# Localhost.crt does not exist or is empty **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Created:** [October 13, 2019, 5:01am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/localhost-crt-does-not-exist-or-is-empty/103979 "2019-10-13T05:01:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kellian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f19dbf/32.png) [@Kellian](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/Kellian)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 5:01am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/localhost-crt-does-not-exist-or-is-empty/103979/1 "2019-10-13T05:01:40Z")
While setting up Certbot I got the following and this also includes the .log file that was created. [root@mail ~]# /usr/local/bin/certbot-auto certonly --apache Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log Error while running apachectl configtest. AH00526: Syntax error on line 85 of /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf: SSLCertificateFile: file ‘/etc/pki/tls/certs/localhost.crt’ does not exist or is empty Could not choose appropriate plugin: The apache plugin is not working; there may be problems with your existing configuration. The error was: MisconfigurationError(“Error while running apachectl configtest.\n\nAH00526: Syntax error on line 85 of /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.con f:\nSSLCertificateFile: file ‘/etc/pki/tls/certs/localhost.crt’ does not exist or is empty\n”,) The apache plugin is not working; there may be problems with your existing configuration. The error was: MisconfigurationError(“Error while running apachectl configtest.\n\nAH00526: Syntax error on line 85 of /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.con f:\nSSLCertificateFile: file ‘/etc/pki/tls/certs/localhost.crt’ does not exist or is empty\n”,) [root@mail ~]# cat /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log 2019-10-13 00:16:26,148:DEBUG:certbot.main:certbot version: 0.39.0 2019-10-13 00:16:26,150:DEBUG:certbot.main:Arguments: [’–apache’] 2019-10-13 00:16:26,151:DEBUG:certbot.main:Discovered plugins: PluginsRegistry(PluginEntryPoint#apache,PluginEntryPoint#manual,PluginEntryPoint# nginx,PluginEntryPoint#null,PluginEntryPoint#standalone,PluginEntryPoint#webroot) 2019-10-13 00:16:26,176:DEBUG:certbot.log:Root logging level set at 20 2019-10-13 00:16:26,178:INFO:certbot.log:Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log 2019-10-13 00:16:26,179:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Requested authenticator apache and installer apache 2019-10-13 00:16:26,258:ERROR:certbot.util:Error while running apachectl configtest. AH00526: Syntax error on line 85 of /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf: SSLCertificateFile: file ‘/etc/pki/tls/certs/localhost.crt’ does not exist or is empty 2019-10-13 00:16:26,259:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.disco:Misconfigured PluginEntryPoint#apache: Error while running apachectl configtest. AH00526: Syntax error on line 85 of /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf: SSLCertificateFile: file ‘/etc/pki/tls/certs/localhost.crt’ does not exist or is empty Traceback (most recent call last): File “/opt/eff.org/certbot/venv/lib64/python3.6/site-packages/certbot\_apache/configurator.py”, line 2239, in config\_test util.run\_script(self.option(“conftest\_cmd”)) File “/opt/eff.org/certbot/venv/lib64/python3.6/site-packages/certbot/util.py”, line 85, in run\_script raise errors.SubprocessError(msg) certbot.errors.SubprocessError: Error while running apachectl configtest. AH00526: Syntax error on line 85 of /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf: SSLCertificateFile: file ‘/etc/pki/tls/certs/localhost.crt’ does not exist or is empty During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred: Traceback (most recent call last): File “/opt/eff.org/certbot/venv/lib64/python3.6/site-packages/certbot/plugins/disco.py”, line 130, in prepare self.