> 2016-10-11 17:11:18,798:DEBUG:root:Sending GET request to [https://acme-v01.api.letsencrypt.org/directory](https://acme-v01.api.letsencrypt.org/directory). args: (), kwargs: {}
> 2016-10-11 17:11:18,803:INFO:requests.packages.urllib3.connectionpool:Starting new HTTPS connection (1): [acme-v01.api.letsencrypt.org](http://acme-v01.api.letsencrypt.org)
> 2016-10-11 17:11:18,904:DEBUG:letsencrypt.cli:Exiting abnormally:
> Traceback (most recent call last):
> File "/usr/bin/letsencrypt", line 9, in
> load\_entry\_point('letsencrypt==0.4.1', 'console\_scripts', 'letsencrypt')()
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/letsencrypt/cli.py", line 1986, in main
> return config.func(config, plugins)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/letsencrypt/cli.py", line 660, in run
> le\_client = \_init\_le\_client(config, authenticator, installer)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/letsencrypt/cli.py", line 206, in \_init\_le\_client
> acc, acme = \_determine\_account(config)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/letsencrypt/cli.py", line 191, in \_determine\_account
> config, account\_storage, tos\_cb=\_tos\_cb)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/letsencrypt/client.py", line 116, in register
> acme = acme\_from\_config\_key(config, key)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/letsencrypt/client.py", line 41, in acme\_from\_config\_key
> return acme\_client.Client(config.server, key=key, net=net)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/acme/client.py", line 63, in **init**
> self.net.get(directory).json())
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/acme/client.py", line 627, in get
> self.\_send\_request('GET', url, \*\*kwargs), content\_type=content\_type)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/acme/client.py", line 609, in \_send\_request
> response = requests.request(method, url, \*args, \*\*kwargs)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/requests/api.py", line 53, in request
> return session.request(method=method, url=url, \*\*kwargs)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/requests/sessions.py", line 468, in request
> resp = self.send(prep, \*\*send\_kwargs)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/requests/sessions.py", line 576, in send
> r = adapter.send(request, \*\*kwargs)
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/requests/adapters.py", line 447, in send
> raise SSLError(e, request=request)
> SSLError: unknown error (\_ssl.c:2831)
I believe the SSL error is because any attempt to access [letsencrypt.org](http://letsencrypt.org) using curl fails:
> $ curl [https://helloworld.letsencrypt.org](https://helloworld.letsencrypt.org)
> curl: (60) server certificate verification failed. CAfile: /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt CRLfile: none
> More details here: [curl - SSL CA Certificates](http://curl.haxx.se/docs/sslcerts.html)
> curl performs SSL certificate verification by default, using a "bundle"
> of Certificate Authority (CA) public keys (CA certs). If the default
> bundle file isn't adequate, you can specify an alternate file
> using the --cacert option.
> If this HTTPS server uses a certificate signed by a CA represented in
> the bundle, the certificate verification probably failed due to a
> problem with the certificate (it might be expired, or the name might
> not match the domain name in the URL).
> If you'd like to turn off curl's verification of the certificate, use
> the -k (or --insecure) option.
should I be adding some certificate to my ca-certificates.crt? I've tried dpkg-reconfigure ca-certificates and update-ca-certificates and see no change...
---
### Author:  [@pfg](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/pfg)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/letsencrypt-crashes-because-curl-cant-access-letsencrypt-org/20963/2 "2016-10-11T17:26:36Z")
`helloworld.letsencrypt.org` is not an appropriate site to test connectivity to Let’s Encrypt’s CA server.
Try `curl`ing `https://acme-v01.api.letsencrypt.org/directory`, possibly adding `-v` as well to see some debug output.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/letsencrypt-crashes-because-curl-cant-access-letsencrypt-org/20963/3 "2016-11-10T17:35:01Z")
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