A Self Signed SSL certificate provider has now been released and is available through the Free SSL Certificates tool in the client area.
What is it?
The Self Signed SSL provider is an alternative SSL provider from Let’s Encrypt and GoGetSSL. It provides certificates which are “self signed”, meaning they are not trusted by browsers. The certificates created are valid for 10 years.
For whom is this useful?
The main use case for these certificate are Cloudflare users.
Many Cloudflare users currently make use of Flexible SSL, which means the connection between Cloudflare and your hosting account is not encrypted. To secure this connection, you need to install an SSL certificate on your hosting account.
Cloudflare provides their Origin Certificates for this, but those cannot be used because they are wildcard certificates. You can use Let’s Encrypt or GoGetSSL certificates too, but those are only valid for three months.
Self signed SSL certificates can be valid for much longer, so you only need to set them once to have SSL for almost ever!
Self signed SSL can also be useful for testing in some situations, for example to develop your website on HTTPS without it being available to visitors yet.
How do I use it?
Simply go to the Free SSL Certificates tool in the client area, add a new domain name and select “Self Signed” as the provider. After that, just click Request SSL Certificate and a new certificate will be created instantly!
Once the certificate is created, you can install it like you would any other SSL certificate.
Then, in Cloudflare’s settings, go to the “SSL/TLS” app for your domain, where you can change the SSL mode from “Flexible” to “Full”.