Certbot on ubuntu 20.04

Please, I would like to create a certificat with certbot on ubuntu 20.04
I run a command following,
sudo certbot --apache
sudo certbot --nginx
sudo certbot --apache -d example.com -d www.example.com

the output is here for each command
The requested apache plugin does not appear to be installed

Please someone can help me

1 Like

How did install Certbot? Did you also install the Apache plugin?

2 Likes

I've installed certbot with snap
sudo snap install --classic certbot

1 Like

Hm, weird, if I read the instructions (Certbot Instructions | Certbot) right, that command should also include the apache plugin..

Can you perhaps show the contents of /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log ?

2 Likes

This is the contents of /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log

root@nextcloud:~# cat /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
2022-02-14 08:46:51,710:DEBUG:certbot.main:certbot version: 0.40.0
2022-02-14 08:46:51,711:DEBUG:certbot.main:Arguments: ['--email', 'ouattara_koudoussou@bfix.bf']
2022-02-14 08:46:51,711:DEBUG:certbot.main:Discovered plugins: PluginsRegistry(PluginEntryPoint#dns-ovh,PluginEntryPoint#manual,PluginEntryPoint#null,PluginEntryPoint#standalone,PluginEntryPoint#webroot)
2022-02-14 08:46:51,727:DEBUG:certbot.log:Root logging level set at 20
2022-02-14 08:46:51,727:INFO:certbot.log:Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
2022-02-14 08:46:51,884:DEBUG:acme.client:Sending GET request to https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory.
2022-02-14 08:46:51,910:DEBUG:urllib3.connectionpool:Starting new HTTPS connection (1): acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org:443
2022-02-14 08:46:53,765:DEBUG:urllib3.connectionpool:https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org:443 "GET /directory HTTP/1.1" 200 658
2022-02-14 08:46:53,766:DEBUG:acme.client:Received response:
HTTP 200
Server: nginx
Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2022 08:46:53 GMT
Content-Type: application/json
Content-Length: 658
Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: public, max-age=0, no-cache
X-Frame-Options: DENY
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=604800

{
"-g257LhM4_A": "Adding random entries to the directory",
"keyChange": "https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/acme/key-change",
"meta": {
"caaIdentities": [
"letsencrypt.org"
],
"termsOfService": "https://letsencrypt.org/documents/LE-SA-v1.2-November-15-2017.pdf",
"website": "https://letsencrypt.org"
},
"newAccount": "https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/acme/new-acct",
"newNonce": "https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/acme/new-nonce",
"newOrder": "https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/acme/new-order",
"revokeCert": "https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/acme/revoke-cert"
}
2022-02-14 08:47:02,206:DEBUG:acme.client:Requesting fresh nonce
2022-02-14 08:47:02,206:DEBUG:acme.client:Sending HEAD request to https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/acme/new-nonce.
2022-02-14 08:47:02,457:DEBUG:urllib3.connectionpool:https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org:443 "HEAD /acme/new-nonce HTTP/1.1" 200 0
2022-02-14 08:47:02,458:DEBUG:acme.client:Received response:
HTTP 200
Server: nginx
Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2022 08:47:02 GMT
Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: public, max-age=0, no-cache
Link: https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory;rel="index"
Replay-Nonce: 0001Okr75rQPg6xoEC8fBzDm_pTY5YNjlTGq_61RlAYPL8o
X-Frame-Options: DENY
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=604800

