# Bad Handshake issue, Unable to Connect to LetsEncrypt server **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Created:** [August 14, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/bad-handshake-issue-unable-to-connect-to-letsencrypt-server/157807 "2021-08-14T20:22:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![\_netwolf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/_netwolf/32/51939_2.png) [@\_netwolf](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/_netwolf)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/bad-handshake-issue-unable-to-connect-to-letsencrypt-server/157807/1 "2021-08-14T20:22:40Z")
My domain is: hemphealth.cc **I ran this command:** _sudo certbot --nginx -d hemphealth.cc -d www.hemphealth.cc_ **It produced this output:** _requests.exceptions.SSLError: HTTPSConnectionPool(host='[acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org](http://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org)', port=443): Max retries exceeded with url: /directory (Caused by SSLError(SSLError("bad handshake: SysCallError(-1, 'Unexpected EOF')")))_ **My web server is (include version):** _NGINX 1.18.0_ **The operating system my web server runs on is (include version):** _Ubuntu 20.04_ **My hosting provider, if applicable, is:** _OVH US_ **I can login to a root shell on my machine:** _Yes_ **I'm using a control panel to manage my site:** _No_ **The version of my client is:** _certbot 0.40.0_ > I am going to assume that this is just a DDOS mitigation issue given that OVH tends to have a lot of blocked IP's. How can I proceed? ---
**Author:** ![Osiris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/839c29/32.png) [@Osiris](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/Osiris)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/bad-handshake-issue-unable-to-connect-to-letsencrypt-server/157807/2 "2021-08-14T20:26:22Z")
> [@\_netwolf](#): > > How can I proceed? We probably need the help of [@lestaff](https://community.letsencrypt.org/groups/lestaff) to check if your IP address is blocked indeed. ---
**Author:** ![petercooperjr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/petercooperjr/32/84698_2.png) [@petercooperjr](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/petercooperjr)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/bad-handshake-issue-unable-to-connect-to-letsencrypt-server/157807/3 "2021-08-14T20:27:10Z")
Yup; it looks like the "temporary" blocking described in this thread: > [@New "bad handshake" & similar errors](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/new-bad-handshake-similar-errors/147049): > > H… ---
**Author:** ![\_netwolf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/_netwolf/32/51939_2.png) [@\_netwolf](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/_netwolf)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/bad-handshake-issue-unable-to-connect-to-letsencrypt-server/157807/4 "2021-08-14T20:28:15Z")
Awesome, thank you for your help. ---
**Author:** ![rg305](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/rg305/32/91314_2.png) [@rg305](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/rg305)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/bad-handshake-issue-unable-to-connect-to-letsencrypt-server/157807/5 "2021-08-14T20:28:48Z")
Try: `curl -v https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory` OR `curl -I https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory` ---
**Author:** ![\_netwolf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/_netwolf/32/51939_2.png) [@\_netwolf](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/_netwolf)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/bad-handshake-issue-unable-to-connect-to-letsencrypt-server/157807/6 "2021-08-14T20:31:14Z")
I went ahead and ran the command, this is the output: curl: (35) OpenSSL SSL\_connect: SSL\_ERROR\_SYSCALL in connection to [acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org:443](http://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org:443) I am assuming it's a blocked ip, just a waiting game atm, thank you all for your help ---
**Author:** ![Osiris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/839c29/32.png) [@Osiris](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/Osiris)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/bad-handshake-issue-unable-to-connect-to-letsencrypt-server/157807/7 "2021-08-14T20:32:02Z")
Which is to be expected if `requests` also couldn't connect. Let's wait until the LE staff has decided if the IP is blocked or not. @_netwolf You might be asked to PM the IP address involved. ---
**Author:** ![rg305](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/rg305/32/91314_2.png) [@rg305](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/rg305)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/bad-handshake-issue-unable-to-connect-to-letsencrypt-server/157807/8 "2021-08-14T20:34:44Z")
> [@\_netwolf](#): > > I am assuming it's a blocked ip It seems that way. We can confirm that `curl` is working with another test: `curl -I https://google.com/` Then we can be even more sure - LOL ---
**Author:** ![\_netwolf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/_netwolf/32/51939_2.png) [@\_netwolf](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/_netwolf)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 8:36pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/bad-handshake-issue-unable-to-connect-to-letsencrypt-server/157807/9 "2021-08-14T20:36:01Z")
One can never be too sure, might just ping google to verify. 😆 ---
**Author:** ![JamesLE](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/jamesle/32/49364_2.png) [@JamesLE](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/JamesLE)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2021, 5:40am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/bad-handshake-issue-unable-to-connect-to-letsencrypt-server/157807/10 "2021-08-15T05:40:38Z")
Yes, we had blocked this IP address as part of mitigating a DDoS attack. It's unblocked now. If you've had this IP address for more than a couple of months, then it's likely that your system is compromised and you'll need to thoroughly investigate. ---
**Author:** ![\_netwolf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/_netwolf/32/51939_2.png) [@\_netwolf](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/_netwolf)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2021, 7:40am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/bad-handshake-issue-unable-to-connect-to-letsencrypt-server/157807/11 "2021-08-15T07:40:34Z")
Yep, the service was started 8-14-2021 at 1200 CST. OVH is notoriously bad with responding to tickets, thank you for helping me out. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/original/3X/c/a/ca6c06ea1ea201324bba7048c6841ce60236468d.png) [@system](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 7:40am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/bad-handshake-issue-unable-to-connect-to-letsencrypt-server/157807/12 "2021-09-14T07:40:34Z")
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