\_initialized.prepare() File “/opt/eff.org/certbot/venv/lib64/python3.6/site-packages/certbot\_apache/configurator.py”, line 239, in prepare self.config\_test() File “/opt/eff.org/certbot/venv/lib64/python3.6/site-packages/certbot\_apache/override\_centos.py”, line 58, in config\_test super(CentOSConfigurator, self).config\_test() File “/opt/eff.org/certbot/venv/lib64/python3.6/site-packages/certbot\_apache/configurator.py”, line 2241, in config\_test raise errors.MisconfigurationError(str(err)) certbot.errors.MisconfigurationError: Error while running apachectl configtest. AH00526: Syntax error on line 85 of /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf: SSLCertificateFile: file ‘/etc/pki/tls/certs/localhost.crt’ does not exist or is empty 2019-10-13 00:16:26,261:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Single candidate plugin: \* apache Description: Apache Web Server plugin Interfaces: IAuthenticator, IInstaller, IPlugin Entry point: apache = certbot\_apache.entrypoint:ENTRYPOINT Initialized: \ Prep: Error while running apachectl configtest. AH00526: Syntax error on line 85 of /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf: SSLCertificateFile: file ‘/etc/pki/tls/certs/localhost.crt’ does not exist or is empty 2019-10-13 00:16:26,264:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Single candidate plugin: \* apache Description: Apache Web Server plugin Interfaces: IAuthenticator, IInstaller, IPlugin Entry point: apache = certbot\_apache.entrypoint:ENTRYPOINT Initialized: \ Prep: Error while running apachectl configtest. AH00526: Syntax error on line 85 of /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf: SSLCertificateFile: file ‘/etc/pki/tls/certs/localhost.crt’ does not exist or is empty 2019-10-13 00:16:26,264:DEBUG:certbot.plugins.selection:Selected authenticator None and installer None 2019-10-13 00:16:26,265:INFO:certbot.main:Could not choose appropriate plugin: The apache plugin is not working; there may be problems with your existing configuration. The error was: MisconfigurationError(“Error while running apachectl configtest.\n\nAH00526: Syntax error on line 85 of /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.con f:\nSSLCertificateFile: file ‘/etc/pki/tls/certs/localhost.crt’ does not exist or is empty\n”,) 2019-10-13 00:16:26,266:DEBUG:certbot.log:Exiting abnormally: Traceback (most recent call last): File “/opt/eff.org/certbot/venv/bin/letsencrypt”, line 11, in load\_entry\_point(‘letsencrypt==0.7.0’, ‘console\_scripts’, ‘letsencrypt’)() File “/opt/eff.org/certbot/venv/lib64/python3.6/site-packages/certbot/main.py”, line 1378, in main return config.func(config, plugins) File “/opt/eff.org/certbot/venv/lib64/python3.6/site-packages/certbot/main.py”, line 1244, in certonly installer, auth = plug\_sel.choose\_configurator\_plugins(config, plugins, “certonly”) File “/opt/eff.org/certbot/venv/lib64/python3.6/site-packages/certbot/plugins/selection.py”, line 235, in choose\_configurator\_plugins diagnose\_configurator\_problem(“authenticator”, req\_auth, plugins) File “/opt/eff.org/certbot/venv/lib64/python3.6/site-packages/certbot/plugins/selection.py”, line 339, in diagnose\_configurator\_problem raise errors.PluginSelectionError(msg) certbot.errors.PluginSelectionError: The apache plugin is not working; there may be problems with your existing configuration. The error was: MisconfigurationError(“Error while running apachectl configtest.\n\nAH00526: Syntax error on line 85 of /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.con f:\nSSLCertificateFile: file ‘/etc/pki/tls/certs/localhost.crt’ does not exist or is empty\n”,) ---
**Author:** ![\_az](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/22d042/32.png) [@\_az](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/_az)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 6:01am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/localhost-crt-does-not-exist-or-is-empty/103979/2 "2019-10-13T06:01:48Z")
It’s a problem with the mod\_ssl package in RHEL8 and CentOS 8. When you install it the first time, it produces an invalid Apache configuration. Supposedly, restarting Apache via systemd fixes it: ``` systemctl restart httpd ``` Beneath the hood, it causes the following command to run, which fixes generates the missing snakeoil certificates: ``` /usr/libexec/httpd-ssl-gencerts ``` ---
**Author:** ![Kellian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f19dbf/32.png) [@Kellian](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/Kellian)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/localhost-crt-does-not-exist-or-is-empty/103979/3 "2019-10-13T15:19:31Z")
Thank you \_az for the your reply. I did exactly as you mentioned and it worked. Thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/original/3X/c/a/ca6c06ea1ea201324bba7048c6841ce60236468d.png) [@system](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/localhost-crt-does-not-exist-or-is-empty/103979/4 "2019-11-12T15:19:38Z")
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