{"id":22676,"date":"2018-08-30T13:57:24","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T11:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hetzner.co.za\/help-centre\/?p=22676"},"modified":"2026-03-19T12:53:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T10:53:28","slug":"activate-ssl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/website\/activate-ssl\/","title":{"rendered":"How to implement Let\u2019s Encrypt SSL\/TLS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates are automatically included with all hosting packages<\/strong>. Activation of the SSL certificate depends on the @ (root) record pointing to our server IP, along with the www record. The www record may be configured as either an A record pointing to the server IP or as a CNAME pointing to the domain name; however, an A record is the preferred approach and best practice.<\/p>\n

Once both the @ and www records are correctly configured, the SSL certificate will be installed after DNS has fully propagated.<\/p>\n

If you browse to your domain name and it goes straight to the HTTPS version (indicated by a padlock) then nothing further is needed and SSL\/TLS is active and working correctly for your website.<\/span><\/p>\n

If browsing to your domain brings up the HTTP version (i.e. no padlock, with a \u201cnot secure\u201d notice in Chrome), then usually it doesn’t mean that SSL\/TLS is not activated, but rather that your website is not set up correctly to use SSL\/TLS i.e you need to implement<\/strong> it for your site.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are what HTTP (no padlock) and HTTPS (padlock) look like in various browsers:\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

How to test for SSL\/TLS errors<\/span><\/h2>\n

If your website automatically opens in HTTP (no padlock), try changing the URL by typing\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/\u00a0<\/b>before the domain name.<\/p>\n

Does the website open correctly now? <\/span><\/h3>\n

Yes<\/b>: <\/span><\/p>\n

This means that SSL is active but you need to force your site to use HTTPS. Here’s how:<\/span><\/p>\n