10Web Help Center

Hi, how can we help?

Troubleshooting SSL and HTTPS Issues

Copy article URL

in this article

If you encounter issues with your SSL certificate or HTTPS connection, follow this comprehensive troubleshooting guide to resolve the most common problems.

SSL certificate not generating

10Web provides free SSL certificates using the Letsencrypt certificate generating services for websites hosted at 10Web. You can generate SSL from 10Web dashboard using this guide. If your SSL certificate is not generated correctly, the issue may stem from one or more of the following causes:

  • Incorrect domain pointing or unresolved domain pointing.
  • The use of IPv6.
  • Presence of CAA records, but none for Let's Encrypt.

Follow these steps to check and fix the issue accordingly.

Step 1: Check domain pointing

Make sure your domain is pointed properly. Use a DNS checker to verify that the A record of your root domain resolves to the correct IPv4 address. Here are detailed steps: 

  1. Log in to your 10Web dashboard and select the website experiencing the error.
  2. Head to Hosting Services > Credentials section 
  3. Find the IPv4 Address under Datacenter & IP section
  4. Open the DNS checker website 
  5. Add your domain name and choose A record
  6. Compare the result and make sure it corresponds to the above IP address

Note:

If you have recently pointed your domain to 10Web, the DNS records may still be propagating across the network. In this case, SSL generation might take a bit longer. Wait for the propagation to complete and try again later.

Step 2: Check the presence of IPv6

If your SSL certificate is not generated correctly, a likely cause is the use of IPv6. Follow these steps to check and fix this issue:

  1. Check if IPv6 is present. Go to dnschecker.org, enter your domain name, and select the AAAA record type. If IPv6 is enabled, the search results will reveal the record value.
  2. Disable IPv6: Once you have identified the IPv6 record value, go to your website’s DNS records, locate the matching AAAA record, and delete it. 
  3. Give the domain up to 24 hours and try to generate SSL again. 

Step 3: Check CAA records

  1. Open the DNS checker website 
  2. Add your domain name and choose CAA record

    Note:

    If no CAA record is found, skip the next steps. If there are CAA records, continue to the next step.

  3. Make sure there is a value for Letsencrypt. You can find more details here. 

Important:

If none of the above steps help, please, contact our customer case using live chat available 24/7.

Could Not Parse Certificate error when adding custom SSL

When attempting to add a custom SSL certificate, if you receive the error message "Could not parse certificate," it typically means that the certificate files (.key, .cert, and .ca) are not formatted correctly. Each line in these files should be split every 64 characters. Here is how to fix the issue:

  1. Ensure the .key, .cert, and .ca files are properly formatted.
  2. Use an online tool like this text splitter to break up the file content into lines of 64 characters each.
  3. Contact the SSL provider to recheck the files.

Your Connection is Not Private error on your website

If your URL starts with https:// but you receive the message Your connection is not private error, check the below steps:

Clear network cache 

In some cases, the URL starts with https:// due to network cache, even though an SSL certificate has not been properly added. To resolve this, clear the cache of your network and try reloading the page.

To clear browser data in Chrome, follow these steps:

  1. Open Chrome on your computer.
  2. Click on the three dots at the top right corner, then select Delete browsing data.
  3. Choose a time range, like Last hour or All time.
  4. Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files.
  5. Click Delete data.

Note that the steps to clear cache and cookies in other browsers, such as Safari, are generally similar, though the specific menus and options may vary slightly.

SSL Generated Prior to Complete Domain Resolution

This issue can occur if you attempt to generate an SSL certificate before your domain has fully resolved on 10Web hosting. If you have recently pointed your domain to 10Web, wait for 24 hours for the changes to propagate across the DNS network. Once the domain has resolved:

  1. Go to your website's dashboard on 10Web.
  2. Navigate to Hosting Services > Tools > SSL Certificate.
  3. If no SSL certificate is present, generate a new one. If an SSL certificate already exists but the issue persists, remove the current certificate and generate a new one.

Check for mixed content errors

Click the Not Secure button next to your website link to check for a mixed content issue. If you see the message Your connection to this site is not fully secure, this indicates that your SSL certificate has been generated, but not all files load via https://. 

Note:

If you are using Elementor, you should also do a search and replace in Elementor from the WordPress dashboard by navigating to Elementor > Tools > Replace URL. Paste your website URL with http:// in the Old URL field and website URL with https:// in the New URL field and click Replace URL.

Detecting problematic files & HTTPS verification

  1. Right-click on the page and select Inspect 
  2. Navigate to the Console tab
  3. Click on the small arrow toggle button next to the Mixed Content issue

    This will display the http:// file causing the issue.

  4. Copy the problematic link
  5. In your browser, paste the link and replace http:// with https:// 

This confirms whether the content loads correctly via https.

Addressing mixed content issue for WP version 5.6 or higher

  1. Navigate to your WordPress Admin Dashboard
  2. Go to Settings > General
  3. Look for the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) fields
  4. Change the protocol from http to https in both fields
  5. Click Save Changes to implement the modifications

After following these steps, your WordPress site should now load resources over https, thus resolving the mixed content issue. If your site is still loading via http proceed with the steps below. 

Replacing HTTP with HTTPS for WP versions lower than 5.6

To fix the issue you will need to install a plugin with which you can search and replace data in the database.

Important:

We recommend that you backup your website before Search and Replace.

  1. Navigate to your WordPress dashboard
  2. Click on Plugins > Add New
  3. Search for  Better Search replace plugin then Install > Activate
  4. Go to Tools > Better Search replace
  5. Add the website link with http:// in the Search for field
  6. Add the website link with https:// in the Replace with field
  7. Select all tables 
  8. Make sure that the Run as Dry Run option is activated by ticking the checkbox
  9. Click Run Search/Replace

    Note:

    You will get a message with the number of tables searched, the number of cells found and the number of changes made. You can click the click here button to see which tables will be replaced.

  10. Once confirmed, uncheck the Run as dry run option
  11. Click Run Search/Replace
  12. Next, navigate to your 10Web dashboard
  13. Click on the website on which you have performed a Run Search/Replace
  14. Under Hosting Services, click on Tools > Clear Cache

Check if the issue is resolved by browsing in incognito mode.

in this article