How to Install Let's Encrypt SSL in Nginx on CentOS Stream 10

To install Let's Encrypt SSL on Nginx running CentOS Stream 10, follow these step-by-step instructions.

Step 1 : Before proceeding, make sure your domain name is correctly pointed to your server's IP address. This is crucial for the verification process.

Step 2 : Run the following command to update all packages:

sudo dnf update -y

Step 3 : Install the EPEL repository and Snapd package manager:

sudo dnf -y install https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-10.noarch.rpm
sudo dnf -y install snapd

Step 4 : Enable Snapd, start the service, and create the required symlink:

sudo systemctl enable --now snapd.socket
sudo ln -s /var/lib/snapd/snap /snap

Step 5 : Install Certbot, the Let's Encrypt client, via Snapd:

snap install certbot --classic

Step 6 : Link Certbot to the /usr/bin/ directory for easier access:

sudo ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot

Step 7 : Create a configuration file for your domain, for example, example.devtutorial.io:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/example.devtutorial.io.conf

Add the following configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.devtutorial.io;
    
    root /var/www/example.devtutorial.io;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Step 8 : Create the directory for your domain and add a test file:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.devtutorial.io
echo "<h1>Welcome to example.devtutorial.io</h1>" | sudo tee /var/www/example.devtutorial.io/index.html

Step 9 : Verify the Nginx configuration is correct:

sudo nginx -t

Step 10 : Restart the Nginx service to apply changes:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 11 : Use Certbot to obtain an SSL certificate for your domain:

sudo certbot --nginx -d example.devtutorial.io

Follow the prompts:

- Enter your email address: Provide an email address for Let's Encrypt notifications.

- Agree to the terms of service: Type Y to agree.

- Share your email address: Type Y to share your email for research purposes or N to skip.

- Certbot will confirm the SSL certificate was successfully installed.

Step 12 : Run a test to ensure automatic renewal works:

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Step 13 : Visit your domain (e.g., https://example.devtutorial.io) in a browser to confirm the SSL certificate is installed and working correctly.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Let's Encrypt SSL on your Nginx server running CentOS Stream 10.