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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsCertbot standalone mode obtains a free TLS certificate from Let’s Encrypt by running a temporary web server of its own. During validation, that server answers the ACME HTTP-01 challenge on public TCP port 80; after the challenge succeeds, Certbot saves the certificate files so you can configure Apache, nginx, Caddy, an application server, or another TLS endpoint yourself.
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Standalone is the simplest choice for a new or otherwise unused host. It is not a good fit when another service must keep port 80 continuously available, when the domain cannot be reached from the public internet, or when you need a wildcard certificate. Those cases call for webroot or DNS-01 validation instead.
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What Certbot standalone mode does
Certbot is a client for the ACME protocol, and Let’s Encrypt is the certificate authority that performs the domain check. In standalone mode, Certbot opens a temporary listener on port 80 and places the validation response there. Let’s Encrypt connects to each requested domain name over HTTP and checks that the response matches the challenge. If every name passes, the authority issues one certificate containing those names.
The standalone plugin is designed for a machine that does not have existing web-server software, or for an administrator who does not want Certbot editing a web-server configuration. The plugin does not install HTTPS into Apache or nginx. Its job ends after issuance; you select the certificate files and configure your server manually.
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The certificate request can include several names. For example, two -d options create a certificate covering both the apex domain and its www host. Every requested name must resolve to the machine running Certbot and must reach that machine during validation.
Prerequisites to check before you start
Most standalone failures are caused by reachability or a port conflict rather than by the certificate command itself. Check these conditions first:
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- Public HTTP access: Let’s Encrypt must be able to connect to TCP port 80 from the public internet. Permit the port in the operating-system firewall, cloud security group, router or NAT rule, and any provider-level firewall.
- A free port: Stop Apache, nginx, Caddy, a development server, a reverse proxy, or any other process already bound to port 80. Standalone cannot share that socket during validation.
- Administrative access: Binding to a privileged port and writing the standard certificate directories normally requires root or administrator access.
- A supported installation: Install Certbot using the project’s instructions for your operating system. The project documents installation paths for Linux, macOS, BSD, and Windows.
Do not test only from inside the same LAN. A local DNS override, hairpin NAT, or split-horizon DNS can make the site appear reachable to you while Let’s Encrypt still cannot connect. Check the public DNS answer and test port 80 from a separate network whenever possible.
Install Certbot on the target machine
Use the Certbot installation method recommended for the operating system rather than copying a package command intended for another distribution. The important operational requirement is that the Certbot process runs on the server to which the requested names resolve, or on a host that can accept the challenge traffic and write the resulting files where your TLS service can use them.
After installation, confirm that the executable is available and that your account can run it with elevated privileges. A package may expose the command as certbot; if your platform uses a packaged service or isolated environment, follow that package’s documented path and permission model.
Before requesting a production certificate, verify that your firewall and cloud controls allow inbound TCP 80. If your provider blocks that port at the network edge, changing the local firewall will not solve the problem; use DNS-01 validation or move the challenge to infrastructure where you control inbound access.
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Issue a certificate with the standalone plugin
Once DNS has propagated and port 80 is available, obtain a certificate without changing your web-server configuration:
sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d example.com -d www.example.comcertonly tells Certbot to obtain the certificate but not install it into Apache or nginx. The first -d value is commonly treated as the certificate’s primary name; each additional -d adds another name to the same certificate.
- Stop the current HTTP service. Stop the service that owns port 80 and make sure it remains stopped for the short validation window. If you use a reverse proxy or container, stop the component on the host that actually owns the published port.
- Run the command as an administrator. Certbot starts its temporary listener, creates the HTTP-01 challenge response, and asks Let’s Encrypt to validate every requested name.
- Read the result. A successful run reports the certificate and key locations. An error normally identifies a bind problem or a failed reachability check; fix that underlying condition before repeating the request.
- Restore your service. Restart the web server or application that normally handles HTTP and HTTPS traffic.
- Configure TLS manually. Point the server at the generated certificate and private key, reload its configuration, and test HTTPS from outside the host’s network.
Do not leave the temporary standalone listener running as a substitute for your production web server. It exists only to answer the ACME challenge and is not an application-serving configuration.
