Troubleshooting cPanel AutoSSL Issues

How does AutoSSL Work?

AutoSSL is a cPanel feature that issues free Domain Validated (DV) SSL certificates from Let’s Encrypt for every domain and subdomain on your hosting service.

It only issues an SSL Certificate if:

• Your domain name is pointed to your cPanel Hosting service

• There are no other third party SSL certificates manually installed

If you meet these requirements, AutoSSL should issue an SSL certificate automatically. If you would like to enable AutoSSL we have a guide here on how to do this:

• Enabling AutoSSL on Your Web Hosting Service

If you have enabled AutoSSL and getting errors, we have some steps you can take to resolve this!

Troubleshooting

DNS not pointing correctly

Error example:

DNS DCV: No local authority… “yourdomain.com” resolved to an IP address “” that does not exist on this server.

This means your domain isn’t pointed to the hosting service. Make sure that your domain is pointing to your hosting service by updating your DNS and allowing 2-8 hours for propagation before retrying.

Existing/self-signed SSL installed

If you have an existing Paid SSL certificate or Self-Signed SSL installed, you will need to remove it before AutoSSL can run:

1. 1Log in to cPanel.

2. 2Go to SSL/TLS Status → View Certificate.

3. 3Under Manage Installed SSL Websites, click Uninstall.

4. 4Re-run AutoSSL.

   

AutoSSL Failure Emails

You may receive emails about AutoSSL failing. These are often not an issue and caused by:

• Domain not hosted in cPanel: If your domain is not hosted within cPanel, AutoSSL will not be able to validate the domain as the SSL certificate would be handled by your external provider.

• Using a CDN (e.g. Cloudflare): If you are using a CDN service like Cloudflare, often times your SSL certificate is handled by the CDN itself. You can safely ignore these warnings.

If you fall under these two scenarios, you can stop the AutoSSL failure notifications by:

Excluding the domain/subdomain from AutoSSL checks

1. 1Log in to cPanel.

2. 2Go to SSL/TLS Status.

3. 3Tick the domain → click Exclude Domain from AutoSSL.

Disabling AutoSSL emails entirely

1. 1Log in to cPanel.

2. 2Go to Contact Information (under Preferences).

3. 3Under AutoSSL Notifications, disable event notifications.

Need more help?

If you are still running into issues, feel free to contact our Technical Support team via eTicket with the error you are receiving and we are happy to help!