In this video, we’ll guide you through the process of manually refreshing the Lets Encrypt SSL certificate used by your Synology NAS. While your NAS can effortlessly renew your Lets Encrypt certificate every three months, there are instances where it might struggle to update its SSL certificate.
It’s also worth noting that in the past, Let’s Encrypt had to revoke 3 million certificates due to a coding error – the register.co.uk – Lets Encrypt? Lets revoke 3 million HTTPS certificates on Wednesday – so its worth knowing how to manually update your Lets Encrypt certificate.
Note: While there’s nothing wrong with using a Lets Encrypt SSL certificate, we personally prefer to opt for a commercial SSL certificate. I know it might cost a bit more, but it gives us a lot more peace of mind.
Quick reference notes:
- Log into Disk Station Manager (DSM) with administrators privileges.
- Open Control Panel.
- Under Connectivity select Security.
- From within Security choose the Certificate tab.
- Highlight the Lets Encrypt certificate you want to update.
- Select the drop down menu next to the Add button.
- A “Create certificate” wizard will open.
- Select Apply to update your Lets Encrypt certificate.
Notes: The “Create certificate” will warn you that on your NAS you need to have DNS properly configured, and that Disk Station Manager is accessible from either WAN Ports 80 or 443. If you have been following our video series on How to setup and configure a Synology NAS. These network settings will be correctly configured.
Reference materials:
- Synology Support article – Certificate.
- Wikipedia article – Public key certificate.
- Website – Lets Encrypt.
- mydoodads article – Synology NAS tip | How to renew a paid SSL certificate.