Find and use the generated certificate files
Certbot keeps active certificate links below:
/etc/letsencrypt/live/<certificate-name>/The directory normally contains at least:
fullchain.pem— the server certificate followed by the issuing chain, suitable for most TLS server configurations.privkey.pem— the private key. Treat it as secret, restrict its permissions, and do not put it in a public document directory.
Certbot also maintains related material under its Let’s Encrypt configuration and renewal directories. Preserve those directories when backing up the host; copying only a currently resolved file can break future renewal or lose the renewal configuration.
Configure your TLS endpoint according to that software’s syntax. The exact directives differ between Apache, nginx, Caddy, standalone application servers, and load balancers, so use the endpoint’s documentation for the certificate and key-file settings. After editing, run its configuration test if available, then reload rather than rebooting the machine. Verify that the served certificate contains every intended name and that clients receive the full chain.
Renew a standalone certificate without unexpected downtime
Certbot records the options needed to renew the certificate and provides a common renewal command:
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sudo certbot renewThe command checks all managed certificates and exits successfully when none is due. That behavior makes it suitable for a scheduled task, but standalone renewal still needs to reclaim port 80 for each actual validation. A web server that remains bound to the port will cause the renewal attempt to fail.
Use pre- and post-hooks when a service owns port 80
Configure a renewal arrangement that stops the HTTP service immediately before validation and starts it again afterward. The hooks must target the service that owns the host’s port, not merely an application process behind a proxy. Keep the stop period as short as practical and ensure the post-hook runs after both successful and failed attempts so an error does not leave production traffic offline.
Use a deploy hook for actions that should occur only after a certificate was actually renewed. For example, a deploy hook can reload a TLS service so it notices the new files without reloading on every scheduled run. This distinction prevents unnecessary reloads when certbot renew finds that no certificate is due.
Test the renewal path safely
Run the documented dry run:
sudo certbot renew --dry-runThe dry run uses the staging environment and exercises the renewal configuration without replacing the live certificate. Confirm that your hooks stop and restart the correct service, that port 80 is available during the challenge, and that the final reload succeeds. A dry run that cannot bind the port is a configuration problem to fix before the production renewal window.
Troubleshoot common standalone errors
“Address already in use”
Another process is listening on port 80. Identify the owning service with the host’s socket or process tools, stop it, and repeat the issuance command. For automated renewal, move the stop and restart actions into the configured pre- and post-hooks so the same conflict does not return on the next scheduled run.
Connection refused or timeout
A refused connection usually means the traffic reached the host but no listener accepted it; a timeout often indicates filtering or incorrect routing. Check the complete path:
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- Confirm that the public A and AAAA records return the intended address.
- Check the host firewall and make sure TCP 80 is allowed.
- Check cloud security groups, provider firewalls, and network access-control lists.
- Verify router or NAT forwarding if the machine is on a private network.
- Ask whether the hosting provider or ISP filters inbound port 80.
- Ensure that the service is listening on the public interface, not only on
127.0.0.1.
EFF’s standalone guidance specifically warns that a provider must not block port 80. If you cannot obtain a publicly reachable HTTP path, HTTP-01 standalone is the wrong validation method; DNS-01 does not require inbound port 80.
IPv6 causes an unexpected bind message
Certbot attempts an IPv6 bind before IPv4. On some systems, IPv4 traffic is routed through the IPv6 socket, so an expected IPv4 bind failure can appear even though the listener is usable. Treat the message in context: determine whether the challenge actually fails, and inspect the host’s dual-stack socket behavior before disabling IPv6 or changing unrelated services.
DNS points to the wrong machine
Every requested name is validated independently. A certificate request can fail because one less-used hostname still points to an old server, a stale AAAA record, or a load balancer that does not forward the challenge. Correct the record or routing for that name, wait for the public DNS answer to update, and then retry.
The service did not come back after validation
A manually stopped service must be restarted even when issuance fails. For scheduled renewals, make the restart a reliable post-hook and test it with the dry run. Check the service’s own logs and configuration-test output before reloading a certificate that may not yet have been renewed.
Run standalone mode with Docker or another container
Containerizing Certbot does not remove the network requirements. The host must publish TCP port 80 into the Certbot container, and no other host process can occupy that published port during validation. If a reverse proxy normally owns port 80, stop or reconfigure it for the challenge window.
