SSL has been the flashy new thing lately so after realizing that https://thebitguru.com was pointing to my old Django site I decided that it was time for me to fix that and migrate all traffic to https. The first question, as you can imagine, was where to get the SSL cert.
Interestingly, with all the recent excitement about SSL, new free options have started popping up. The one that caught my attention was Let’s Encrypt. After my initial research, it seemed like a good option so I decided to try it out.
The main issue with Let’s Encrypt is that they allow 90-day certs and expect that you will renew ever 90 days. You can read about their logic behind this on their website. The thought is that hosting companies and site owners will use automated solutions that will simplify this renewal. WebFaction, my current host, doesn’t have an automated solution, but it seems that they are working towards one. I am planning on manually renewing the certs until the official support is introduced, hopefully soon.
Given the type of my website, SSL isn’t critical for my visitors, which is why I haven’t done already. It’s more of a nice-to-have.
So, starting today, my website will be using SSL.