Help for a newby- Some challenges have failed

Help
1

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), so withholding your domain name here does not increase secrecy, but only makes it harder for us to provide help.

My domain is:oakorchardweather.net and n8aay.net

I ran this command:sudo certbot --apache

It produced this output: Certbot failed to authenticate some domains (authenticator: apache). The Certificate Authority reported these problems:
Identifier: n8aay.net
Type: unauthorized
Detail: 66.96.161.165: Invalid response from https://n8aay.net/.well-known/acme-challenge/fPhqAA6kVCOni_le8RHBiGOdeRMZ0XYlg_zw6q20HBQ: 404

Identifier: oakorchardweather.net
Type: unauthorized
Detail: 66.96.161.165: Invalid response from https://oakorchardweather.net/.well-known/acme-challenge/3WD5hxYPK_Di1XLtlnY8wRtOIXklVwoEzBH-V5-NnvM: 404

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.

Some challenges have failed.

My web server is (include version): apache2 -v
Server version: Apache/2.4.67 (Raspbian)
Server built: 2026-05-06T09:07:41

The operating system my web server runs on is (include version):
cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)"
NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="13"
VERSION="13 (trixie)"
VERSION_CODENAME=trixie
DEBIAN_VERSION_FULL=13.4

My hosting provider, if applicable, is:
NetworkSolutions

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):
https://vdeck3.networksolutions.com/controlpanel/foundation/hosting
https://www.networksolutions.com/my-account/hosting/list

The version of my client is (e.g. output of certbot --version or certbot-auto --version if you're using Certbot):
certbot --version
certbot 5.7.0

2

What is Network Solutions providing? Are they providing the Raspberry PI? Are they providing their own web server, if so why are you trying to get your own certificates?

3

@ericg75 I agree with Max that this looks like something better addressed to Network Solutions.

Your n8aay domain is working fine with a current cert: SSL Server Test: n8aay.net (Powered by Qualys SSL Labs)

Although, your other domain has an expired cert: SSL Server Test: oakorchardweather.net (Powered by Qualys SSL Labs)

Both of those certs are wildcard certs. You could not replace those by using Certbot's --apache option anyway. A wildcard cert requires a DNS Challenge and --apache uses an HTTP Challenge. Maybe you need certs for something else entirely and that is fine. But, please explain what that is then.

Ignoring the expired cert those two domains respond with the same "home" page. Overall it looks like something has gotten messed up at the NetSol config.

4

I have a RaspberryPi here (in my office) running a weather software application (weewx)- my home weather station supplies all the weather data to my Rpi (weewx). Also on that same Rpi is Appache2, and honestly, I really do not know if it (Apache2) is actually doing anything. The weewx ap ftp's reports up to (NetworkSolutions) host every 30 minutes.
I know that NetworkSolutions does not offer "free" SSL. Also, they do not facilitate "letsEncrypt".
I had an IT tech help me get a SSL CA certificate, and it worked fine for a year or 2- but now I am getting "site is not secure" when I try to visit it. Also: the IT tech administered SSL login for me to access my Rpi from my windows desktop PC- this function is still working for me.
Admittedly, this situation is NOT a big problem at all...I just wish to make operation a little cleaner (ie: secure), and learn (diy) about the processes involved.
This weather web site is the only operating web site I have. You can see that I have two domains: n8aay.net and oakorchardweather.net.
So is this something I can do myself: replace the current outdated certificate with another one using Certbot? Perhaps if I do get a new certificate generated with Certbot- could also plug that new certificate into my SSL Rpi login process. ?

5

Well, both of those domains are using Let's Encrypt wildcard certs now so somebody must be getting them for you.

Do you know who Newfold Digital is? Because the IP address in the DNS looks like it might be handled by them.

Which company did the IT Tech work for? Have you asked them about this problem?

Well, not simply (or at all) the way this looks now. When a browser accesses your domain it is connecting to a server at some hosting site (not your Apache). It is that hosting site that needs to fix the problem with the cert.

Could you possibly eliminate that hosting service / site and use your local system instead? Maybe, but based on what you've said I think using a hosting service is a good idea given your limited knowledge of how these things work. And, this isn't a site devoted to helping people design servers and public internet access in general. You'd need to seek elsewhere for that help. The cert is only one (small) piece of that effort.