Activating SSL

Activate a free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate for your website via the SSL It! extension in Plesk.

Installing an SSL certificate

1. Go to Websites & Domains → choose your domain.

2. Click SSL/TLS Certificates.

3. Under Let's Encrypt, click Install.

4. Enter your e-mail address (for renewal notifications).

5. Select what to secure:

   The main domain

   Including the www subdomain

   Wildcard (all subdomains) — if available

   The webmail subdomain

   The mail domain (for IMAP/POP/SMTP)

6. Click Get it for free.

Let's Encrypt certificates renew automatically every 90 days — 30 days before expiry. You don't need to do anything for this.

Forcing HTTPS

After installation you'll want visitors to always see the secure version of your site:

1. Go to Websites & Domains → Hosting Settings.

2. Check Permanent SEO-safe 301 redirect from HTTP to HTTPS.

3. Click OK.

Enabling HSTS

For extra security, you can activate HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security). This tells browsers your site is only reachable via HTTPS:

1. Go to SSL/TLS Certificates for your domain.

2. Enable HSTS.