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Order a Free SSL Certificate

Stephanie R.
Updated

Learn how to configure SSL termination on your OVHcloud Load Balancer and order a free SSL certificate.

The OVHcloud Load Balancer service can be configured to support SSL termination. The purpose of SSL termination is to decrypt the incoming encrypted stream before forwarding it to the appropriate service (web server for example).

SSL termination has a cost for the service that manages it. Rather than letting your servers do it, it is possible to configure your OVHcloud Load Balancer service to do it. Moreover, all your certificates are centralized in one place and their maintenance is easier.

 

Requirements

 

Configuring the front-end for SSL termination

The first thing to do is to configure your front-end to handle SSL termination.

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From the OVHcloud API, the SSL termination is specified by the SSL boolean (don't forget to set defaultFarmId or redirectLocation).

To find your defaultFarmId, use the GET /ipLoadbalancing/{serviceName}/http/farm API call.

Create a front-end:

POST /ipLoadbalancing/{serviceName}/http/frontend

Then apply the changes:

POST /ipLoadbalancing/{serviceName}/refresh

From the OVHcloud Control Panel:

  1. Choose the Bare Metal Cloud tab in the top navigation bar.
  2. Select Network from the left-hand navigation menu.
  3. Click Load Balancer and select your load balancer service.
  4. Select the Front-ends tab.
  5. Click Add a front-end.

network_LB_gs_orderSSL01***.png

An edit window will appear, select the HTTPS protocol and a Default service cluster with a matching protocol. Then click Add in the Advanced settings box.

NOTE: No matter the protocol you are using, the Default service cluster and Front-end must have matching protocols.

network_LB_gs_orderSSL02**.png

The Advanced settings area contains the HTTP redirection option. To learn more about HTTP redirection see this guide.

Once the front-end has been created, a banner message will be prompted to Apply configuration.

network_LB_gs_orderSSL03.PNG

On the next screen, select your Datacenter click Apply configuration again.

network_LB_gs_orderSSL04.PNG

You can monitor the status within the OVHcloud Control Panel.

network_LB_gs_orderSSL05.PNG

network_LB_gs_orderSSL06.PNG

 

Order the free SSL certificate

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From the OVHcloud API, use the following command. For the order to be finalized, the chosen domain name must point to your OVHcloud Load Balancer service.

POST /ipLoadbalancing/{serviceName}/freeCertificate

From the OVHcloud Control Panel:

  1. Select the SSL Certificates tab.
  2. Click the Order SSL Certificate button.
  3. Select Free as the Certificate type and fill in a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
  4. Click Order.

network_LB_gs_orderSSL07.png

 

Follow-up on the order

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From the OVHcloud API, you can:

Return to task list. You can specify the action type orderFreeCertificate to refine the search.

GET /ipLoadbalancing/{serviceName}/task

Returning the status of a particular task

GET /ipLoadbalancing/{serviceName}/task/{id}

From the OVHcloud Control Panel:

  1. Select the Tasks tab.
  2. Look at the Task column for tasks labeled as orderFreeCertificate.

network_LB_gs_orderSSL08*.png

 

Delivery of the free SSL certificate

Once the order is complete, the SSL Certificate is automatically installed on your OVHcloud Load Balancer service.

 

Go further

For more information and tutorials, please see our other OVHcloud Load Balancer guides or explore the guides for other OVHcloud products and services.

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