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Important things to know before installing an SSL Certificate

 

What you need to know before purchasing SSL

Here are a few things you should be aware of before purchasing an SSL certificate within the Customer Portal.

  • Depending on your website's needs, choose the appropriate SSL plan that works best for your website.
  • Your website needs to be connected to your hosting account so we can validate the domain when you purchase SSL through the Customer Portal. To learn how to connect your domain to your HostGator server, please see the following article.
  • For basic, Single-Domain SSL, if your domain is already connected to your hosting account, HostGator can proceed in verifying the domain for your SSL.
  • For Multi-Domain SSL and Wildcard SSL certificates, you need to provide the domains in the SSL Order form on which you'd like to install the SSL certificate.
  • For Extended Validated (EV) SSL, we listed the steps you need to take so we can process your order smoothly. Please see the steps in the article:
  • Depending on the platform you used to build your site, such as WordPress, Joomla, etc., you will need to manually "force" or enable the HTTPS to work on your domain name. For more information about "forcing" or enabling the HTTPS on your website, please check out the following articles:
     

    If you opted to use the Free Let's Encrypt SSL on your website, you would also need to manually enable the HTTPS on your site. Here is a guide to enabling the Free Let's Encrypt SSL.

  • If you're looking for a guide in troubleshooting SSL, you can visit the article:

Multiple SSL Certificates with SNI

Servers with cPanel versions 11.38 and above can utilize Server Name Indication (SNI) to allow a server to present multiple certificates on the same IP address and port number, which allows multiple secure (HTTPS) websites (or any other Service over TLS) to be served off the same IP address without requiring all those sites to use the same certificate.

To make use of SNI practical, it is necessary that the vast majority of users use web browsers that support it. Users whose browsers do not support SNI will be presented with a default certificate and are likely to receive certificate warnings.

SNI Supported Browsers
SoftwareSupported
Internet Explorer✔
Mozilla Firefox✔
Safari✔
Google Chrome✔
BlackBerry 10✔
BlackBerry OS✘
elinks✘
Windows Mobile✔
Android default browser✔

SSL Certificates are issued on an annual basis

SSL Certificates are usually purchased with a 1-year expiration date. Before a certificate expires, you will need to purchase a new SSL certificate with a new expiration date.

Despite sometimes being referred to as renewing an SSL certificate, technically, you are purchasing a new certificate with a new expiration date. Although typically, we can process SSL Certificate orders within 24 hours, due to the potentiality for complications, we recommend that you purchase a new SSL certificate at least one week before your current SSL certificate expires.

More than 1 domain per SSL Certificate allowed

It is possible to have more than one secured domain name or subdomain incorporated into a single SSL Certificate. This is achieved by purchasing Multi-Domain SSL or Wildcard SSL certificates. Although more expensive than a regular, single-domain SSL, you'll be able to have all domains and subdomains secured within a single account. 

SSL for Newbies Series