is skipped, renewed, or error.
--notify-mode 0|1 Set notification mode. Default value is 0.
0: Bulk mode. Send all the domain's notifications in one message(mail).
1: Cert mode. Send a message for every single cert.
--notify-hook [hookname] Set the notify hook/usr/lib/acme/run-acme: According to the notes in the file, it's a "wrapper" for the acme.sh script.
Certbot Help File (for comparison)
usage:
certbot [SUBCOMMAND] [options] [-d DOMAIN] [-d DOMAIN] ...
Certbot can obtain and install HTTPS/TLS/SSL certificates. By default,
it will attempt to use a webserver both for obtaining and installing the
certificate. The most common SUBCOMMANDS and flags are:
obtain, install, and renew certificates:
(default) run Obtain & install a certificate in your current webserver
certonly Obtain or renew a certificate, but do not install it
renew Renew all previously obtained certificates that are near expiry
enhance Add security enhancements to your existing configuration
-d DOMAINS Comma-separated list of domains to obtain a certificate for
--apache Use the Apache plugin for authentication & installation
--standalone Run a standalone webserver for authentication
(the certbot nginx plugin is not installed)
--webroot Place files in a server's webroot folder for authentication
--manual Obtain certificates interactively, or using shell script hooks
-n Run non-interactively
--test-cert Obtain a test certificate from a staging server
--dry-run Test "renew" or "certonly" without saving any certificates to disk
manage certificates:
certificates Display information about certificates you have from Certbot
revoke Revoke a certificate (supply --cert-name or --cert-path)
delete Delete a certificate (supply --cert-name)
manage your account:
register Create an ACME account
unregister Deactivate an ACME account
update_account Update an ACME account
--agree-tos Agree to the ACME server's Subscriber Agreement
-m EMAIL Email address for important account notifications
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-c CONFIG_FILE, --config CONFIG_FILE
path to config file (default: /etc/letsencrypt/cli.ini
and ~/.config/letsencrypt/cli.ini)
-v, --verbose This flag can be used multiple times to incrementally
increase the verbosity of output, e.g. -vvv. (default:
-2)
--max-log-backups MAX_LOG_BACKUPS
Specifies the maximum number of backup logs that
should be kept by Certbot's built in log rotation.
Setting this flag to 0 disables log rotation entirely,
causing Certbot to always append to the same log file.
(default: 1000)
-n, --non-interactive, --noninteractive
Run without ever asking for user input. This may
require additional command line flags; the client will
try to explain which ones are required if it finds one
missing (default: False)
--force-interactive Force Certbot to be interactive even if it detects
it's not being run in a terminal. This flag cannot be
used with the renew subcommand. (default: False)
-d DOMAIN, --domains DOMAIN, --domain DOMAIN
Domain names to apply. For multiple domains you can
use multiple -d flags or enter a comma separated list
of domains as a parameter. The first domain provided
will be the subject CN of the certificate, and all
domains will be Subject Alternative Names on the
certificate. The first domain will also be used in
some software user interfaces and as the file paths
for the certificate and related material unless
otherwise specified or you already have a certificate
with the same name. In the case of a name collision it
will append a number like 0001 to the file path name.
(default: Ask)
--eab-kid EAB_KID Key Identifier for External Account Binding (default:
None)
--eab-hmac-key EAB_HMAC_KEY
HMAC key for External Account Binding (default: None)
--cert-name CERTNAME Certificate name to apply. This name is used by
Certbot for housekeeping and in file paths; it doesn't
affect the content of the certificate itself. To see
certificate names, run 'certbot certificates'. When
creating a new certificate, specifies the new
certificate's name. (default: the first provided
domain or the name of an existing certificate on your
system for the same domains)
--dry-run Perform a test run of the client, obtaining test
(invalid) certificates but not saving them to disk.
This can currently only be used with the 'certonly'
and 'renew' subcommands. Note: Although --dry-run
tries to avoid making any persistent changes on a
system, it is not completely side-effect free: if used
with webserver authenticator plugins like apache and
nginx, it makes and then reverts temporary config
changes in order to obtain test certificates, and
reloads webservers to deploy and then roll back those
changes. It also calls --pre-hook and --post-hook
commands if they are defined because they may be
necessary to accurately simulate renewal. --deploy-
hook commands are not called. (default: False)
--debug-challenges After setting up challenges, wait for user input
before submitting to CA (default: False)
--preferred-challenges PREF_CHALLS
A sorted, comma delimited list of the preferred
challenge to use during authorization with the most
preferred challenge listed first (Eg, "dns" or
"http,dns"). Not all plugins support all challenges.
