It is now possible to install a Free SSL for any domain in your account using our new Manage Free SSL tool. For your convenience, the Free SSL tool is available in the Account Management Panel.

If you have a Reseller Account, please see our guide on How to Add FreeSSL Certificates to Reseller Accounts.

The Free SSL tool automatically creates SSL Certificates across your account for any active domain added to your account and resolved to your InMotion Hosting server. Likewise, free SSL certificates are installed for conventional top-level domains and subdomains unless free SSL management is turned off in your AMP account.

Please note! The domains used with the Free SSL must be pointed to InMotion Hosting servers, otherwise, the validation process will fail, and the SSL will not work as expected.

Free SSL? Why or why not?

There is no doubt that a Free SSL is a convenient option to have in a hosting account. The level of encryption provided by a Free SSL is the same as what you would find in a paid SSL.

However, it is worthwhile to note that free certificates use SNI without a dedicated IP. This means that multiple domains can share an IP address and still use an SSL. It should be noted that this type of certificate does not have the same level of acceptance as an Advanced SSL with a dedicated IP. This is because SNI is a relatively new extension and is only recently receiving widespread support across browsers and devices. Some combinations of older browsers and devices may not accept a certificate that is using SNI.

What is SNI? SNI stands for Server Name Indication and is an extension of the TLS protocol. It indicates which hostname is being contacted by the browser at the beginning of the ‘handshake’-process. [Server Name Indication- Wikipedia]

For most informational websites, the level of acceptance provided by a free SSL is adequate. However, large-scale enterprises (like an e-commerce store) that accept private data about their customers would be best advised to consider a paid SSL from a respected certificate authority. Premium SSLs from certificate authorities often provide support and warranties in addition to being widely accepted in all browsers and devices.

InMotion Hosting provides support for our own Free SSL tool in AMP, but the providers of free SSLs do not provide warranties or support.

Managing the Free SSL Option

Activate the Free SSL option

Follow along with the steps below to turn on the Free SSL option in AMP.

1. Log into your Account Management Panel (AMP)
2. Click on Manage Free SSL
   
3. Click the ON/OFF switch to the ON position
   

Check Eligibility of your Domains

When you enable Free SSL, your domains are automatically assigned an SSL if they are eligible. In the Account Management Panel (AMP) you can scan your domains to check for eligibility. Your domain(s) need to be pointed to us and added to WHM to be eligible for the Free SSL. Follow the steps below to check your domain(s) eligibility for the Free SSL.

1. 1.  In the box at right side of the screen you will see a box listing all of the domains on your account. You can click on Check All to select all of the domains, or you can click each check box in order to select only the domains that you want to check for eligibility.
   2.  Click on CHECK ELIGIBILITY in order to see if the domain can have the Free SSL enabled.
   3.  When the check is completed you will either see a red X or a green check mark indicating the domain’s eligibility. If you see a red X, then click on the link Find out whyin order to determine the reason that the domain is ineligible.

Add and Manage your Free SSL certificates

Once the check is complete and you’re ready to assign certificates to your domains, you should see a button labeled RUN CHECK NOW under the paragraph in the bottom left side of the screen. Click on this button the check for certificates will launch. Note that the check may take between 10-20 minutes for the process to complete. If you want manage your SSL certificates, go to your cPanel and click on Manage SSL Hosts.

If It Doesn’t Work (Troubleshooting Free SSL)

If the SSL process should fail, there are a few troubleshooting steps to consider before contacting support.

• The domain’s DNS is not routed to InMotion Hosting. In this case, you must update DNS via an A record or point the domain’s nameservers at the registrar to InMotion Hosting.
• The domain’s website is using a third party CDN like Cloudflare or Sucuri. In this case, you are advised to purge the cache and temporarily disable IP masking features to allow the domain validation to go through.
• Security plugins in the content management system (e.g. WordPress, Joomla, Magento, etc.) could be blocking domain validation. Temporarily disabling these plugins will help.

For detailed troubleshooting information, check out our full guide on Troubleshooting AutoSSL.