Persist both /etc/letsencrypt and /var/lib/letsencrypt as durable volumes. The first contains live certificate links and renewal configuration; the second contains working state used by Certbot. Without persistent storage, a recreated container can lose the account and renewal data even if the initial certificate was successful.
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Make the resulting certificate files available to the TLS-serving container through a controlled read-only mount or an equivalent deployment step. After renewal, reload or restart the service that terminates HTTPS so it reads the new certificate. Test the complete stop, challenge, persistence, and reload sequence before relying on it unattended.
Can standalone issue a wildcard certificate?
No. Standalone uses the ACME HTTP-01 challenge, and HTTP-01 cannot validate wildcard names. A request such as *.example.com requires DNS-01 validation, in which you publish a challenge record under the domain’s DNS zone.
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Choose standalone, webroot, or DNS validation
| Method | Must an existing web server remain running? | Is public port 80 required? | Wildcard names | Renewal automation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standalone (HTTP-01) | No. Certbot temporarily supplies the HTTP listener. | Yes, and Certbot must be able to bind it during validation. | Not supported. | Requires a way to stop and restart the service that normally owns port 80. |
| Webroot (HTTP-01) | Yes. Certbot writes challenge files into the existing document root. | Yes, because Let’s Encrypt still fetches the file over HTTP. | Not supported. | Usually avoids stopping the web server when the document root and routing are correct. |
| DNS-01 | No web server is required for the challenge. | No inbound HTTP listener is needed. | Supported. | Can be highly automated with a DNS provider plugin, but requires secure DNS credentials and reliable record updates. |
Use standalone on an otherwise unused host when taking down HTTP briefly is acceptable. Use webroot when a functioning web server already serves the domain and can expose the challenge directory without interruption. Use DNS-01 for wildcards, private hosts, blocked port 80, or environments where DNS automation is easier to control than a web-server stop.
Operational and security practices
- Protect the private key: Limit access to
privkey.pemto the account that needs to start or reload the TLS service. Never publish the key through a web root, image registry, or unrestricted backup share. - Keep renewal state: Back up the Let’s Encrypt configuration and renewal directories with appropriate secrecy. A backup should not expose private keys to people who do not administer the service.
- Monitor scheduled runs: Capture the output and exit status of the renewal job. A command that runs successfully while no certificate is due does not prove that the next real validation will work.
- Test from outside: After issuance and after renewal, connect from an external network and inspect the certificate names, chain, and expiration through your normal client or TLS diagnostic tool.
- Plan for every name: Removing or adding a name changes the certificate request. Keep the intended name list in the renewal configuration and review it when DNS or service topology changes.
- Minimize outage time: If standalone is used beside a production web server, schedule the brief port-80 interruption during a low-traffic period and make restart hooks idempotent.
What “free SSL” includes—and what it does not
Let’s Encrypt certificate issuance through Certbot has no certificate purchase fee. You still need a reachable host, DNS control, firewall or cloud-network access, and an operational plan for renewal. Hosting, a static or public IP address, managed DNS, and administrator time can carry separate costs, but they are not charges for the certificate itself.
The operational documents used for this procedure establish the commands, file locations, network conditions, and validation limits. They do not establish a universal success rate, a standalone-specific certificate lifetime, or a rate-limit figure, so those numbers should not be assumed when planning capacity.
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A practical decision checklist
- List every DNS name that must appear on the certificate.
- Confirm each name’s public A and, where applicable, AAAA record points to the target host.
- Verify that external clients can reach TCP port 80 through the firewall, security group, NAT, and provider.
- Determine which process owns port 80 and define how it will be stopped and restarted.
- Install Certbot using the operating system’s supported method.
- Run
sudo certbot certonly --standalonewith one-doption per name. - Configure the TLS service with
fullchain.pemandprivkey.pem, then reload it. - Set up scheduled
certbot renewexecution with tested hooks and a deploy hook where a reload is needed only after renewal. - Run
sudo certbot renew --dry-runand correct every failure before depending on unattended renewal. - If you need a wildcard or cannot expose port 80, switch to DNS-01 rather than trying to force standalone to handle an unsupported challenge.
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