2022-02-14 08:47:02,458:DEBUG:acme.client:Storing nonce: 0001Okr75rQPg6xoEC8fBzDm_pTY5YNjlTGq_61RlAYPL8o
2022-02-14 08:47:02,458:DEBUG:acme.client:JWS payload:
b'{\n "contact": [\n "mailto:ouattara_koudoussou@bfix.bf"\n ],\n "termsOfServiceAgreed": true,\n "resource": "new-reg"\n}'
2022-02-14 08:47:02,463:DEBUG:acme.client:Sending POST request to https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/acme/new-acct:
{
"protected": "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",
"signature": "bPdJ2zqpG7TQGSxm14LY4fXlnA0lv-fHfI4oejlmkbs9krIPwLB8RIY82qnmfFu2h0X-VRwA0zWXwRpDJsYcgSiPkSS0VAU2n6QxkfRwO-EntFOV4PofSpmN1mY_vo1bErxZwlKuSFTbWW4lqqWREmPOncYatoLRqou5ZY4IhdS542PayQMdeKGx4kGGAwvtZF2MRlPmu4Aizwc0rE1ou8PuqjwFa5UDP-Mx8JqGOextL2XNtZKqhLQ-04w7_vttIGdy30xjxKOzKOcb_Ep_6Z9m_GvUeUMX6z92W1XJ5cB4r0FzNOwaHAxsflYgmDtuWYKWmQrTkjKD7CyvfSoHhA",
"payload": "ewogICJjb250YWN0IjogWwogICAgIm1haWx0bzpvdWF0dGFyYV9rb3Vkb3Vzc291QGJmaXguYmYiCiAgXSwKICAidGVybXNPZlNlcnZpY2VBZ3JlZWQiOiB0cnVlLAogICJyZXNvdXJjZSI6ICJuZXctcmVnIgp9"
}
2022-02-14 08:47:02,721:DEBUG:urllib3.connectionpool:https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org:443 "POST /acme/new-acct HTTP/1.1" 201 569
2022-02-14 08:47:02,722:DEBUG:acme.client:Received response:
HTTP 201
Server: nginx
Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2022 08:47:02 GMT
Content-Type: application/json
Content-Length: 569
Connection: keep-alive
Boulder-Requester: 408392430
Cache-Control: public, max-age=0, no-cache
Link: https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory;rel="index", https://letsencrypt.org/documents/LE-SA-v1.2-November-15-2017.pdf;rel="terms-of-service"
Location: https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/acme/acct/408392430
Replay-Nonce: 0001VhowKre75zunDdVIBQpbqRAGjmY381HONpBCJN0VMA0
X-Frame-Options: DENY
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=604800

