Install or renew a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate in Plesk

On GARMTECH hosting, you can secure your website with a free Let’s Encrypt SSL/TLS certificate using the Plesk control panel.

Before you start

• Your domain must point to the correct hosting server (nameservers or A/AAAA record).
• During validation, Let’s Encrypt must be able to reach your website over HTTP (port 80).

Issue or renew a certificate in Plesk

1. Open Plesk from My.GARMTECH (Services → My Services → your hosting plan → Login to Plesk).
2. Go to Websites & Domains and select your domain.
3. Open SSL/TLS Certificates (or the Let’s Encrypt option if it is shown).
4. Choose the domain and any required aliases (for example, www).
5. Enter your email address (for expiry notifications) and click Install/Get it free/Reissue.

Enable HTTPS redirect (recommended)

1. In Plesk, open your domain.
2. Go to Hosting Settings.
3. Enable Permanent SEO-safe 301 redirect from HTTP to HTTPS.
4. Save changes.

Common errors and how to fix them

1) “Could not issue/renew Let’s Encrypt certificates …”

• Most often the domain is not pointing to the server yet. If you recently changed DNS, wait until propagation completes.
• Make sure http://yourdomain.com/.well-known/acme-challenge/ is reachable. Temporary security rules, redirects, or maintenance pages may block the validation.

2) Auto-renew does not work

• Plesk auto-renew can rely on default certificate names. If the certificate was renamed, renew it manually by reissuing the certificate in Plesk.

3) Invalid email address

• Enter a valid email address in the Let’s Encrypt dialog. An invalid email can cause certificate issuance to fail.

4) Unauthorized / 403 during validation

• This usually means the challenge URL is not accessible (wrong DNS, proxy, redirect, or web server configuration).

After installation

• Open https://yourdomain.com and verify that the browser shows a secure connection.
• If you use WordPress, update the site URL to HTTPS and clear caches (plugin and browser cache).