See https://certbot.eff.org/docs/using.html#plugins
for details. ACME Challenges are versioned, but if you
pick "http" rather than "http-01", Certbot will select
the latest version automatically. (default: [])
--user-agent USER_AGENT
Set a custom user agent string for the client. User
agent strings allow the CA to collect high level
statistics about success rates by OS, plugin and use
case, and to know when to deprecate support for past
Python versions and flags. If you wish to hide this
information from the Let's Encrypt server, set this to
"". (default: CertbotACMEClient/1.4.0 (certbot; CentOS
Linux 7 (Core)) Authenticator/XXX Installer/YYY
(SUBCOMMAND; flags: FLAGS) Py/2.7.5). The flags
encoded in the user agent are: --duplicate, --force-
renew, --allow-subset-of-names, -n, and whether any
hooks are set.
--user-agent-comment USER_AGENT_COMMENT
Add a comment to the default user agent string. May be
used when repackaging Certbot or calling it from
another tool to allow additional statistical data to
be collected. Ignored if --user-agent is set.
(Example: Foo-Wrapper/1.0) (default: None)
automation:
Flags for automating execution & other tweaks
--keep-until-expiring, --keep, --reinstall
If the requested certificate matches an existing
certificate, always keep the existing one until it is
due for renewal (for the 'run' subcommand this means
reinstall the existing certificate). (default: Ask)
--expand If an existing certificate is a strict subset of the
requested names, always expand and replace it with the
additional names. (default: Ask)
--version show program's version number and exit
--force-renewal, --renew-by-default
If a certificate already exists for the requested
domains, renew it now, regardless of whether it is
near expiry. (Often --keep-until-expiring is more
appropriate). Also implies --expand. (default: False)
--renew-with-new-domains
If a certificate already exists for the requested
certificate name but does not match the requested
domains, renew it now, regardless of whether it is
near expiry. (default: False)
--reuse-key When renewing, use the same private key as the
existing certificate. (default: False)
--allow-subset-of-names
When performing domain validation, do not consider it
a failure if authorizations can not be obtained for a
strict subset of the requested domains. This may be
useful for allowing renewals for multiple domains to
succeed even if some domains no longer point at this
system. This option cannot be used with --csr.
(default: False)
--agree-tos Agree to the ACME Subscriber Agreement (default: Ask)
--duplicate Allow making a certificate lineage that duplicates an
existing one (both can be renewed in parallel)
(default: False)
--os-packages-only (certbot-auto only) install OS package dependencies
and then stop (default: False)
--no-self-upgrade (certbot-auto only) prevent the certbot-auto script
from upgrading itself to newer released versions
(default: Upgrade automatically)
--no-bootstrap (certbot-auto only) prevent the certbot-auto script
from installing OS-level dependencies (default: Prompt
to install OS-wide dependencies, but exit if the user
says 'No')
--no-permissions-check
(certbot-auto only) skip the check on the file system
permissions of the certbot-auto script (default:
False)
-q, --quiet Silence all output except errors. Useful for
automation via cron. Implies --non-interactive.
(default: False)
security:
Security parameters & server settings
--rsa-key-size N Size of the RSA key. (default: 2048)
--must-staple Adds the OCSP Must Staple extension to the
certificate. Autoconfigures OCSP Stapling for
supported setups (Apache version >= 2.3.3 ). (default:
False)
--redirect Automatically redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS for
the newly authenticated vhost. (default: redirect
enabled for install and run, disabled for enhance)
--no-redirect Do not automatically redirect all HTTP traffic to
HTTPS for the newly authenticated vhost. (default:
redirect enabled for install and run, disabled for
enhance)
--hsts Add the Strict-Transport-Security header to every HTTP
response. Forcing browser to always use SSL for the
domain. Defends against SSL Stripping. (default: None)
--uir Add the "Content-Security-Policy: upgrade-insecure-
requests" header to every HTTP response. Forcing the
browser to use https:// for every http:// resource.
