My domain is: derek.dahlsad.com
I ran this command: certbot -apache v
It produced this output:
[root@usfour httpd]# certbot --apache -v
Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
Plugins selected: Authenticator apache, Installer apache
Which names would you like to activate HTTPS for?
We recommend selecting either all domains, or all domains in a VirtualHost/server block.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1: dahlsad.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Select the appropriate numbers separated by commas and/or spaces, or leave input
blank to select all options shown (Enter 'c' to cancel): 2
Requesting a certificate for derek.dahlsad.com
Performing the following challenges:
http-01 challenge for derek.dahlsad.com
Waiting for verification...
Challenge failed for domain derek.dahlsad.com
http-01 challenge for derek.dahlsad.com
Certbot failed to authenticate some domains (authenticator: apache). The Certificate Authority reported these problems:
Domain: derek.dahlsad.com
Type: unauthorized
Detail: 23.105.39.97: Invalid response from http://derek.dahlsad.com/.well-known/acme-challenge/z9r8-1Nge-YUOPtftbR_zC3rdEnj_RYULwWmP30FY1w: 403
Hint: The Certificate Authority failed to verify the temporary Apache configuration changes made by Certbot. Ensure that the listed domains point to this Apache server and that it is accessible from the internet.
Cleaning up challenges
Some challenges have failed.
Ask for help or search for solutions at https://community.letsencrypt.org. See the logfile /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log or re-run Certbot with -v for more details.
My web server is (include version):
Server version: Apache/2.4.62 (AlmaLinux)
Server built: Jan 29 2025 00:00:00
The operating system my web server runs on is (include version):
AlmaLinux release 9.5 (Teal Serval)
My hosting provider, if applicable, is: virtual server from Leaseweb
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 3.1.0
So, I’ve never used Let’s Encrypt before, and this is a “new” server – clean install of OS, installed Apache and other things, and there’s just one domain on it – dahlsad.com – and I’m trying to install certificates for derek.dahlsad.com (dahlsad.com, www.dahlsad.com, and usfour.equilibri-yum.com (the server’s canonical name) are also VirtualHosts but all get the same error.)
I’ve gone through the previous messages about 403 errors. I’ve change the owner on /var/lib/letsencrypt to apache:apache, the folder that the html files are in has been changed to apache:apache, the folder where my http.conf and includes has been changed to apache:apache (which I believe is bad form). http://derek.dahlsad.com works fine. https://derek.dahlsad.com gives a ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR but I don’t see anything in ssl_error_log. Access_log does show the connection attempt:
23.178.112.104 - - [21/Aug/2025:12:16:11 +0000] "GET /.well-known/acme-challenge/z9r8-1Nge-YUOPtftbR_zC3rdEnj_RYULwWmP30FY1w HTTP/1.1" 403 199 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Let's Encrypt validation server; +https://www.letsencrypt.org)"
Any suggestions appreciated, thanks!