Simulation failed

[root@1234]# python --version

Python 2.7.5

[root@1234]# certbot --version

certbot 2.10.0

webserver is: apache

OS is:CentOS Linux release 7.9.2009 (Core)

I am trying to do the auto cert renewal using certbot, acme and incommons (sectigo).
the certificate issued successfully but the dry run failed.

[root@1234]# certbot renew --dry-run

Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log


Processing /etc/letsencrypt/renewal/certname


Simulating renewal of an existing certificate for domain1 and domain2
Failed to renew certificate domain1 with error: Expecting value: line 1 column 1 (char 0)


All simulated renewals failed. The following certificates could not be renewed:

/etc/letsencrypt/live/certname/fullchain.pem (failure)


1 renew failure(s), 0 parse failure(s)

please help me through this.

Hi @sulemmuh,

When you opened this thread in the Help section, you should have been provided with a questionnaire. Maybe you didn't get it somehow (which is weird), or you've decided to delete it. In any case, all the answers to this questionnaire are required:

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

My domain is:

I ran this command:

It produced this output:

My web server is (include version):

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

My hosting provider, if applicable, is:

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

I'm using a control panel to manage my site (no, or provide the name and version of the control panel):

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

Thank you for assisting us in helping YOU!

2 Likes

Also @sulemmuh,

How did you install Certbot?

The recommended way to install Certbot, please see:
(generally a good idea to remove all installed copies of Certbot before starting)

1 Like

Can we see the output of

grep -R . /etc/letsencrypt/renewal

The values in this output (e.g. account ID) are not passwords or cryptographic keys, so it's OK to post them.

2 Likes

I used snapd to install the certbot.

This seems way old; I (maybe not others) would have expected Python3

[quote="sulemmuh, post:1, topic:218031"]

/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:# renew_before_expiry = 30 days
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:version = 2.10.0
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:archive_dir = /etc/letsencrypt/archive/1234
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:cert = /etc/letsencrypt/live/1234/cert.pem
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:privkey = /etc/letsencrypt/live/1234/privkey.pem
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:chain = /etc/letsencrypt/live/1234/chain.pem
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:fullchain = /etc/letsencrypt/live/1234/fullchain.pem
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:# Options used in the renewal process
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:[renewalparams]
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:account = 1234
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:rsa_key_size = 4096
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:key_type = rsa
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:config_dir = /etc/letsencrypt
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:server = https://acme.1234.com
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:authenticator = apache
/etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234:installer = apache

Thanks for the /etc/letsencrypt/renewal information. It looks normal to me. So I guess we would want to see some information from /var/log/letsencrypt, at least a few lines prior to the Failed to renew certificate domain1 with error line.

facing same error even with the python 3.6.8.

1 Like

@sulemmuh,

What do the online tools reveal?
https://unboundtest.com/
https://letsdebug.net/
https://dnsviz.net/

2 Likes

I moved cli.ini file from /etc/letsencrypt/cli.ini to /etc/letsencrypt/renewal/cli,ini and get the certificate again.

and ran the:

[root@1234]# certbot renew --dry-run
Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log


Processing /etc/letsencrypt/renewal/1234


Account registered.
Simulating renewal of an existing certificate for domain1 and domain2

Certbot failed to authenticate some domains (authenticator: apache). The Certificate Authority reported these problems:
Domain: 1234
Type: connection
Detail: XXXX: Fetching http://1234/.well-known/acme-challenge/xxxxxxxx Timeout during connect (likely firewall problem)

Domain: 1234
Type: dns
Detail: DNS problem: NXDOMAIN looking up A for 1234 - check that a DNS record exists for this domain; DNS problem: NXDOMAIN looking up AAAA for 1234 - check that a DNS record exists for this domain

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.

Failed to renew certificate cert-mae with error: Some challenges have failed.


All simulated renewals failed. The following certificates could not be renewed:
/etc/letsencrypt/live/domain-1/fullchain.pem (failure)


1 renew failure(s), 0 parse failure(s

@sulemmuh it is usually best to check that suggestion. :slight_smile:

1 Like

but do you think to put cli.ini file inside the /renewal folder. while this is not its location?

I do not know; but if this is more recent check this post

1 Like

but do you think if its fine to put cli.ini file inside the /renewal folder. while this is not its location?

That will just cause it to be ignored completely. Perhaps there was something in the cli.ini file that was overriding other settings in an undesirable way?

2 Likes

@Bruce5051 The Certbot snap ships its own version of Python. So the system Python version doesn't really matter.

3 Likes

Then why was the OP showing those details?

1 Like

I don't know? Ask OP? The fact an OP mentions something does absolutely not mean it's also relevant.

@sulemmuh,

Why was the Python version mentioned?

Given @Osiris comment

1 Like