All verified domains are automatically protected by our Cloudflare integration, which includes free SSL certificates with wildcard support. This means that unless you have a specific reason to add a custom SSL, you won’t have to worry about manually configuring an SSL on Kinsta.
However, there may be circumstances where you need or want to add a custom SSL certificate to your application. To install your custom SSL certificate, you must first obtain your custom SSL certificate from your certificate provider or transfer the SSL certificate from a previous server (have access to the certificate and key).
Step 1 — Add Custom SSL Certificate
Go to your application’s Domains page (Applications > appname > Domains) and click the kebab (three-dot) menu for the domain you want to add a custom SSL certificate to. Select Add custom SSL certificate from the dropdown menu.
Step 2 — Confirm Domains Covered by the SSL
Next, you’ll see a confirmation modal showing the domains that the custom SSL will cover. Click Next to proceed.
Step 3 — Add SSL and Private Key
You will then be able to add your private key (.key) and certificate (.cert, .cer., or .crt file).
Most SSL providers will email you a .crt or .cer file and a .ca-bundle file. You can use a text editor like Notepad++ or TextMate to open the certificate and bundle files, and copy the content of each file.
Paste the contents of your .crt file in the .cert file contents field first and then the contents of the .ca-bundle file below that, in the same field.
Click Add certificate to finalize the configuration process.
Step 4 — Check Your SSL Certificate
After you have installed your SSL certificate, we recommend running an SSL check to verify that everything is set up correctly. An invalid SSL certificate can cause your visitors to be faced with the “your connection is not private” error.
Summary
At Kinsta, we support both free Cloudflare SSL certificates and custom SSLs. For most users, our Cloudflare SSL integration provides HTTPS support at no additional cost. However, if you have a specific use case that requires a custom SSL, we support that as well. If you have any questions about how to add an SSL certificate to your site, reach out to our 24/7 Support team!