SLL Cert Installation Fails
I have an Ubuntu server running Apache and WordPress.
I am trying to configure a certificate for HTTPS / SSL.
I follow the procedure for installing the certificate manually and, often, when the procedure is completed, Apache fails to restart, reporting that one or more of the folders that house the certs doesn’t exist.
I can verify that, in fact, the folders DO exist and that the relevant .crt files are actually contained within those folders.
I have tried using a WordPress plugin called something like ReallySimpleSSL, and, rather than reporting that the folders don’t exist, it returns an error that says that the permissions for the relevant files and folders are incorrect.
Again, I can verify, by inspecting the relevant files and folders using FileZilla, that, in fact, the permissions for these files and folders are set as they should be.
I’m thinking that these two occurrences are both arising from the same problem.
The SSLTest page at QualSys (https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/) returns a report that shows that it can see that the relevant .crt files are, in fact, out there and in the proper places.
1 Reply
eruzanski
Linode Staff
I would double check that the file path to your certificates is correct in your Apache server configuration. That would certainly resolve any "file does not exist" sort of error.
You may also want to check the ownership of the certificate files. Make sure they're owned by the user and group that Apache and WordPress are running under. You can use the ls -l command to see the ownership and chown to change it if necessary.It sounds like you already checked the individual file permissions, you can do so once more with that ls -l and chown commands.
Otherwise, I recommend investigating the Apache error logs for any error messages related to the SSL configuration. The error message should provide more information on what exactly is causing Apache to fail. The location of the logs directory may vary depending on your operating system and installation. On a Debian-based system, the default location is /var/log/apache2/. You will want to investigate access.log and error.log.
-- Eric