{
"key": {
"kty": "RSA",
"n": "x0yCoQzktKUzq_0NUV4S4etPjxGjefrhvkEZAJpKlVqhIkI8kB2r5y99gO1vgMWr0OgdP7jdWOqbRtrDjXGNfcwVN8FLzwO4Q78gef0fDhBWMF8IjVwgOK-pFYkPoX3wpqMyE30FPI3Oh4CLIY3h--4TZolt-DHqWaxYeLy4is7AyFLfh2XYxNK7hukNE4IazJuWoSoPnF4uA6RMm6waKzwL_rUOqdaGjeqnQoXSa7Wu-P0OEOOLeg9vGNL0EXXY5VhGWt9lEALlsLDZ0yTHYVHMO98QK1sLyI7_jTc_hKflU6bkxaoDUAJs9Il5anJb4KBDbdAvfu3IKdd6OFAcPw",
"e": "AQAB"
},
"contact": [
"mailto:ouattara_koudoussou@bfix.bf"
],
"initialIp": "196.49.19.49",
"createdAt": "2022-02-14T08:47:02.599998704Z",
"status": "valid"
}
2022-02-14 08:47:02,722:DEBUG:acme.client:Storing nonce: 0001VhowKre75zunDdVIBQpbqRAGjmY381HONpBCJN0VMA0
2022-02-14 08:47:02,724:DEBUG:certbot.reporter:Reporting to user: Your account credentials have been saved in your Certbot configuration directory at /etc/letsencrypt. You should make a secure backup of this folder now. This configuration directory will also contain certificates and private keys obtained by Certbot so making regular backups of this folder is ideal.
2022-02-14 08:47:07,707:DEBUG:certbot.eff:Sending POST request to Read Our Newsletter | Electronic Frontier Foundation
{'data_type': 'json', 'email': 'ouattara_koudoussou@bfix.bf', 'form_id': 'eff_supporters_library_subscribe_form'}
2022-02-14 08:47:07,709:DEBUG:urllib3.connectionpool:Starting new HTTPS connection (1): supporters.eff.org:443
2022-02-14 08:47:09,780:DEBUG:urllib3.connectionpool:https://supporters.eff.org:443 "POST /subscribe/certbot HTTP/1.1" 200 52
2022-02-14 08:47:09,782:DEBUG:certbot.eff:Received response:
b'{"status":false,"message":"Please try again later."}'
2022-02-14 08:47:09,783:DEBUG:certbot.reporter:Reporting to user: We were unable to subscribe you the EFF mailing list because your e-mail address appears to be invalid. You can try again later by visiting https://act.eff.org.
2022-02-14 09:48:11,917:DEBUG:certbot.main:certbot version: 0.40.0
2022-02-14 09:48:11,918:DEBUG:certbot.main:Arguments: ['--apache']
2022-02-14 09:48:11,918:DEBUG:certbot.main:Discovered plugins: PluginsRegistry(PluginEntryPoint#dns-ovh,PluginEntryPoint#manual,PluginEntryPoint#null,PluginEntryPoint#standalone,PluginEntryPoint#webroot)
2022-02-14 09:48:11,931:DEBUG:certbot.log:Root logging level set at 20
2022-02-14 09:48:11,931:INFO:certbot.log:Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
2022-02-14 09:48:11,932:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Requested authenticator apache and installer apache
2022-02-14 09:48:11,932:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:No candidate plugin
2022-02-14 09:48:11,932:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Selected authenticator None and installer None
2022-02-14 09:49:00,885:DEBUG:certbot.main:certbot version: 0.40.0
2022-02-14 09:49:00,885:DEBUG:certbot.main:Arguments: ['--apache']
2022-02-14 09:49:00,886:DEBUG:certbot.main:Discovered plugins: PluginsRegistry(PluginEntryPoint#dns-ovh,PluginEntryPoint#manual,PluginEntryPoint#null,PluginEntryPoint#standalone,PluginEntryPoint#webroot)
2022-02-14 09:49:00,899:DEBUG:certbot.log:Root logging level set at 20
2022-02-14 09:49:00,899:INFO:certbot.log:Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
2022-02-14 09:49:00,900:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Requested authenticator apache and installer apache
2022-02-14 09:49:00,900:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:No candidate plugin
2022-02-14 09:49:00,901:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Selected authenticator None and installer None
2022-02-14 09:49:23,532:DEBUG:certbot.main:certbot version: 0.40.0
2022-02-14 09:49:23,533:DEBUG:certbot.main:Arguments: ['--nginx']
2022-02-14 09:49:23,533:DEBUG:certbot.main:Discovered plugins: PluginsRegistry(PluginEntryPoint#dns-ovh,PluginEntryPoint#manual,PluginEntryPoint#null,PluginEntryPoint#standalone,PluginEntryPoint#webroot)
2022-02-14 09:49:23,545:DEBUG:certbot.log:Root logging level set at 20
2022-02-14 09:49:23,546:INFO:certbot.log:Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
2022-02-14 09:49:23,547:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Requested authenticator nginx and installer nginx
2022-02-14 09:49:23,547:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:No candidate plugin
2022-02-14 09:49:23,547:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Selected authenticator None and installer None
2022-02-14 09:50:16,099:DEBUG:certbot.main:certbot version: 0.40.0
2022-02-14 09:50:16,100:DEBUG:certbot.main:Arguments: ['--apache', '-d', 'nextcloud.bfix.bf', '-d', 'www.nextcloud.bfix.bf']
2022-02-14 09:50:16,100:DEBUG:certbot.main:Discovered plugins: PluginsRegistry(PluginEntryPoint#dns-ovh,PluginEntryPoint#manual,PluginEntryPoint#null,PluginEntryPoint#standalone,PluginEntryPoint#webroot)
2022-02-14 09:50:16,113:DEBUG:certbot.log:Root logging level set at 20
2022-02-14 09:50:16,113:INFO:certbot.log:Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
2022-02-14 09:50:16,114:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Requested authenticator apache and installer apache
2022-02-14 09:50:16,114:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:No candidate plugin
2022-02-14 09:50:16,114:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Selected authenticator None and installer None
