# Unable to complete request

**URL:** <https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [February 17, 2022, 6:17am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217 "2022-02-17T06:17:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 14\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![avi-noga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/avi-noga/32/58580_2.png) [@avi-noga](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/avi-noga)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 6:17am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/1 "2022-02-17T06:17:51Z")

</div>

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: matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il

I ran this command: sudo certbot -v --apache

It produced this output:

Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log  
Plugins selected: Authenticator apache, Installer apache

Which names would you like to activate HTTPS for?

* * *

1: matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il

* * *

Select the appropriate numbers separated by commas and/or spaces, or leave input  
blank to select all options shown (Enter 'c' to cancel): 1  
Requesting a certificate for matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il  
Performing the following challenges:  
http-01 challenge for matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il  
Waiting for verification...  
Challenge failed for domain matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il  
http-01 challenge for matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il

Certbot failed to authenticate some domains (authenticator: apache). The Certificate Authority reported these problems:  
Domain: matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il  
Type: unauthorized  
Detail: Invalid response from [http://matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il/.well-known/acme-challenge/zlspuvpffg9DV81DHtgvv8oLRaJ04BuU6IiaV\_kt3lI](http://matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il/.well-known/acme-challenge/zlspuvpffg9DV81DHtgvv8oLRaJ04BuU6IiaV_kt3lI) [62.219.78.148]: "\n\n404 Not Found\n\n

# Not Found
\n\<p"

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.

Cleaning up challenges  
Some challenges have failed.  
Ask for help or search for solutions at [https://community.letsencrypt.org](https://community.letsencrypt.org). See the logfile /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log or re-run Certbot with -v for more details.

My web server is (include version):

The operating system my web server runs on is (include version): centos 7.7

My hosting provider, if applicable, is: KAMATERA

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): yes

The version of my client is (e.g. output of `certbot --version` or `certbot-auto --version` if you're using Certbot): certbot 1.23.0

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rg305](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/rg305/32/91314_2.png) [@rg305](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/rg305)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 9:11am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/2 "2022-02-17T09:11:31Z")

</div>

Hi @avi-noga and welcome to the LE community forum 🙂

It seems that `certbot` is unable to properly decipher the `Apache` configuration.  
Let's see if we can unravel the problem therein.  
We can start with the output of:  
`apachectl -t -D DUMP_VHOSTS`

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![avi-noga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/avi-noga/32/58580_2.png) [@avi-noga](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/avi-noga)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 9:26am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/3 "2022-02-17T09:26:22Z")

</div>

Hi!!

Thank you very much for your rapid response . we really appreciate this.

Here is the output:

Passing arguments to httpd using apachectl is no longer supported.

You can only start/stop/restart httpd using this script.

If you want to pass extra arguments to httpd, edit the

/etc/sysconfig/httpd config file.

VirtualHost configuration:

\*:80 matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il (/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf:44)

\*:443 127.0.0.1 (/etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf:56)

Regards,

Avi@Noga

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![avi-noga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/avi-noga/32/58580_2.png) [@avi-noga](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/avi-noga)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 11:03am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/4 "2022-02-17T11:03:19Z")

</div>

i`v changed my ssl.conf file accordingly to the new domain,  
but still have problem:

hich names would you like to activate HTTPS for?

* * *

1: matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il

* * *

Select the appropriate numbers separated by commas and/or spaces, or leave input  
blank to select all options shown (Enter 'c' to cancel): 1  
Requesting a certificate for matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il  
Performing the following challenges:  
http-01 challenge for matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il  
Waiting for verification...  
Challenge failed for domain matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il  
http-01 challenge for matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il

Certbot failed to authenticate some domains (authenticator: apache). The Certificate Authority reported these problems:  
Domain: matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il  
Type: unauthorized  
Detail: Invalid response from [http://matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il/.well-known/acme-challenge/ZLZMaHhXa3\_09u\_qc5iwmuUp8PX-Jkyx0Rmh\_83uK3o](http://matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il/.well-known/acme-challenge/ZLZMaHhXa3_09u_qc5iwmuUp8PX-Jkyx0Rmh_83uK3o) [62.219.78.148]: "\n\n404 Not Found\n\n

# Not Found
\n\<p"

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.

Cleaning up challenges  
Some challenges have failed.  
Ask for help or search for solutions at [https://community.letsencrypt.org](https://community.letsencrypt.org). See the logfile /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log or re-run Certbot with -v for more details.  
[root@nogawebapps2 ~]# **apachectl -t -D DUMP\_VHOSTS**  
Passing arguments to httpd using apachectl is no longer supported.  
You can only start/stop/restart httpd using this script.  
If you want to pass extra arguments to httpd, edit the  
/etc/sysconfig/httpd config file.  
VirtualHost configuration:  
\*:80 matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il (/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf:44)  
\*:443 matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il (/etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf:56)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![9peppe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/9peppe/32/31596_2.png) [@9peppe](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/9peppe)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 11:23am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/5 "2022-02-17T11:23:07Z")

</div>

> [@avi-noga](#):
>
> \*:80 matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il (/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf:44)  
> \*:443 matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il (/etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf:56)

Show us both files.

