Example of setting up a TLS(SSL) certificate check

For your information

This is an example of setting up an availability check for a TLS(SSL) certificate so that you receive an email notification 10 days before the certificate expires.

Create a check.
Add an email address to contacts.
Configure email notifications.

1. Create a check

In the Control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Availability Check.
Ensure that you have checks available to create — check the number of created checks and the total number of available checks in the upper-right corner. If all available checks have been created, order additional ones. Three checks are provided free of charge.
Click Create check.
Enter a name for the check, for example, Certificate Check.
Optional: enter tags for filtering in the check list.
Select the check type — SSL.
In the Host/IP field, enter the domain for which the certificate was issued.
Select the protocol for the check — IPv4 or IPv6.
Select the check interval — how often the check request will be performed, for example, every five minutes.
Select the check timeout — the time to wait for a response from the server for the check request, after which the check will be considered failed, for example, five seconds.
Select the check execution sequence. The execution sequence determines from which check locations the requests will be sent:
- sequentially — each subsequent request will be executed from the next check location in the list of selected locations;
- in parallel — each request will be executed from all selected locations simultaneously;
- randomly — each subsequent request will be executed from a random location from the list of selected locations.
Specify the connection port; port 443 is specified by default.
Specify the period before certificate expiration — the number of days until the certificate expires when you want to receive a notification. For example, if you specify 10 days, the notification will be sent 10 days before the certificate expires.
Select the check locations from which the requests will be sent. The IP addresses of these locations are shown—if you have a firewall installed on your server, allow these IP addresses in the firewall rules.
If you do not want the certificate check results to be displayed on the public statistics page for your account's availability checks, uncheck Show in public report.
If you do not want the certificate check results to be included in the summary weekly report, uncheck Include in weekly email report.
Optional: test the check — click Test check.
Click Create and run.

2. Add an email address for notifications

In the Control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Availability check.
Go to the Reports and notifications section → the Contacts tab.
Click Add contact.
Enter a contact name; it will only be displayed in the control panel.
Select the contact type — Email.
Enter the email address.
Optional: to receive notifications only at a specific time, check the Limit delivery time checkbox and specify the delivery time in the required time zone.
Click Add.
An email with a confirmation link will be sent to the specified address. To confirm the email address, open the link from the email in any browser.

3. Configure email notifications

In the Control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Availability Check.
Open the Checks tab.
Open the check page you created in step 1, → Notifications tab.
Select the email address you added in step 2.
Click New notification.
Select the event — Certificate expired.
Choose when to be notified about the event (send a notification) — immediately when the check detects the remaining certificate validity period (10 days), or after a required number of repeated checks. If your certificate updates automatically and the update occurs with a delay, we recommend selecting to send after repeated checks. If the certificate manages to update before the repeated check, the notification will not be sent.
Select the notification frequency, for example, no more than one notification per minute.
If you do not want to receive a notification that the certificate has been restored, uncheck Notify about restoration. Restoration notifications do not arrive at the moment of restoration, but at the notification frequency you specified in step 8. For example, if the certificate was restored in half an hour, but you specified a notification frequency of once an hour, the restoration notification will arrive one hour after the failure notification.
Click .