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How to Install an SSL Certificate on Nginx, Apache & cPanel

Step-by-step instructions to install your SSL/TLS certificate and CA chain on Nginx, Apache and cPanel, and how to verify HTTPS is working.

7 min read · Updated 11 Aug 2026

Once your certificate is issued, you'll download a .zip kit containing your certificate, the CA chain (intermediate certificates), a combined fullchain file, and install notes. Installing means pointing your web server at the certificate and the private key you generated with your CSR. Here's how on the three most common setups.

Nginx

Use the fullchain (your certificate + CA chain) so browsers trust the whole path:

server {
  listen 443 ssl;
  server_name yourdomain.in;
  ssl_certificate     /etc/ssl/yourdomain.fullchain.crt;
  ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/yourdomain.key;
}

Then test and reload: nginx -t && systemctl reload nginx.

Apache

Apache takes the certificate, the key, and the CA chain as separate directives (inside your <VirtualHost *:443>):

SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile    /etc/ssl/yourdomain.crt
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/yourdomain.key
SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/ssl/ca-bundle.crt

Then: apachectl configtest && systemctl reload apache2 (or httpd on RHEL/CentOS).

cPanel

No command line needed: go to Security โ†’ SSL/TLS โ†’ Manage SSL sites โ†’ Install an SSL Website, pick the domain, and paste the certificate, private key, and CA bundle from your kit. cPanel installs everything for you.

Verify HTTPS is working

  • Visit https://yourdomain.in - you should see the padlock with no warnings.
  • Check that the full chain is served (a missing intermediate causes "not trusted" errors on some devices even when it works in your browser).
  • Redirect HTTP to HTTPS so visitors always land on the secure version.

If anything looks off, it's almost always a missing CA chain - the combined fullchain file in your kit solves it. Bought through SSLStore.in? Our support can help you get a stuck install sorted.

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