CertBot Certificate Chain Automation Grade Cap

Help
1

My domain is: cloudyhost.net

My web server is (include version): Apache 2.4.29 (Ubuntu)

The operating system my web server runs on is (include version): Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS Server

My hosting provider, if applicable, is: Contabo

I can login to a root shell on my machine (yes or no, or I don't know): Yes

I'm using a control panel to manage my site (no, or provide the name and version of the control panel): No

The version of my client is (e.g. output of certbot --version or certbot-auto --version if you're using Certbot): Certbot 0.39.0

Hi there,

I have generated certificates for my domain via certbot, and configured them in Apache as SSLCertificateFile, SSLCertificateKeyFile and SSLCertificateChainFile.

I am using the fullchain in the domain live folder for the chain file.

SSL is working as expected, however Qualys SSL Labs check is capping me to Grade B saying

This server's certificate chain is incomplete. Grade capped to B.

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=cloudyhost.net

I have looked at the chain file myself and it is generated automatically as the cert.pem contents followed by the chain.pem contents.

I would like to achieve an A+ and this is the only thing preventing me. How can I fix this without manually modifying the chain file every single renewal?

1 Like
2

Hi @alexhorner

looks like you have done something wrong. There is an incomplete chain - https://check-your-website.server-daten.de/?q=cloudyhost.net#connections

Chain - incomplete
1 CN=cloudyhost.net

No intermediate certificate is sent.

Share these three rows with the SSLCertificateFile ... parameters. A server restart is required.

3

Hi there,

Here are the directives

SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/cloudyhost.net/cert.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/cloudyhost.net/privkey.pem
SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/cloudyhost.net/privkey.pem
4

That's wrong:

SSLCertificateChainFile must have the fullchain.pem, not the privkey.pem a second time. Change it, restart the server, then recheck the domain.

2 Likes
5

Oh man, I didn’t even notice, how embarrasing.

Thats a pretty bad misconfig. I probably need to renew my certificates now for private key security right?

The SSLLabs test passed now, thank you for your help!

2 Likes
6

The current configuration is still incorrect. :sweat: It’s sending your certificate twice and the intermediate certificate once. Many clients will ignore the extra certificate, but some are stricter and will be unable to connect.

You need to use:

SSLCertificateFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/cloudyhost.net/cert.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/cloudyhost.net/privkey.pem
SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/cloudyhost.net/chain.pem

Or, in Apache 2.4.8 or newer, the equivalent but more concise:

SSLCertificateFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/cloudyhost.net/fullchain.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/cloudyhost.net/privkey.pem
7

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.