Renewal Strategy and Automation

Certificate renewal represents the most critical ongoing management task, as expired certificates immediately break site functionality and user trust. Develop a renewal strategy that balances automation capabilities with your technical environment and certificate types. While Let's Encrypt's 90-day certificates practically require automation, annual commercial certificates benefit from automated tracking even with manual renewal processes.

For Let's Encrypt and ACME-compatible certificates, implement fully automated renewal using tools like Certbot, acme.sh, or win-acme. Configure these tools to attempt renewal when certificates have 30 days remaining validity, providing multiple retry opportunities before expiration. Set up cron jobs or scheduled tasks to run renewal checks daily. Implement notification systems that alert on renewal failures, allowing manual intervention when automation fails. Test renewal processes regularly to ensure they continue functioning as systems evolve.

Commercial certificate renewal requires different approaches due to validation requirements and manual processes. Establish renewal reminders 60-90 days before expiration, allowing time for validation, approval workflows, and testing. Some commercial CAs offer APIs enabling automated renewal for DV certificates, bridging the gap between manual and automated processes. Multi-year certificate purchases reduce renewal frequency but still require tracking due to industry maximum validity limits requiring periodic reissuance.

Create renewal runbooks documenting exact procedures for each certificate type and platform. Include CSR generation commands, validation procedures, installation steps, and testing protocols. These runbooks prove invaluable during emergencies or when regular staff are unavailable. Maintain platform-specific variations accounting for different web servers, load balancers, and CDN configurations. Regular runbook reviews ensure procedures remain current as infrastructure and requirements evolve.