(default: None)
--staple-ocsp Enables OCSP Stapling. A valid OCSP response is
stapled to the certificate that the server offers
during TLS. (default: None)
--strict-permissions Require that all configuration files are owned by the
current user; only needed if your config is somewhere
unsafe like /tmp/ (default: False)
--auto-hsts Gradually increasing max-age value for HTTP Strict
Transport Security security header (default: False)
testing:
The following flags are meant for testing and integration purposes only.
--test-cert, --staging
Use the staging server to obtain or revoke test
(invalid) certificates; equivalent to --server https
://acme-staging-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory
(default: False)
--debug Show tracebacks in case of errors, and allow certbot-
auto execution on experimental platforms (default:
False)
--no-verify-ssl Disable verification of the ACME server's certificate.
(default: False)
--http-01-port HTTP01_PORT
Port used in the http-01 challenge. This only affects
the port Certbot listens on. A conforming ACME server
will still attempt to connect on port 80. (default:
80)
--http-01-address HTTP01_ADDRESS
The address the server listens to during http-01
challenge. (default: )
--https-port HTTPS_PORT
Port used to serve HTTPS. This affects which port
Nginx will listen on after a LE certificate is
installed. (default: 443)
--break-my-certs Be willing to replace or renew valid certificates with
invalid (testing/staging) certificates (default:
False)
paths:
Flags for changing execution paths & servers
--cert-path CERT_PATH
Path to where certificate is saved (with auth --csr),
installed from, or revoked. (default: None)
--key-path KEY_PATH Path to private key for certificate installation or
revocation (if account key is missing) (default: None)
--fullchain-path FULLCHAIN_PATH
Accompanying path to a full certificate chain
(certificate plus chain). (default: None)
--chain-path CHAIN_PATH
Accompanying path to a certificate chain. (default:
None)
--config-dir CONFIG_DIR
Configuration directory. (default: /etc/letsencrypt)
--work-dir WORK_DIR Working directory. (default: /var/lib/letsencrypt)
--logs-dir LOGS_DIR Logs directory. (default: /var/log/letsencrypt)
--server SERVER ACME Directory Resource URI. (default:
https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory)
manage:
Various subcommands and flags are available for managing your
certificates:
certificates List certificates managed by Certbot
delete Clean up all files related to a certificate
renew Renew all certificates (or one specified with --cert-
name)
revoke Revoke a certificate specified with --cert-path or
--cert-name
update_symlinks Recreate symlinks in your /etc/letsencrypt/live/
directory
run:
Options for obtaining & installing certificates
certonly:
Options for modifying how a certificate is obtained
--csr CSR Path to a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) in DER or
PEM format. Currently --csr only works with the
'certonly' subcommand. (default: None)
renew:
The 'renew' subcommand will attempt to renew all certificates (or more
precisely, certificate lineages) you have previously obtained if they are
close to expiry, and print a summary of the results. By default, 'renew'
will reuse the options used to create obtain or most recently successfully
renew each certificate lineage. You can try it with `--dry-run` first. For
more fine-grained control, you can renew individual lineages with the
`certonly` subcommand. Hooks are available to run commands before and
after renewal; see https://certbot.eff.org/docs/using.html#renewal for
more information on these.
--pre-hook PRE_HOOK Command to be run in a shell before obtaining any
certificates. Intended primarily for renewal, where it
can be used to temporarily shut down a webserver that
might conflict with the standalone plugin. This will
only be called if a certificate is actually to be
obtained/renewed. When renewing several certificates
that have identical pre-hooks, only the first will be
executed. (default: None)
--post-hook POST_HOOK
Command to be run in a shell after attempting to
obtain/renew certificates. Can be used to deploy
renewed certificates, or to restart any servers that
were stopped by --pre-hook. This is only run if an
attempt was made to obtain/renew a certificate. If
multiple renewed certificates have identical post-
hooks, only one will be run. (default: None)
--deploy-hook DEPLOY_HOOK
Command to be run in a shell once for each
successfully issued certificate. For this command, the
shell variable $RENEWED_LINEAGE will point to the
config live subdirectory (for example,
"/etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com") containing the
new certificates and keys; the shell variable
$RENEWED_DOMAINS will contain a space-delimited list
of renewed certificate domains (for example,
"example.com www.example.com" (default: None)
--disable-hook-validation
Ordinarily the commands specified for --pre-hook
/--post-hook/--deploy-hook will be checked for
validity, to see if the programs being run are in the
$PATH, so that mistakes can be caught early, even when
the hooks aren't being run just yet. The validation is
rather simplistic and fails if you use more advanced
shell constructs, so you can use this switch to
disable it. (default: False)
--no-directory-hooks Disable running executables found in Certbot's hook
directories during renewal. (default: False)
--disable-renew-updates
Disable automatic updates to your server configuration
that would otherwise be done by the selected installer
plugin, and triggered when the user executes "certbot
renew", regardless of if the certificate is renewed.
