Question

Need an explainer for ssl cert on spaces (one that won't make my head hurt).

Posted on May 10, 2021
DigitalOcean Spaces
Asked by Darren Fransella

I am baffled about how to create an ssl cert on one of my servers but use it on the subdomain for spaces. If I create a DNS entry for images.mydomain.com so Certbot can find it and issue an SSL cert. By definition, I am defining that my server’s IP is responsible to respond for that URL. How can I then copy that cert to the Spaces API and expect that it will now be responding for that subdomain? Would I not need to change my DNS to have a CNAME for the subdomain to point to CDN URL? If I do that how will I be able to then have Certbot find the original server to update my ssl cert after 90 days. I am befuddled. I anyone can explain this to me I would greatly appreciate it.

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Bobby Iliev

Site Moderator

• May 12, 2021

Accepted Answer

Hi there,

It would indeed work as you described it, but if you do it that way, you would need to manually reissue the certificate every 90 days and again manually add the updated certificate to your account.

What you could do instead is to use the SSL automation provided by DigitalOcean. For that you would need the following:

You need to have your Domain name added to your DigitalOcean account
You would need to be using the DigitalOcean nameservers.
Then after that, as you mentioned, add a CNAME record for the subdomain name you want to use and point it to your Space.
Then go to Settings -> Security -> Click on Add Certificate and choose your domain name followed by the subdomain that you will use for your space and click on generate.

That way you will not have to worry about manually issuing and updating your SSL certificate every 90 days.

In case that you need it, you can find the documentation here.

Let me know if you have any questions. Regards, Bobby