# Setting up SSL with my domain name and Discourse instance

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/setting-up-ssl-with-my-domain-name-and-discourse-instance/51626>\
**Category:** Product Support\
**Created:** [October 17, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/setting-up-ssl-with-my-domain-name-and-discourse-instance/51626 "2016-10-17T05:26:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 1

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**Author:** ![tshenry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/tshenry/32/119495_2.png) [@tshenry](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tshenry)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/setting-up-ssl-with-my-domain-name-and-discourse-instance/51626/1 "2016-10-17T05:26:13Z")

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Hey there, I’ve been spending a few days trying to get my Discourse site running exactly how I’d like it, but I’ve run into some problems along the way. I’ll do my best to outline the issue below, but please forgive me if I do a poor job explaining anything.

  

**What I’d like to accomplish:**

- Create an **SSL certificate** using **Let’s Encrypt** and access my site by navigating to **`https://example.com`** or **`https://www.example.com`**

  

**Some notes on my installation of Discourse:**

- I am currently running Discourse on a VirtualBox instance of Ubuntu 16.04.1 server.

- I can access the site from outside my home network through port forwarding using a different port other than 80 (My ISP blocks 80). An example of what I would navigate to is: **34.7.74.33:123**

- I purchased a Google domain and linked it to my Discourse site. I’ve been able to access it by **`www.example.com:123`** , but never without including the port.

- I’ve tried redirecting the domain name to my public IP. Like: **[example.com](http://example.com) → 34.7.74.33:123** which allows me to access the site without using the port, but it doesn’t keep the domain name, it’s just a redirect.

  

**What I’ve tried:**

- My ISP hasn’t blocked the **https port (443)**, so I would like to certify my site in order to utilize that port. It’s my understanding that if I use https as the protocol, it will automatically try to use that port.

- I’ve edited my **app.yml** to include all of the information specified in the [howto tutorial](https://meta.discourse.org/t/setting-up-lets-encrypt/40709) for using Let’s Encrypt with Discourse.

- After trying various configurations of my domain settings, I always get the error “… **Verify Error:Could not connect to** …”

- When I **`ls` `-l`** the **ssl** folder, I have had different results. Sometimes one file is created, sometimes all three, but one constant is that the **.cer** file is always empty/missing.

I realize there are a lot of points in this topic, but if anyone has suggestions for any of the aspects, I would love to hear them! Thank you for reading 🙂

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