This setting does not apply to important TLS
configuration updates. (default: False)
--no-autorenew Disable auto renewal of certificates. (default: True)
certificates:
List certificates managed by Certbot
delete:
Options for deleting a certificate
revoke:
Options for revocation of certificates
--reason {unspecified,keycompromise,affiliationchanged,superseded,cessationofoperation}
Specify reason for revoking certificate. (default:
unspecified)
--delete-after-revoke
Delete certificates after revoking them, along with
all previous and later versions of those certificates.
(default: None)
--no-delete-after-revoke
Do not delete certificates after revoking them. This
option should be used with caution because the 'renew'
subcommand will attempt to renew undeleted revoked
certificates. (default: None)
register:
Options for account registration
--register-unsafely-without-email
Specifying this flag enables registering an account
with no email address. This is strongly discouraged,
because in the event of key loss or account compromise
you will irrevocably lose access to your account. You
will also be unable to receive notice about impending
expiration or revocation of your certificates. Updates
to the Subscriber Agreement will still affect you, and
will be effective 14 days after posting an update to
the web site. (default: False)
-m EMAIL, --email EMAIL
Email used for registration and recovery contact. Use
comma to register multiple emails, ex:
u1@example.com,u2@example.com. (default: Ask).
--eff-email Share your e-mail address with EFF (default: None)
--no-eff-email Don't share your e-mail address with EFF (default:
None)
update_account:
Options for account modification
unregister:
Options for account deactivation.
--account ACCOUNT_ID Account ID to use (default: None)
install:
Options for modifying how a certificate is deployed
rollback:
Options for rolling back server configuration changes
--checkpoints N Revert configuration N number of checkpoints.
(default: 1)
plugins:
Options for the "plugins" subcommand
--init Initialize plugins. (default: False)
--prepare Initialize and prepare plugins. (default: False)
--authenticators Limit to authenticator plugins only. (default: None)
--installers Limit to installer plugins only. (default: None)
update_symlinks:
Recreates certificate and key symlinks in /etc/letsencrypt/live, if you
changed them by hand or edited a renewal configuration file
enhance:
Helps to harden the TLS configuration by adding security enhancements to
already existing configuration.
plugins:
Plugin Selection: Certbot client supports an extensible plugins
architecture. See 'certbot plugins' for a list of all installed plugins
and their names. You can force a particular plugin by setting options
provided below. Running --help <plugin_name> will list flags specific to
that plugin.
--configurator CONFIGURATOR
Name of the plugin that is both an authenticator and
an installer. Should not be used together with
--authenticator or --installer. (default: Ask)
-a AUTHENTICATOR, --authenticator AUTHENTICATOR
Authenticator plugin name. (default: None)
-i INSTALLER, --installer INSTALLER
Installer plugin name (also used to find domains).
(default: None)
--apache Obtain and install certificates using Apache (default:
False)
--nginx Obtain and install certificates using Nginx (default:
False)
--standalone Obtain certificates using a "standalone" webserver.
(default: False)
--manual Provide laborious manual instructions for obtaining a
certificate (default: False)
--webroot Obtain certificates by placing files in a webroot
directory. (default: False)
--dns-cloudflare Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using Cloudflare for DNS). (default: False)
--dns-cloudxns Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using CloudXNS for DNS). (default: False)
--dns-digitalocean Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using DigitalOcean for DNS). (default: False)
--dns-dnsimple Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using DNSimple for DNS). (default: False)
--dns-dnsmadeeasy Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using DNS Made Easy for DNS). (default: False)
--dns-gehirn Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using Gehirn Infrastructure Service for DNS).
