# Error when running certbot --apache

**URL:** <https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/error-when-running-certbot-apache/242809>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [November 8, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/error-when-running-certbot-apache/242809 "2025-11-08T01:37:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![earl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ea666f/32.png) [@earl](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/earl)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/error-when-running-certbot-apache/242809/1 "2025-11-08T01:37:51Z")

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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. [crt.sh | 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: sigmadeltapi.club

I ran this command: certbot --apache

It produced this output: Requesting a certificate for sigmadeltapi.club and www.sigmadeltapi.club  
Performing the following challenges:  
http-01 challenge for sigmadeltapi.club  
http-01 challenge for www.sigmadeltapi.club  
Waiting for verification...  
Challenge failed for domain sigmadeltapi.club  
Challenge failed for domain www.sigmadeltapi.club  
http-01 challenge for sigmadeltapi.clubCertbot failed to authenticate some domains (authenticator: apache). The Certificate Authority reported these problems:  
Domain: sigmadeltapi.club  
Type: connection  
Detail: 162.210.21.107: Fetching [http://sigmadeltapi.club/.well-known/acme-challenge/yiROwYnmHJ2VWa6hg05FEw\_0VWpmUNYx5TgsJUD8jfI:](http://sigmadeltapi.club/.well-known/acme-challenge/yiROwYnmHJ2VWa6hg05FEw_0VWpmUNYx5TgsJUD8jfI:) Error getting validation data

Domain: www.sigmadeltapi.club  
Type: connection  
Detail: 162.210.21.107: Fetching [http://www.sigmadeltapi.club/.well-known/acme-challenge/j3sLJ\_GQiCxvmpOREMr48FlD1ezxzgkGuXSYeKykMiY:](http://www.sigmadeltapi.club/.well-known/acme-challenge/j3sLJ_GQiCxvmpOREMr48FlD1ezxzgkGuXSYeKykMiY:) Error getting validation data

http-01 challenge for www.sigmadeltapi.club

My web server is (include version): apache2

The operating system my web server runs on is (include version): Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

My hosting provider, if applicable, is:

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

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 2.9.0

Can't view letsencrypt.log even with sudo.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MikeMcQ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/mikemcq/32/52772_2.png) [@MikeMcQ](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/MikeMcQ)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2025, 2:49am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/error-when-running-certbot-apache/242809/2 "2025-11-08T02:49:13Z")

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> [@earl](#):
>
> Domain: sigmadeltapi.club  
> Type: connection  
> Detail: 162.210.21.107: Fetching [http://sigmadeltapi.club/.well-known/acme-challenge/yiROwYnmHJ2VWa6hg05FEw\_0VWpmUNYx5TgsJUD8jfI:](http://sigmadeltapi.club/.well-known/acme-challenge/yiROwYnmHJ2VWa6hg05FEw_0VWpmUNYx5TgsJUD8jfI:) Error getting validation data

The "Error getting validation data" means the Let's Encrypt server could not complete its HTTP request to your domain. This is most likely a firewall on your premises. Or, perhaps a routing problem like wrong NAT or port forwarding in your router or comms config.

This is not a problem unique to Let's Encrypt. This test site cannot reach your domain's server from any of many locations around the world: [Check website performance and response : Check host - online website monitoring](https://check-host.net/check-report/31e36dcak65e)

To use the HTTP challenge your domain needs to be accessible to HTTP requests on port 80. The --apache option you chose uses the HTTP Challenge. See: [Challenge Types - Let's Encrypt](https://letsencrypt.org/docs/challenge-types/)

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/original/3X/c/a/ca6c06ea1ea201324bba7048c6841ce60236468d.png) [@system](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2025, 2:50am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/error-when-running-certbot-apache/242809/3 "2025-12-08T02:50:04Z")

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