bmatthewshea/certbot_install_ubuntu20+.md

## certbot_install_ubuntu20+.md

      
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              certbot_install_ubuntu20+.md
            
          
    CERTBOT - Install using Python PIP
Install Certbot using Python PIP (Package Installer for Python) - without using SNAP, APT or SYSTEMD. (Debian/Ubuntu)

This guide will help you install LetsEncrypt / Certbot and a DNS plugin (certbot-dns-route53) using PIP under Debian/Ubuntu.


You should already be somewhat familiar with LetsEncrypt, Certbot and any plugin you might need.


This guide uses a DNS provider plugin (AWS Route53), but this is really about the install method - not plugins, or validation methods.


This pip Python install method should also work on other Linux distributions that support python3 + pip.


In my opinion, this is the best install method (as of now) as the APT version is always behind and I refuse to use SNAPD.
Brady Shea / bmatthewshea 28SEP2021

Last Updated: 17MAR2022

Original: https://gist.github.com/bmatthewshea/f6a66ddb2e52ccdbc905aed73d9ca59c

1. Install Python PIP, PIP dependencies and Certbot
Some cleanup first - just in case.

Ignore any 'not found' errors:
sudo apt remove --purge certbot*  # Purge any old certbots via apt.
sudo apt-add-repository --remove ppa:certbot/certbot  # Remove certbot repo.
sudo apt update && sudo apt autoremove  # Re-update and remove any orphaned packages.

Install Python pip:
sudo apt install python3-pip

Install Certbot using Python pip to a system area (sudo -H) - NOT the user area (/home/.local):
sudo -H pip3 install certbot

(IGNORE any warnings like "Running pip as the 'root' user can result in broken permissions..")

Optional - If you use AWS-Route53 DNS you'll need this. Or, pick your own plugin (if needed):
sudo -H pip3 install certbot-dns-route53

For errors such as:
ERROR: zope-component 5.0.1 has requirement zope.interface>=5.3.0a1, but you'll have zope-interface 4.7.1 which is incompatible.

Upgrade the individual python package mentioned in error:
sudo -H pip3 install zope.interface --upgrade

You should see: "Successfully installed zope.interface-5.4.0" depending on name-version.

Reinstalling certbot (using the pip3 command above) should give 0 errors. If so, continue on..
2. Create an AWS-IAM credentials file
Again, I include this here for completeness only.

This guide is really about installing certbot using pip. If you do not use Route53, skip this.
Reference: https://certbot-dns-route53.readthedocs.io/en/stable/
sudo mkdir /root/.aws && sudo chmod 700 /root/.aws
sudo touch /root/.aws/credentials && sudo chmod 600 /root/.aws/credentials
sudo nano /root/.aws/credentials # (Add your own IAM creds in this file and save.)

3. Dry Run and Execution
Running this will also write /etc/letsencrypt/ folders/files (if they don't exist):
sudo certbot certonly --dry-run --agree-tos --dns-route53 --cert-name example -d example.net -d *.example.net

You should see: "The dry run was successful.". If so, execute same line w/o dry-run:
sudo certbot certonly --agree-tos --dns-route53 --cert-name example -d example.net -d *.example.net

4. Optional, but recommended: Setup automatic renewal and "hooks"
-The Cronjob-
Setup a cron certbot renew job:
sudo nano /etc/cron.d/certbot

Add the following lines:
SHELL=/bin/sh
# Execute every Sunday with a delay of up to 1 day/86400 seconds:
0 0 * * SUN root test -x /usr/local/bin/certbot && perl -e 'sleep int(rand(86400))' && /usr/local/bin/certbot renew

-Renewal Hooks-
"Global" hook methods (affects all certificate renewals the same):

LetsEncrypt offers various way to execute a command/script using pre-hook and post-hook (run before or after certificate renewal).
You can opt to add to cli.ini. Example: post-hook /full/path/to/script/or/command
You can opt to do it directly on renew command line: Example: certbot renew --pre-hook do_something --post-hook do_something
You can add a script to /etc/letsencrypt/renewal-hooks + /post or /pre areas

For more granularity we are doing it a bit differntly here:
Edit the certficate renewal file(s).

Note: the '(certname)' is what you set for --cert-name (when you created it):
sudo nano /etc/letsencrypt/renewal/(certname).conf

Under "[renewalparams]" add a line similar to one of the examples.
Example #1:
post_hook = systemctl restart apache2

Example #2:
post_hook = systemctl restart nginx postfix dovecot

Example #3:
pre_hook  = systemctl stop nginx
post_hook = systemctl start nginx

If you need to execute something after certbot gets done with a renewal, you would add a post_hook. Once a renewal happens, you will need to reload or restart any daemons/services which depend on this renewed certificate. (Examples would be a webserver, email services, etc.)
If you need to execute something before renew runs, you can use a pre_hook = as well. An example of when this is needed is when you are using standalone as the Certbot verification type and need to stop the system webserver before renewal. You would issue a 'stop' on the pre_hook and a 'start' on the post_hook to Apache, Nginx, etc, so they aren't blocking the port Certbot uses for verfication.
5. Expanding the certificate
If you forgot a domain, or need to add one at a later date, you can update it. Make sure you include all the original domains as well, or they will get removed.

Using the --expand parameter:
sudo certbot certonly --expand --dns-route53 --cert-name example \
-d example.net -d *.example.net -d example.com -d *.example.com -d example.org -d *.example.org

6. Upgrading
To upgrade certbot (and all dependencies) later if you install using this method, run:
sudo -H pip3 install certbot --upgrade
References
https://letsencrypt.org/docs/

https://pypi.org/project/certbot/

https://eff-certbot.readthedocs.io/en/stable

https://eff-certbot.readthedocs.io/en/stable/packaging.html

https://eff-certbot.readthedocs.io/en/stable/using.html#pre-and-post-validation-hooks