(default: False)
--dns-google Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using Google Cloud DNS). (default: False)
--dns-linode Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using Linode for DNS). (default: False)
--dns-luadns Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using LuaDNS for DNS). (default: False)
--dns-nsone Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using NS1 for DNS). (default: False)
--dns-ovh Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using OVH for DNS). (default: False)
--dns-rfc2136 Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using BIND for DNS). (default: False)
--dns-route53 Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using Route53 for DNS). (default: False)
--dns-sakuracloud Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are
using Sakura Cloud for DNS). (default: False)
apache:
Apache Web Server plugin
--apache-enmod APACHE_ENMOD
Path to the Apache 'a2enmod' binary (default: None)
--apache-dismod APACHE_DISMOD
Path to the Apache 'a2dismod' binary (default: None)
--apache-le-vhost-ext APACHE_LE_VHOST_EXT
SSL vhost configuration extension (default: -le-
ssl.conf)
--apache-server-root APACHE_SERVER_ROOT
Apache server root directory (default: /etc/httpd)
--apache-vhost-root APACHE_VHOST_ROOT
Apache server VirtualHost configuration root (default:
None)
--apache-logs-root APACHE_LOGS_ROOT
Apache server logs directory (default: /var/log/httpd)
--apache-challenge-location APACHE_CHALLENGE_LOCATION
Directory path for challenge configuration (default:
/etc/httpd/conf.d)
--apache-handle-modules APACHE_HANDLE_MODULES
Let installer handle enabling required modules for you
(Only Ubuntu/Debian currently) (default: False)
--apache-handle-sites APACHE_HANDLE_SITES
Let installer handle enabling sites for you (Only
Ubuntu/Debian currently) (default: False)
--apache-ctl APACHE_CTL
Full path to Apache control script (default:
apachectl)
dns-rfc2136:
Obtain certificates using a DNS TXT record (if you are using BIND for
DNS).
--dns-rfc2136-propagation-seconds DNS_RFC2136_PROPAGATION_SECONDS
The number of seconds to wait for DNS to propagate
before asking the ACME server to verify the DNS
record. (default: 60)
--dns-rfc2136-credentials DNS_RFC2136_CREDENTIALS
RFC 2136 credentials INI file. (default: None)
manual:
Authenticate through manual configuration or custom shell scripts. When
using shell scripts, an authenticator script must be provided. The
environment variables available to this script depend on the type of
challenge. $CERTBOT_DOMAIN will always contain the domain being
authenticated. For HTTP-01 and DNS-01, $CERTBOT_VALIDATION is the
validation string, and $CERTBOT_TOKEN is the filename of the resource
requested when performing an HTTP-01 challenge. An additional cleanup
script can also be provided and can use the additional variable
$CERTBOT_AUTH_OUTPUT which contains the stdout output from the auth
script.For both authenticator and cleanup script, on HTTP-01 and DNS-01
challenges,$CERTBOT_REMAINING_CHALLENGES will be equal to the number of
challenges that remain after the current one, and $CERTBOT_ALL_DOMAINS
contains a comma-separated list of all domains that are challenged for the
current certificate.
--manual-auth-hook MANUAL_AUTH_HOOK
Path or command to execute for the authentication
script (default: None)
--manual-cleanup-hook MANUAL_CLEANUP_HOOK
Path or command to execute for the cleanup script
(default: None)
--manual-public-ip-logging-ok
Automatically allows public IP logging (default: Ask)
null:
Null Installer
standalone:
Spin up a temporary webserver
webroot:
Place files in webroot directory
--webroot-path WEBROOT_PATH, -w WEBROOT_PATH
public_html / webroot path. This can be specified
multiple times to handle different domains; each
domain will have the webroot path that preceded it.
For instance: `-w /var/www/example -d example.com -d
www.example.com -w /var/www/thing -d thing.net -d
m.thing.net` (default: Ask)
--webroot-map WEBROOT_MAP
JSON dictionary mapping domains to webroot paths; this
implies -d for each entry. You may need to escape this
from your shell. E.g.: --webroot-map
'{"eg1.is,m.eg1.is":"/www/eg1/", "eg2.is":"/www/eg2"}'
This option is merged with, but takes precedence over,
-w / -d entries. At present, if you put webroot-map in
a config file, it needs to be on a single line, like:
webroot-map = {"example.com":"/var/www"}. (default:
{})