I think you'll need to use `--webroot` and to install your certificate manually. (Don't forget `--deploy-hook`)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![avi-noga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/avi-noga/32/58580_2.png) [@avi-noga](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/avi-noga)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 11:41am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/6 "2022-02-17T11:41:14Z")

</div>

hi.  
here are the files: [files](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yd6vrxLsKHCFZRRuOjjZD2k5KlY42o9c?usp=sharing)

sorry , but i don`t understand your further instructions about manually certificate.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![9peppe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/9peppe/32/31596_2.png) [@9peppe](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/9peppe)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 7:48pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/7 "2022-02-17T19:48:12Z")

</div>

It's a bit of a mess, and a bit nonstandard.

If your http server works, try running

`certbot --dry-run --webroot -w /var/www/html -d matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il --deploy-hook "command to reload apache"`

If it works, you have to run it again removing `--dry-root` and manually create an encrypted virtualhost [(and configure your server better, because that ssl.conf file is pretty outdated.)](https://ssl-config.mozilla.org)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![avi-noga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/avi-noga/32/58580_2.png) [@avi-noga](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/avi-noga)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/8 "2022-02-17T21:26:19Z")

</div>

got an error:

certbot certonly --dry-run --webroot -w /var/www/html -d matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il --deploy-hook "systemctl reload httpd"

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

Account registered.

Simulating a certificate request for matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il

Certbot failed to authenticate some domains (authenticator: webroot). The Certificate Authority reported these problems:

Domain: matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il

Type: unauthorized

Detail: Invalid response from [http://matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il/.well-known/acme-challenge/L6\_JlpR1rxD9Ez4K3BFC6FqyMatOEPSKzunZWzeX5Cc](http://matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il/.well-known/acme-challenge/L6_JlpR1rxD9Ez4K3BFC6FqyMatOEPSKzunZWzeX5Cc) [62.219.78.148]: "\n\n404 Not Found\n\n

# Not Found
\n\<p"

Hint: The Certificate Authority failed to download the temporary challenge files created by Certbot. Ensure that the listed domains serve their content from the provided --webroot-path/-w and that files created there can be downloaded from the internet.

Some challenges have failed.

Ask for help or search for solutions at [https://community.letsencrypt.org](https://community.letsencrypt.org). See the logfile /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log or re-run Certbot with -v for more details.

בברכה,

אבי סילאם

נגה פתרונות לסיעוד

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![9peppe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/9peppe/32/31596_2.png) [@9peppe](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/9peppe)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 10:29pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/9 "2022-02-17T22:29:53Z")

</div>

It's quite strange. What's the directory you put your website files in?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![avi-noga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/avi-noga/32/58580_2.png) [@avi-noga](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/avi-noga)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 10:27am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/10 "2022-02-20T10:27:36Z")

</div>

/var/www/html

these are my ssl.conf and httpd.conf files:

[conf](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yd6vrxLsKHCFZRRuOjjZD2k5KlY42o9c?usp=sharing)

please help

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![9peppe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/9peppe/32/31596_2.png) [@9peppe](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/9peppe)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 1:12pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/11 "2022-02-20T13:12:28Z")

</div>

Something is missing there. You redirect http to https but I cannot find the https virtualhost (there's a default one with a self signed certificate and no `ServerName` and no `DocumentRoot`.

You might want to reset apache's config to afctory condition and then add a single file in /etc/httpd/conf.d with these contents:

```nohighlight
<VirtualHost *:80>
  ServerName matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il
  DocumentRoot /var/www/html

  RewriteEngine on
  RewriteCond %{SERVER_NAME} =matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well\-known/acme\-challenge/
  RewriteRule ^ https://%{SERVER_NAME}%{REQUEST_URI} [END,NE,R=permanent]
</VirtualHost>

```

get your certificate (`certbot --dry-run --webroot -w /var/www/html -d matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il --deploy-hook "command to reload apache"`), and then run `certbot certificates` it will tell you where your fullchain and where your key are.

Once you gave a cert and key, add this to that file:

```nohighlight
<VirtualHost *:443>
  ServerName matan-chen-visits.noga-software.co.il
  DocumentRoot /var/www/html

  SSLEngine on
  SSLCertificateFile /path/to/fullchain.pem
  SSLCertificateKeyFile /path/to/key.pem

  Protocols h2 http/1.1
</VirtualHost>

```

If you want to go further, see here what to change in ssl.conf: [Mozilla SSL Configuration Generator](https://ssl-config.mozilla.org/#server=apache&version=2.4.41&config=intermediate&openssl=1.1.1k&hsts=false&guideline=5.6)

don't change httpd.conf.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![avi-noga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/avi-noga/32/58580_2.png) [@avi-noga](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/avi-noga)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 2:36pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/12 "2022-02-20T14:36:27Z")

</div>

I don`t understand anything

בברכה,

אבי סילאם

נגה פתרונות לסיעוד

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![9peppe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/9peppe/32/31596_2.png) [@9peppe](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/9peppe)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/13 "2022-02-20T15:52:23Z")

</div>

Managing a webserver is only easy if you know what you're doing. Otherwise, you risk your website getting compromised and more.

To add on that, you're using CentOS, which is common enough, but only in enterprise settings and not among volunteers.

We will help you, but we can't do it for you.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/original/3X/c/a/ca6c06ea1ea201324bba7048c6841ce60236468d.png) [@system](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-complete-request/172217/14 "2022-03-22T15:53:07Z")

</div>

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