Unable to renew certs as nginx is missing fullchain.pem

[wusatiuk]

command: nginx

output:
nginx: [emerg] BIO_new_file("/etc/letsencrypt/live/wpms.at/fullchain.pem") failed (SSL: error:02001002:system library:fopen:No such file or directory:fopen('/etc/letsencrypt/live/wpms.at/fullchain.pem','r') error:2006D080:BIO routines:BIO_new_file:no such file)

the fullchain.pem was somehow not there anymore. cannot even find it somewhere else. and now i don´t know how to reinstall the cert, as i cannot get nginx running anymore without the cert.

domain: wpms.at
OS: Ubuntu 16.04.4 LTS
webserver: nginx/1.10.0
hoster: linode
root acess: available
control panel: easy engine (which is no real control panel)

problem:
cannot start nginx due to missing cert (file: /etc/letsencrypt/live/wpms.at/fullchain.pem). cannot renew cert due to not running nginx.

[_az]

Since you can’t restart nginx, you might as well just issue your previous certificate using standalone mode.

For example:

certbot certonly --standalone --cert-name wpms.at \
-d bauspardarlehen.co.at \
-d gas-anbieter.at \
-d immobilien-bewertung.co.at \
-d kredit-vergleich.co.at \
-d online-kredit.co.at \
-d sofort-kredit.co.at \
-d wpms.at \
-d www.bankkonten.at \
-d www.baukreditrechner.net \
-d www.express-kredit.com \
-d www.kredit-sofort.at \
-d www.oesterreich-kreditrechner.at \
-d www.online-kreditvergleich.at \
-d www.ratenkreditrechner.net \
-d www.taxi-linz.at \
-d www.wohnkredit-rechner.at \
-d www.wpms.at

or if your renewal parameters are still intact, you can try the simpler:

certbot renew --cert-name wpms.at -a standalone

[wusatiuk]

thank you very much - worked perfectly.

[schoen]

If you are then going to to restart nginx listening on port 443, you’ll need to change the authentication method before your next renewal, otherwise -a standalone will no longer work due to the conflict with nginx over port 443.