In this post I showed how to secure your LiveCompare server with a self-signed certificate. While a self-signed certificate may be OK for an internal site, if your LiveCompare server is accessible over the Internet or you don’t want to confuse users: browsers really don’t like self-signed certificates then you’ll need a certificate from a certificate authority.
For this post I chose Let’s Encrypt. They provide free certificates. Proof that you own the web site is required but that’s handled automatically.
I searched for “letsencrypt iis” and found this post.
I downloaded the software – which required installing Microsoft .NET 4.7.1 and rebooting – and unpacked it.
I started an elevated cmd prompt.
I ran the “letsencrypt” program:
and chose the N menu option.
I chose option 4 – Manually input host name. The automatic option didn’t work for me.
I answered each subsequent question.
Letsencrypt worked its magic including installing the certificate and setting up the https binding:
The https bindings show that it is using the certificate:
And best of all, the browser reports that the connection is secure:
Let’s Encrypt certificates must be renewed frequently. This is no bother given how simple it is to renew.