Install free SSL by using certbot for ubuntu apache

With this method, you can make your domain HTTPS for free on any ubuntu server like digital ocean, AWS, Linode, etc

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1. SSH into the server, using the command

ssh root@ip_address

2. Type these commands

sudo snap install core; sudo snap refresh core

3. Remove any Certbot OS packages( if present)

sudo apt-get remove certbot

4. Install Certbot

sudo snap install --classic certbot
sudo ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot
sudo a2enmod ssl
systemctl restart apache2

5. You need to add a domain to the droplet or instance. Make sure you changed nameservers of the domain pointing to the digital ocean or aws

After this, you need to modify apache settings

Previous settings look like this

You need to change it to:

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
  Alias /static /myproject/code_folder/static
  <Directory /myproject/code_folder/static>
     Require all granted
  </Directory>
  <Directory /myproject/code_folder/wsgi_folder>
     <Files wsgi.py>
        Require all granted
     </Files>
  </Directory>
</VirtualHost>
WSGIDaemonProcess myproject python-home=/myproject/venv python-path=/myproject/code_folder
WSGIProcessGroup myproject
WSGIScriptAlias / /myproject/code_folder/wsgi_folder/wsgi.py
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
<VirtualHost *:443>
ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
Alias /static /myproject/code_folder/static
<Directory /myproject/code_folder/static>
     Require all granted
  </Directory>
<Directory /myproject/code_folder/wsgi_folder>
     <Files wsgi.py>
        Require all granted
     </Files>
  </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

6. Restart your server

systemctl restart apache2

7. Get and install your certificates.

sudo certbot --apache

Enter your email address and domain like

example.com www.example.com

You will see a success message like

8. Test automatic renewal

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Your website should now work with HTTPS.