Hi, I have been trying to install Peertube, but I did that even before having a server. I do have a domain name registered that is indicated below. And I thought that would be enough. Obviously it was not! I am not stuck with the error message regarding let's encrypt and I do not know how to undo what I did. Can anybody help me please?
I feel quite helpless right now...
My domain is:
https///www.laurexplore.fr
I ran this command:
sudo systemctl status nginx.service
It produced this output:
nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2026-04-28 11:49:53 CEST; 23min ago
Docs: man:nginx(8)
Process: 120110 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/nginx -t -q -g daemon on; master_process on; (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
CPU: 6ms
avril 28 11:49:53 laure-HP systemd[1]: Starting nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server...
avril 28 11:49:53 laure-HP nginx[120110]: 2026/04/28 11:49:53 [emerg] 120110#120110: cannot load certificate "/etc/letsencrypt/live/laurexplore.fr/fullchain.pem": BIO_new_file() failed (SSL: error:80000002:system library::No such file or>
avril 28 11:49:53 laure-HP nginx[120110]: nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test failed
avril 28 11:49:53 laure-HP systemd[1]: nginx.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
avril 28 11:49:53 laure-HP systemd[1]: nginx.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
avril 28 11:49:53 laure-HP systemd[1]: Failed to start nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server.
y web server is (include version):
The operating system my web server runs on is (include version):
Linux Mint 22.3 Cinnamon
My hosting provider, if applicable, is:
I can login to a root shell on my machine (yes or no, or I don't know):
I don't know
I'm using a control panel to manage my site (no, or provide the name and version of the control panel):
The version of my client is (e.g. output of certbot --version or certbot-auto --version if you're using Certbot):
Welcome to the Let's Encrypt Community! 
It looks like you may have deleted your certificate and now nginx will not load because it is looking for a certificate it cannot find. You need to handle the broken reference to the nonexistent certificate to start nginx. The better option though is what @MikeMcQ is suggesting below.
Actually, their previous cert was a wildcard. So, they could recreate that cert using Certbot as nginx is not involved with the DNS Challenge. Then nginx should start fine.
Issuer C=US, O=Let's Encrypt, CN=R12
Validity Period Mar 13, 2026 Jun 11, 2026
*.laurexplore.fr laurexplore.fr
If crt.sh is working: https://crt.sh/?id=24968115886
Thank you Griffin and Mike! Could you be please even more specific as to how I should proceed? As I am really a newbee... If it is possible to envisage a quick video call, that would be great.
Let's Encrypt:
sudo systemctl stop nginx
sudo certbot certonly --standalone --post-hook "systemctl restart nginx"
sudo systemctl restart nginx
Certbot should have installed a cron to automatically renew your certificate. Since our nginx template supports webroot renewal, we suggest you to update the renewal config file to use the webroot authenticator:
# Replace authenticator = standalone by authenticator = webroot
# Add webroot_path = /var/www/certbot
sudo vim /etc/letsencrypt/renewal/your-domain.com.conf
If you plan to have many concurrent viewers on your PeerTube instance, consider increasing worker_connections value: Core functionality.
This is what I copied from the page when I tried to install Peertube (without having got hold of a server, I know it was a mistake)
You are probably best off getting help from the place you got those instructions from. We are not a general purpose help site for configuring web applications. Maybe the PeerTube forum is a better place to ask.
For example:
I am not a PeerTube expert but it looks like they provide an nginx config that requires a cert to already exist. And, they have you run this --standalone to get that initial cert. But, I don't believe you ever successfully ran --standalone. You would have to show us the whole command and its results for us to help further. This may be why your nginx server fails to start because of a missing cert.
Right now you do not have a A or AAAA record in the public DNS for the public IP for your server. The --standalone option requires that. An A record for IPv4 and/or an AAAA for IPv6 is required for anyone to reach your domain from the public internet. The --standalone command will not work without it.
You, or someone on your behalf, got wildcard certs for your domain. The most recent on Mar13. Neither --standalone or --webroot can get a wildcard cert. Do you know how that was issued? You may not need a wildcard cert. But, a wildcard does not need an A or AAAA record in your DNS so maybe that is why that worked earlier.
You may try asking about that on the PeerTube community or support forums.
Thank you Mike for taking the time to answer. I have put a message on Peertube's forum. So far no one has responded. I'll wait. Have a good day!