# Using the webroot domain verification method

**URL:** https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/using-the-webroot-domain-verification-method/1445
**Category:** Server
**Created:** [October 5, 2015, 11:38am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/using-the-webroot-domain-verification-method/1445 "2015-10-05T11:38:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 7

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Leliana](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/leliana/32/1034_2.png) [@Leliana](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/Leliana)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2015, 6:20am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/using-the-webroot-domain-verification-method/1445/7 "2015-10-21T06:20:53Z")

</div>

Here’s a little trick we’re using with nginx and the webroot validator to automate letsencrypt with software that isn’t a webserver. This allows you to validate any domain pointed at your server regardless of whether there’s a website behind it and without having to have a free port 443 for the standalone authenticator.

Create /etc/letsencrypt/webrootauth/

In /etc/nginx/snippets/letsencryptauth.conf

```
location /.well-known/acme-challenge {
    alias /etc/letsencrypt/webrootauth/.well-known/acme-challenge;
    location ~ /.well-known/acme-challenge/(.*) {
        add_header Content-Type application/jose+json;
    }
}

```

In /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default (or wherever your default server block is. You DO have one, right?)

```
server {
    listen 80 default_server;
    root /etc/letsencrypt/webrootauth;
    include snippets/letsencryptauth.conf;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl spdy default_server;
    ssl on;
    # This can be any cert on your system, it doesn't matter.
    # I think the letsencrypt DV accepts a self-signed cert.
    ssl_certificate ssl/default/default.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key ssl/default/default.key;

    root /etc/letsencrypt/webrootauth;
    include snippets/letsencryptauth.conf;
}

```

Then just use the letsencrypt client + webroot authenticator normally with

```
--webroot-path /etc/letsencrypt/webrootauth

```

included in the parameters.

You can also include snippets/letsencryptauth.conf in your other server configs to allow using your “global” webroot for them too, it won’t break anything.

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_[View the full topic](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/using-the-webroot-domain-verification-method/1445)._