# Error getting validation data **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Created:** [October 27, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/error-getting-validation-data/136966 "2020-10-27T19:44:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dimiikou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/dimiikou/32/44033_2.png) [@Dimiikou](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/Dimiikou)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/error-getting-validation-data/136966/1 "2020-10-27T19:44:45Z")
Please fill out the fields below so we can help you better. Note: you must provide your domain name to get help. Domain names for issued certificates are all made public in Certificate Transparency logs (e.g. [https://crt.sh/?q=example.com](https://crt.sh/?q=example.com)), so withholding your domain name here does not increase secrecy, but only makes it harder for us to provide help. My domain is: [http://forum.crystalrage.net/](http://forum.crystalrage.net/) I ran this command: certbot --apache It produced this output: Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log Plugins selected: Authenticator apache, Installer apache Which names would you like to activate HTTPS for? * * * 1: [crystalrage.net](http://crystalrage.net) 2: [forum.crystalrage.net](http://forum.crystalrage.net) 3: [www.crystalrage.net](http://www.crystalrage.net) * * * Select the appropriate numbers separated by commas and/or spaces, or leave input blank to select all options shown (Enter 'c' to cancel): 2 Obtaining a new certificate Performing the following challenges: http-01 challenge for [forum.crystalrage.net](http://forum.crystalrage.net) Waiting for verification... Challenge failed for domain [forum.crystalrage.net](http://forum.crystalrage.net) http-01 challenge for [forum.crystalrage.net](http://forum.crystalrage.net) Cleaning up challenges Some challenges have failed. IMPORTANT NOTES: - The following errors were reported by the server: My web server is (include version): Apache2 based webserver The operating system my web server runs on is (include version): Debian 10 My hosting provider, if applicable, is: [https://mc-host24.de/](https://mc-host24.de/) 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 1.9.0 ---
**Author:** ![schoen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/schoen/32/79_2.png) [@schoen](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/schoen)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/error-getting-validation-data/136966/2 "2020-10-27T19:59:47Z")
Hi @Dimiikou, The "error getting validation data" is a catch-all error for some less-common reasons that the certificate authority can't connect to your site for validation purposes. (I wish that they would be broken out into more specific cases as they're identified.) In your case, the host 85.114.128.73 (and also 45.81.235.50) is unreachable from the public Internet; something in between replies with an error "Host unreachable". This could be a router or a misconfigured firewall. In order to use the `certbot --apache` method, your site must already be up and running, and reachable from the Internet, on port 80—which is apparently not the case for this server. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/original/3X/c/a/ca6c06ea1ea201324bba7048c6841ce60236468d.png) [@system](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/error-getting-validation-data/136966/3 "2020-11-26T19:59:50Z")
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