How To Install Let's Encrypt On WHM AutoSSL

WHM generally has AutoSSL provided by cPanel (powered by Sectigo) setup as the default SSL certificate provider.

We've found the default cPanel SSL to be a bit problematic with renewals and wanted to switch to LetsEncrypt.

How to install & enable Let's Encrypt for AutoSSL on WHM

In WHM, check Manage AutoSSL in case Let's Encrypt is already installed
Open the WHM Terminal and run /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/install_lets_encrypt_autossl_provider
Go back to Manage AutoSSL and choose Let's Encrypt as the AutoSSL Provider
Run AutoSSL for all users

Let's walk through those step by step.

Check Manage AutoSSL

Under the list of AutoSSL providers, check if Let's Encrypt is already installed.

If you haven't installed it yourself, it's probably not there and you'll only see "cPanel (powered by Sectigo)" as the only provider.

Arrow pointing to Manage AutoSSL and Disabled and cPanel AutoSSL providers circled

If you do see Let's Encrypt as an option, jump ahead to the section on enabling Let's Encrypt.

Install Let's Encrypt through the Terminal

In WHM, under Server Configuration, open the Terminal.

If you've logged in to WHM as "root", you should see [root@host ~].

If you see another username before @host, this may not work and you may need to try with the root login.

Enter:

cd ..

This will take you up a folder level.

Check you're at the correct folder level by entering:

ls

This will list all the folders. Make sure you see "usr" as one of the folders.

Arrows pointing to Terminal in the sidebar and usr as one of the folders

Enter the following to run the Let's Encrypt installer:

/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/install_lets_encrypt_autossl_provider

Terminal showing the Let's Encrypt installer command entered

You should start to see the Let's Encrypt installer working

WHM Terminal showing Let's Encrypt AutoSSL installed

If you don't see it working, you may need to go through the folders til you find install_lets_encrypt_autossl_provider.

You may need to wait for a few minutes for the installer to run.

When you see [root@host /]$ you can move on to the next step.

Choose Let's Encrypt

Go to SSL / TLS -> Manage AutoSSL. You should see Let's Encrypt as one of the AutoSSL Providers.

AutoSSL Providers now includes Let's Encrypt

Select the radio button next to Let's Encrypt.

After you've read through the terms of service, select that you agree to them. Also select Recreate my current registration with "Let's Encrypt".

Click "Save".

Arrows pointing to Let's Encrypt AutoSSL provider, agreeing to the terms, recreating the current registration and the save button

You'll see a green popup that says "You have created a new registration for this system with "Let's Encrypt" and configured AutoSSL to use that provider."

Run AutoSSL

If you want to roll out AutoSSL throughout your sites, you can now click "Run AutoSSL For All Users".

Uninstall Let's Encrypt

If for some reason you ever want to uninstall Let's Encrypt as one of the AutoSSL providers, go to Terminal as the root user as we did for the install step and enter this command:

/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/uninstall_lets_encrypt_autossl_provider

You should then go back to Manage AutoSSL, select cPanel (powered by Sectigo), save it, then run AutoSSL for all users.

And that's all there is to installing and activating Let's Encrypt on WHM.

Please let me know in the comments how you go and if you run into any issues not covered here.