How Your Free SSL Certificate Works Print

Every domain hosted with HostingSutra gets a free SSL certificate, installed and renewed automatically.

How it is issued

Once your domain resolves to our server, the certificate is requested and installed automatically, usually within a few hours. You do not need to buy anything or run any commands.

Checking your certificate

In cPanel, open Security → SSL/TLS Status. Each domain and subdomain is listed with its certificate status. If one shows as not secured, click Run AutoSSL to retry.

Why AutoSSL sometimes fails

• The domain does not point to our server yet
• A CAA record on the domain blocks the certificate authority
• An .htaccess redirect blocks the validation path /.well-known/
• The subdomain does not resolve, for example a mail or webmail record pointing elsewhere
• The site is behind a proxy that intercepts the validation request

Renewals

Certificates are renewed automatically well before expiry. You do not need to do anything, and there is no charge.

When to buy a paid certificate

The free certificate provides the same encryption as a paid one. Consider a commercial certificate only if you need a warranty, organisation validation (OV) or extended validation (EV) for compliance reasons. Open a ticket and we will help you install it.

After SSL is active

Make sure the whole site is served over HTTPS — see Forcing HTTPS and Fixing Mixed Content.