SSL Issuance History ​
SSL Issuance History records every attempt to issue a certificate, successful or not, and why a failed attempt failed. It answers the question a notification cannot: what happened to the certificate for this domain, and what to do about it.
Overview ​
URL: /admin/ssl-certificate-attempts
Reach it from the Issuance History tab on SSL Certificates, or from the Issuance history button in the page header. Attempts are listed newest first.
Each row shows:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Time | When the attempt ran. |
| Domain | The domain the certificate was requested for. |
| Action | What was attempted, for example issuing a certificate. |
| Status | The outcome of the attempt. |
| Reason | For a failed attempt, the reason it failed, in plain language. |
A search box filters by domain, and the filter button narrows the list further.
Why an attempt fails ​
The most common causes, in the order they are worth checking:
- The domain does not resolve to this server. The certificate authority validates the domain over the public internet. If DNS points somewhere else, or nowhere, validation cannot succeed. AdminBolt checks this before the request and stops the attempt early.
- Port 80 is not reachable. Validation is an HTTP request to the domain. A firewall in front of the server, or a redirect that swallows the request, breaks it.
- The certificate authority refused. Rate limits and account problems come back from the authority itself and are shown as the reason.
- The server could not carry out the operation. Something failed on the machine while the certificate was being issued.
Once the cause is fixed, request the certificate again. The new attempt appears as its own row, so the history shows what changed between them.
Restored certificates ​
Since panel 1.9.1, a restore can leave a failed attempt here even though nobody asked for a certificate. When a restore puts back a certificate that needs replacing on an account with AutoSSL switched off, AdminBolt leaves the certificate in place, and the domain's history shows a failed Issue SSL certificate attempt with this reason:
The restored certificate may be revoked or expired. AutoSSL is switched off for this hosting account, so it was not replaced: issue a new certificate for this domain.
Issue a new certificate for the domain. On accounts with AutoSSL switched on, the restored certificate is replaced automatically; see Certificates after a restore.
Retention ​
The history keeps attempts for every domain on the server, including attempts made automatically by the issuance policy rather than by hand. Use it to tell a domain that has never had a certificate from one whose renewal is failing repeatedly.