{"id":13708,"date":"2024-12-11T11:18:29","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T11:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bodhost.com\/kb\/?p=13708"},"modified":"2026-02-26T14:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:02:09","slug":"how-to-install-an-ssl-certificate-on-nginx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bodhost.com\/kb\/how-to-install-an-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Install an SSL Certificate on NGINX"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Securing your website with SSL protects data and builds user trust. In this guide, we\u2019ll walk you through the steps to efficiently install an SSL certificate on NGINX.<\/p>\n<p>To successfully install an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bodhost.com\/security\/ssl-certificate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SSL certificate<\/a> on your NGINX server, you will need the following files:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Primary certificate (.crt file)<\/li>\n<li>Root and intermediate certificates (.ca-bundle file)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once you have obtained these files from your Certificate Authority (CA), follow the steps below to complete the installation.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Combine the Certificates: <\/strong>The first step is to combine all the certificates issued for your domain into a single file. You can do this either manually or using commands.\n<p><strong>Manual Combination: <\/strong>Ensure you follow this sequence when combining the certificates:<br \/>\n1. Primary certificate for your domain.<br \/>\n2. Intermediate certificates.<br \/>\n3. Root certificate.<strong>Automatic Combination: <\/strong>Use the following commands to combine the certificates:<\/p>\n<p>1. If you have separate intermediate and root files:<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>cat your_domain.crt intermediate.crt root.crt &gt;&gt; ssl-bundle.crt<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>2. If your intermediate and root certificates are in a single .ca-bundle file:<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>cat your_domain.crt bundle.crt &gt;&gt; ssl-bundle.crt<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Note: Replace your_domain.crt and bundle.crt with the actual file names.<br \/>\nSave the combined file (ssl-bundle.crt) in your NGINX server\u2019s SSL directory.<\/li>\n<li>Edit the NGINX Configuration File:<br \/>\nNext, modify the NGINX configuration file (nginx.conf) to include the SSL settings.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Locate the virtual host for port 443. If one doesn\u2019t exist, duplicate the virtual host for port 80 and update it to listen on port 443.<\/li>\n<li>Add or update the following properties in the virtual host record:\n<ol>\n<li>SSL on;<\/li>\n<li>ssl_certificate \u2013 Path to the combined SSL file (ssl-bundle.crt).<\/li>\n<li>ssl_certificate_key \u2013 Path to your private key file (generated during the CSR creation).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Your updated configuration should look like this:\n<pre>server { \r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 listen 443;\u00a0 \r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ssl on;\u00a0 \r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ssl_certificate \/etc\/ssl\/ssl-bundle.crt;\u00a0 \r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ssl_certificate_key \/etc\/ssl\/private.key;\u00a0 \r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 server_name yourdomain.com;\u00a0 \r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 access_log \/var\/log\/nginx\/nginx.vhost.access.log;\u00a0 \r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 error_log \/var\/log\/nginx\/nginx.vhost.error.log;\u00a0 \r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 location \/ {\u00a0 \r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 root \/var\/www\/;\u00a0 \r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 index index.html;\u00a0 \r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 }\u00a0 \r\n\r\n}<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Restart NGINX<br \/>\nAfter saving the configuration file, restart the NGINX server to apply the changes:<strong><em>sudo \/etc\/init.d\/nginx restart<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Your SSL certificate will be installed successfully on your NGINX server.<\/li>\n<li>Verify<br \/>\nTo verify the installation, use an online SSL checker tool to confirm your site is secured.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>You can now install an SSL Certificate on NGINX. If you need further assistance, please don\u2019t hesitate to contact our support team.<\/p>\n<p>Read Also: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bodhost.com\/kb\/how-to-install-nginx-in-whm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to Install NGINX in WHM<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Securing your website with SSL protects data and builds user trust. In this guide, we\u2019ll walk you through the steps to efficiently install an SSL certificate on NGINX. To successfully install an SSL certificate on your NGINX server, you will need the following files: Primary certificate (.crt file) Root and intermediate certificates (.ca-bundle file) Once [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[864],"tags":[1585],"class_list":["post-13708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ssl","tag-install-an-ssl-certificate-on-nginx"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Install an SSL Certificate on NGINX<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Installing an SSL certificate on NGINX ensures secure data transmission by encrypting the connection between the server and clients.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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