{"id":519,"date":"2019-08-16T15:02:50","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T15:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/?p=519"},"modified":"2025-06-11T20:27:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T20:27:44","slug":"how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Install a Wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yeah, you\u2019re here because you want to know how to install a wildcard SSL certificate on your NGINX server. You\u2019re not the first person to ask, nor are you likely to be the last. After all, NGINX is one of the most popular servers in use, and wildcard SSL certificates are great because they help you secure one domain and all of its first-level sub-domains. Add this together, and it means that sometimes people install wildcard SSL certificates on NGINX.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So, yes, if you\u2019re one of those people, then we wrote this article for you. If you\u2019re not one of those people, you still may learn a thing or two anyhow, so be sure to stick around. We\u2019ve also written many other quick SSL installation guides<\/a> to serve as resources.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you need to know about setting up wildcard SSL for NGINX.<\/p>\n

How to Install Wildcard SSL Certificate on NGINX in 6 Steps<\/h2>\n

Before you can install a wildcard SSL certificate<\/a> on NGINX, you first need to have<\/em> a certificate to install. Pretty standard stuff, right? Right. So, if you haven\u2019t already purchased one, we happen to sell wildcard SSL certificates \u2014 a lot of them, in fact, because we sell them at the cheapest possible rates.<\/p>\n

\n

Purchase Wildcard SSL Certificates & Save Up to 80%<\/h2>\n

We offer the best discount on all types of Wildcard SSL Certificates from brands like Comodo CA, Sectigo, Thawte, RapidSSL, and Symantec.<\/p>\n

Shop Cheap Wildcard SSL<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Now that that\u2019s out of the way, let\u2019s move on to how to generate a wildcard certificate signing request (CSR) on NGINX:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Connect to your server via SSH using a privileged account such as a root.<\/li>\n
  2. Enter the following snippet of code:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    openssl req \u2013new \u2013newkey rsa:2048 \u2013nodes \u2013keyout (server).key \u2013out (server).csr<\/code><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Enter your information in the given fields and make sure it\u2019s accurate \u2014 any mistake will require you to generate a new CSR.<\/li>\n
    2. When you\u2019ve completed entering the information, the server will generate and store both the CSR and the private key.<\/li>\n
    3. Open the CSR using:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      nano (sever).csr<\/code><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Copy its contents and save it to a txt file, then send it to the CA.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Sweet. When that\u2019s all done, the CA will perform validation and issue the certificate. Now, it\u2019s time to install your NGINX wildcard certificate.<\/p>\n

        Your Step-By-Step Guide for How to Install Wildcard SSL for NGINX<\/h3>\n
          \n
        1. Connect to the server using SSH again. Same privileged account.<\/li>\n
        2. Copy all the files in the certificate package the CA sent you and put them in the appropriate directories.<\/li>\n
        3. Use the following code to concatenate your leaf certificate and any intermediates:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          a. crt COMODORSADomainValidationSecureServerCA.crt >> bundle.crt<\/code><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Next, we\u2019ll need to edit your virtual host files to reroute connections through port 443, the HTTPS port. Use this code:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            a.\u00a0 listen 443;<\/code><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. You\u2019ll also need to add the following snippet:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              a.\u00a0 ssl on;
              \nb.\u00a0 ssl_certificate \/etc\/ssl\/your_domain_name.pem; (or bundle.crt)
              \nc.\u00a0 ssl_certificate_key \/etc\/ssl\/your_domain_name.key;<\/code><\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Restart NGINX.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                Congratulations, you\u2019ve just installed a wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX. What if you need to install a wildcard SSL certificate on multiple<\/em> servers? No worries. We\u2019ve got your step-by-step directions<\/a> for that as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                Yeah, you\u2019re here because you want to know how to install a wildcard SSL certificate on your NGINX server. You\u2019re not the first person to ask, nor are you likely to be the last. After all, NGINX is one of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[26,33,34],"class_list":["post-519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ssl-installation-guides","tag-installation","tag-nginx","tag-server"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Install a Wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Not sure how to install a wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX? No worries, we've got your step-by-step directions right here. Check it out:\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Install a Wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Not sure how to install a wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX? No worries, we've got your step-by-step directions right here. Check it out:\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cheap SSL Security\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CheapSSLSecurities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-16T15:02:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-11T20:27:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"casey.crane\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sslsecurity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sslsecurity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"casey.crane\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"casey.crane\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d9c1744bb0931c1942814061a5aca108\"},\"headline\":\"How to Install a Wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-16T15:02:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-11T20:27:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":508,\"keywords\":[\"Installation\",\"NGINX\",\"server\"],\"articleSection\":[\"SSL Installation Guides\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Install a Wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-16T15:02:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-11T20:27:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d9c1744bb0931c1942814061a5aca108\"},\"description\":\"Not sure how to install a wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX? No worries, we've got your step-by-step directions right here. Check it out:\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"SSL Help\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"SSL Installation Guides\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/ssl-installation-guides\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"How to Install a Wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cheap SSL Security\",\"description\":\"Shop for SSL Certificates at Cheap Prices\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d9c1744bb0931c1942814061a5aca108\",\"name\":\"casey.crane\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c18d819d34a1995e91a4aa7518e9048df7856f336a1ede2262a572db7b1c2506?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c18d819d34a1995e91a4aa7518e9048df7856f336a1ede2262a572db7b1c2506?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c18d819d34a1995e91a4aa7518e9048df7856f336a1ede2262a572db7b1c2506?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"casey.crane\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Install a Wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX","description":"Not sure how to install a wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX? No worries, we've got your step-by-step directions right here. Check it out:","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Install a Wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX","og_description":"Not sure how to install a wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX? No worries, we've got your step-by-step directions right here. Check it out:","og_url":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/","og_site_name":"Cheap SSL Security","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CheapSSLSecurities","article_published_time":"2019-08-16T15:02:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-11T20:27:44+00:00","author":"casey.crane","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sslsecurity","twitter_site":"@sslsecurity","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"casey.crane","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/"},"author":{"name":"casey.crane","@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/#\/schema\/person\/d9c1744bb0931c1942814061a5aca108"},"headline":"How to Install a Wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX","datePublished":"2019-08-16T15:02:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-11T20:27:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/"},"wordCount":508,"keywords":["Installation","NGINX","server"],"articleSection":["SSL Installation Guides"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/","url":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/","name":"How to Install a Wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-08-16T15:02:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-11T20:27:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/#\/schema\/person\/d9c1744bb0931c1942814061a5aca108"},"description":"Not sure how to install a wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX? No worries, we've got your step-by-step directions right here. Check it out:","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/how-to-install-a-wildcard-ssl-certificate-on-nginx\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"SSL Help","item":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"SSL Installation Guides","item":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/ssl-installation-guides\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How to Install a Wildcard SSL certificate on NGINX"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/","name":"Cheap SSL Security","description":"Shop for SSL Certificates at Cheap Prices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/#\/schema\/person\/d9c1744bb0931c1942814061a5aca108","name":"casey.crane","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c18d819d34a1995e91a4aa7518e9048df7856f336a1ede2262a572db7b1c2506?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c18d819d34a1995e91a4aa7518e9048df7856f336a1ede2262a572db7b1c2506?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c18d819d34a1995e91a4aa7518e9048df7856f336a1ede2262a572db7b1c2506?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"casey.crane"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}