2022-02-14 09:50:41,974:DEBUG:certbot.main:certbot version: 0.40.0
2022-02-14 09:50:41,974:DEBUG:certbot.main:Arguments: ['--apache']
2022-02-14 09:50:41,974:DEBUG:certbot.main:Discovered plugins: PluginsRegistry(PluginEntryPoint#dns-ovh,PluginEntryPoint#manual,PluginEntryPoint#null,PluginEntryPoint#standalone,PluginEntryPoint#webroot)
2022-02-14 09:50:41,987:DEBUG:certbot.log:Root logging level set at 20
2022-02-14 09:50:41,987:INFO:certbot.log:Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
2022-02-14 09:50:41,988:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Requested authenticator apache and installer apache
2022-02-14 09:50:41,988:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:No candidate plugin
2022-02-14 09:50:41,988:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:No candidate plugin
2022-02-14 09:50:41,988:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Selected authenticator None and installer None
2022-02-14 09:50:41,988:INFO:certbot.main:Could not choose appropriate plugin: The requested apache plugin does not appear to be installed
2022-02-14 09:50:41,989:DEBUG:certbot.log:Exiting abnormally:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/certbot", line 11, in
load_entry_point('certbot==0.40.0', 'console_scripts', 'certbot')()
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/certbot/main.py", line 1382, in main
return config.func(config, plugins)
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/certbot/main.py", line 1244, in certonly
installer, auth = plug_sel.choose_configurator_plugins(config, plugins, "certonly")
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/certbot/plugins/selection.py", line 235, in choose_configurator_plugins
diagnose_configurator_problem("authenticator", req_auth, plugins)
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/certbot/plugins/selection.py", line 339, in diagnose_configurator_problem
raise errors.PluginSelectionError(msg)
certbot.errors.PluginSelectionError: The requested apache plugin does not appear to be installed
2022-02-14 10:03:32,070:DEBUG:certbot.main:certbot version: 0.40.0
2022-02-14 10:03:32,071:DEBUG:certbot.main:Arguments: ['--apache']
2022-02-14 10:03:32,071:DEBUG:certbot.main:Discovered plugins: PluginsRegistry(PluginEntryPoint#dns-ovh,PluginEntryPoint#manual,PluginEntryPoint#null,PluginEntryPoint#standalone,PluginEntryPoint#webroot)
2022-02-14 10:03:32,085:DEBUG:certbot.log:Root logging level set at 20
2022-02-14 10:03:32,085:INFO:certbot.log:Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
2022-02-14 10:03:32,086:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Requested authenticator apache and installer apache
2022-02-14 10:03:32,087:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:No candidate plugin
2022-02-14 10:03:32,087:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:No candidate plugin
2022-02-14 10:03:32,087:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Selected authenticator None and installer None
2022-02-14 10:03:32,087:INFO:certbot.main:Could not choose appropriate plugin: The requested apache plugin does not appear to be installed
2022-02-14 10:03:32,087:DEBUG:certbot.log:Exiting abnormally:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/certbot", line 11, in
load_entry_point('certbot==0.40.0', 'console_scripts', 'certbot')()
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/certbot/main.py", line 1382, in main
return config.func(config, plugins)
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/certbot/main.py", line 1244, in certonly
installer, auth = plug_sel.choose_configurator_plugins(config, plugins, "certonly")
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/certbot/plugins/selection.py", line 235, in choose_configurator_plugins
diagnose_configurator_problem("authenticator", req_auth, plugins)
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/certbot/plugins/selection.py", line 339, in diagnose_configurator_problem
raise errors.PluginSelectionError(msg)
certbot.errors.PluginSelectionError: The requested apache plugin does not appear to be installed

I run this command after to read the instructions (Certbot Instructions | Certbot)
before I had used the same instructions to install certbot
sudo ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot
ln: failed to create symbolic link '/usr/bin/certbot': File exists

1 Like

Did you remove any older version of Certbot as instructed by the manual? Because the Certbot that is running now, is quite old:

Most definitely not the snap version.

3 Likes

snap run certbot were my answer

1 Like

So running Certbot directly from snap works like a charm, as expected.

Nevertheless, you should look into older installed versions of Certbot. Maybe installed using apt? Or perhaps the ancient, deprecated certbot-auto script? I'm not sure how the cronjob or systemd timer installed by snap is running exactly. Maybe automated renewal is hampered by having older, non-functional Certbots laying around.

When found, please delete any non-snap Certbot version(s) and redo step 6 ("Prepare the Certbot command") of the Certbot instructions you and I both have linked above.

4 Likes

Thank you the problem is resolved

3 Likes

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