I lost access to a private key once. Not because someone stole it — I upgraded a server, thought I’d moved everything, and realized a week later that the key for one of the domains was gone. The certificate was still valid, the site was working with the cached config, but when it came time […]
Automating SSL Certificate Backups: A Practical Approach Read Post »
Converting SSL certificates is one of those tasks that looks straightforward until you’re knee-deep in error messages at 11 PM before a deployment. I’ve converted hundreds of certificates across different server setups, and the same situations come up repeatedly: CA sends PEM, server needs PFX. Client needs Java keystore, you only have CRT and KEY
How to Convert SSL Certificates Between Formats Using OpenSSL Read Post »
Databases are special. Regular file backups don’t work well for PostgreSQL — backing up the data directory while the server is running is likely to give you a corrupt snapshot. You need PostgreSQL-aware tools. Here’s what I actually use for backing up PostgreSQL databases, from simple single-database dumps to continuous archiving. pg_dump — The Standard
PostgreSQL Backup and Restore on Linux Read Post »
When someone asks for “just FTP access” to a Linux server, I almost always translate that into “they need file transfer, but we should not open an actual FTP-shaped problem.” In most modern environments, SFTP is the right answer. It uses SSH, it is encrypted by default, it does not need a separate daemon in
SFTP Server Setup with Chroot on Linux Read Post »
Debugging TLS issues is something I do more than I’d like. Browser errors are often vague, and getting to the actual root cause usually requires some manual inspection with OpenSSL. These are the techniques I actually use. Connecting to a Server and Inspecting the Certificate The most basic thing — see what certificate a server
OpenSSL: Verifying Certificate Chains and Debugging TLS Connections Read Post »
I do not like certificate expiry surprises, and I do not trust calendar reminders as the only defense. Certificates expire on weekends, behind CDNs, on forgotten admin panels, on odd ports, and on third-party services nobody thought to inventory. That is why I prefer central monitoring over scattered shell scripts living on random servers. Zabbix
Zabbix SSL Certificate Monitoring Read Post »
Apache’s approach to SSL is fundamentally different from Nginx. Where Nginx has SSL baked in, Apache uses a module system — mod_ssl — that needs to be explicitly enabled. The configuration syntax is also more verbose. That’s not necessarily bad; Apache’s granular configuration options can be very useful. But it means more places where things
Installing and Configuring SSL in Apache: Virtual Hosts, Modules, and Best Practices Read Post »
A lot of Windows certificate guides stop at IIS bindings. That is useful, but it is only part of the picture. On real Windows Server systems I often need to inspect certificates outside IIS, import them for RDP, trust an internal root CA, verify that a private key actually landed where the service account can
Windows Server Certificate Management with MMC Guide Read Post »
Every time you load an HTTPS page, a TLS handshake happens in milliseconds. Most people treat it as a black box — it works or it doesn’t. But understanding what actually happens is useful when you’re debugging TLS errors, optimizing performance, or configuring cipher suites. The Purpose of the Handshake The handshake does three things:
Understanding TLS Handshake: What Happens When You Connect to HTTPS Read Post »
I used cron for years without really questioning it. It works, it’s everywhere, it’s well-understood. But over time I noticed a few recurring frustrations: no built-in logging, missed jobs when the system was off, no dependency management, and debugging failed jobs meant hunting through syslog. Systemd timers solve most of these problems, and on systems
Systemd Timers: A Better Cron for Modern Linux Systems Read Post »