# Unable to Renew certificates automatically error due to --manual -download Plugin **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Created:** [July 16, 2020, 12:47pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-renew-certificates-automatically-error-due-to-manual-download-plugin/128606 "2020-07-16T12:47:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sambit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/sambit/32/41168_2.png) [@sambit](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/sambit)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 12:47pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-renew-certificates-automatically-error-due-to-manual-download-plugin/128606/1 "2020-07-16T12:47:05Z")
My domain is: \*.budgetallocator.com I ran this command: certbot certonly --manual -d ‘\*.budgetallocator.com’ --manual-public-ip-logging-ok It produced this output: certificate for [budgetallocator.com](http://budgetallocator.com) till 2020-09-28 Details are as follows - Certificate Name: [budgetallocator.com](http://budgetallocator.com) Domains:budgetallocator.com Expiry Date: 2020-09-28 11:49:59+00:00 (VALID: 89 days) My web server is (include version): nginx 1.4.6 The operating system my web server runs on is (include version): Ubuntu 14.04 My hosting provider, if applicable, is: 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://cp.dnsmadeeasy.com/](https://cp.dnsmadeeasy.com/) The version of my client is (e.g. output of `certbot --version` or `certbot-auto --version` if you’re using Certbot):certbot 0.26.1 I am trying to renew automatically via crontab using **certbot renew** but it is not working asking - Could not choose appropriate plugin: authenticator could not be determined or is not installed authenticator could not be determined or is not installed ---
**Author:** ![schoen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/schoen/32/79_2.png) [@schoen](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/schoen)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-renew-certificates-automatically-error-due-to-manual-download-plugin/128606/2 "2020-07-16T19:56:17Z")
Hi @sambit, Certificates obtained with `--manual` can normally not be renewed non-interactively from cron, because the renewal also requires manual human interaction, which cron jobs can’t provide. Is it this wildcard certificate that you’re trying to renew, or a different one? ---
**Author:** ![sambit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/sambit/32/41168_2.png) [@sambit](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/sambit)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-renew-certificates-automatically-error-due-to-manual-download-plugin/128606/3 "2020-07-16T20:28:23Z")
I am trying to renew the certificate as the configuration is already present in my server /etc/letsencrypt/renew/website.conf . It was my mistake I have executed the manual command to renew the certificate instead of certbot renew simple command . Is there any chance I can try deleting the certificate & get the certificate once again which can be auto renewal by using certbot renew command ? ---
**Author:** ![schoen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/schoen/32/79_2.png) [@schoen](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/schoen)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 8:34pm UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-renew-certificates-automatically-error-due-to-manual-download-plugin/128606/4 "2020-07-16T20:34:11Z")
You don’t have to delete the certificate. How do you want Certbot to prove your control over the domain name for renewal? ---
**Author:** ![sambit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/sambit/32/41168_2.png) [@sambit](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/sambit)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 7:07am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-renew-certificates-automatically-error-due-to-manual-download-plugin/128606/5 "2020-07-17T07:07:04Z")
usually it should be automatically to be renewed when i run certbot renew command . for other sites its working fine but this one i recently mistakenly renewed via manual method as i wasn’t aware of this issue earlier . ---
**Author:** ![\_az](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/22d042/32.png) [@\_az](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/_az)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 7:12am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-renew-certificates-automatically-error-due-to-manual-download-plugin/128606/6 "2020-07-17T07:12:14Z")
To renew a wildcard automatically, you would need to use the DNS Made Easy DNS plugin: [https://certbot-dns-dnsmadeeasy.readthedocs.io/en/stable/](https://certbot-dns-dnsmadeeasy.readthedocs.io/en/stable/). This is because wildcard certificates must be authorized via the DNS challenge ([https://letsencrypt.org/docs/challenge-types/](https://letsencrypt.org/docs/challenge-types/)), so you cannot use the usual `--nginx` or `--webroot` metods. However, as Ubuntu 14.04 is now end-of-life and Certbot is no longer published for it, I don’t think you will be able to install that DNS plugin. If you wish to renew a normal certificate (non-wildcard), you could change the `authenticator `in the `.conf` file to something that supports automatic renewal (not `manual`, something like `webroot` or `nginx`). ---
**Author:** ![sambit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/sambit/32/41168_2.png) [@sambit](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/sambit)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 7:57am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-renew-certificates-automatically-error-due-to-manual-download-plugin/128606/7 "2020-07-17T07:57:01Z")
i found this is the configuration for the wildcard certificate - # Options used in the renewal process [renewalparams] authenticator = manual server = [https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory](https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory) manual\_public\_ip\_logging\_ok = True account = 9c905520d74 So how do i change it back to something like this for another site - [www.website.com](http://www.website.com) [renewalparams] account = 9c905520d74 authenticator = webroot server = [https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory](https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory) [[webroot\_map]] [www.website.com](http://www.website.com) = /var/www ---
**Author:** ![\_az](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/22d042/32.png) [@\_az](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/_az)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 8:09am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-renew-certificates-automatically-error-due-to-manual-download-plugin/128606/8 "2020-07-17T08:09:12Z")
As I mentioned in my previous post, you can’t. Wildcards are special, and must be authenticated using DNS TXT records. Most likely, you used `--manual` in the first place because it was the only way to get a wildcard certificate at all. `webroot` and `nginx` cannot be used for wildcard certificates. You must use the DNS Made Easy plugin, or otherwise `--manual` with an authentication hook/script (automatic renewal), or without (no automatic renewal). ---
**Author:** ![sambit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/sambit/32/41168_2.png) [@sambit](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/sambit)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 8:56am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-renew-certificates-automatically-error-due-to-manual-download-plugin/128606/9 "2020-07-17T08:56:11Z")
got it , so i was looking into DNS Made Easy plugin & it say to acquire a certificate for `example.com` i have to use this - certbot certonly –dns-dnsmadeeasy –dns-dnsmadeeasy-credentials ~/.secrets/certbot/dnsmadeeasy.ini -d [example.com](http://example.com) So how do i aquire a wildcard certificate for \*.budgetallocator.com ? Should i do like this ? certbot certonly –dns-dnsmadeeasy –dns-dnsmadeeasy-credentials ~/.secrets/certbot/dnsmadeeasy.ini -d \*.budgetallocator.com ---
**Author:** ![\_az](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/22d042/32.png) [@\_az](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/_az)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 9:06am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-renew-certificates-automatically-error-due-to-manual-download-plugin/128606/10 "2020-07-27T09:06:40Z")
A post was split to a new topic: [Automatic renewal of --manual wildcard certificate](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/automatic-renewal-of-manual-wildcard-certificate/129511) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/original/3X/c/a/ca6c06ea1ea201324bba7048c6841ce60236468d.png) [@system](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 9:06am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/unable-to-renew-certificates-automatically-error-due-to-manual-download-plugin/128606/11 "2020-08-26T09:06:41Z")
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