How to Install Let's Encrypt SSL in Nginx on CentOS Stream 9

To install Let's Encrypt SSL on Nginx running on CentOS Stream 9, follow these steps:

Step 1 : Ensure the domain is DNS-ready for verification.

Step 2 : Update your system:

sudo dnf update

Step 3 : Install Certbot and python3-certbot-nginx:

sudo dnf install certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Step 4 : Create a configuration file for your domain (e.g., example.devtutorial.io) and add the necessary configurations.

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

Inside the configuration file, add the following basic setting

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

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

Step 5 : Create a directory for the domain and an index.html file:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.devtutorial.io
sudo echo "Hello, this is example.devtutorial.io" > /var/www/example.devtutorial.io/index.html

Step 6 : Update SELinux file context (if using SELinux)

sudo semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t "/var/www/example.devtutorial.io(/.*)?"
sudo restorecon -Rv /var/www/example.devtutorial.io

Step 7 : Test the Nginx configuration:

sudo nginx -t

Step 8 : Restart Nginx:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 9 : Obtain SSL certificate:

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

- Enter your email address when prompted.

- Agree to the terms of service by typing 'y'.

- Share your email address with the Electronic Frontier Foundation if you wish ('y').

- Once successful, you will receive a confirmation message.

Step 10 : Test certificate renewal:

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Step 11 : Visit your domain to verify the SSL installation.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed Let's Encrypt SSL on Nginx running on CentOS Stream 9.