First of all, You need to have root SSH access to your server. Otherwise, this method would not be possible as server restart requires sudo privileges and not something possible with your basic / jailed SSH access offered on shared hosting environments.

Further steps explained below:

1. Login to your SSH console as root user.

2. In case of Apache or Nginx server, please run the below command to identify your service path and make note of the path.

which service

It will be something like /usr/sbin/service

3. Run the below command to see which cron jobs you are already running.

crontab -l

4. Start editing the crontab with nano editor using below command

crontab -e

5. Using the service path you have noted, add a new monthly cron job line (runs on date 1 of each month) at the bottom of crontab editor in a new line as below

0 0 1 * * /usr/sbin/service apache2 restart > /monthlycron.log 2>&1

If you are using Nginx server, the above line should be,

0 0 1 * * /usr/sbin/service nginx restart > /monthlycron.log 2>&1

If you are using Bitnami server / Apache Lightsail, the above line should be,

0 0 1 * * /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh restart apache > /monthlycron.log 2>&1

Note: Both success & errors are logged in monthlycron.log file of root directory which will be helpful for debugging if server restart fails.

Press CTRL + O to save the crontab & you are all set!. You can run crontab -l command to see the saved cron job.

CAUTION:

In rare cases, If there is any error / typo in your server config file or if certificate.crt, private.pem, cabundle.crt files don’t exists in keys/ directory of your WordPress directory, your server restart could fail and your site may become inaccessible on day 1 of month. In such case, you need to correct any error logged in monthlycron.log file, fix missing cert files in keys/ directory and restart server once manually.

The post Setup CRON Job to Restart Server Monthly Once appeared first on WP Encryption.

1. Login to your SSH console

If you have Apache server running on cloud platforms like AWS or Digital Ocean, you might be able to login via SSH using Launch Console option. Otherwise, you can login using SSH key file or password via terminal.

2. Determine your Apache server version

If you are sure about having httpd or apache2 server, please proceed to next step.

Running the below SSH commands will help you identify whether you have httpd or apache2 server.

sudo systemctl is-enabled httpd

sudo systemctl is-enabled apache2

One of these will respond with enabled. Please follow below steps based on which server type is enabled.

3. Install SSL for Apache httpd server

Please run the below SSH command to install SSL module if not already installed:

sudo yum update -y

sudo yum install -y mod_ssl

If you have Linux 2, please run below command instead of above one

sudo yum install -y mod24_ssl

3a. Modify httpd config file with correct SSL paths

Now it’s time to correct the SSL cert, key and ca bundle paths in default config file. CD into /etc/httpd/conf.d/ and edit ssl.conf file

cd /etc/httpd/conf.d/

sudo nano ssl.conf

You need to look for SSLCertificateFile, SSLCertificateKeyFile & SSLCACertificateFile lines. Assuming your site is hosted / stored in /var/www/ directory and SSL certificates generated with WP Encryption WordPress plugin stored in keys directory, modify the 3 lines to look like this:

SSLCertificateFile /var/www/keys/certificate.crt
SSLCertificateKeyFile /var/www/keys/private.pem
SSLCACertificateFile /var/www/wp-content/plugins/wp-letsencrypt-ssl/cabundle/ca.crt

Save the file by pressing CTRL+O and exit editor with CTRL+X. CMD+O and CMD+X on Mac Terminal.

3b. Restart httpd server for SSL changes to take effect

Now we are done with the server config changes, it’s time to restart apache httpd server once for changes to take effect. Please run the below SSH commands to do so:

sudo systemctl restart httpd

OR

sudo service httpd restart

Your HTTPS site should be working perfectly now!.

4. Install SSL for Apache2 server

Enable SSL module using below command if not already enabled

sudo a2enmod ssl

cd /etc/apache2/ and check if sites-available & sites-enabled directory exists. if exists – cd into sites-available and you should find a config file like default-ssl.conf. Using the default file name, Please run the below command to enable it and then modify this file,

sudo a2ensite default-ssl.conf
sudo nano default-ssl.conf

If you don’t find sites-available & sites-enabled directory, You should probably modify apache2.conf file.

You need to look for SSLCertificateFile, SSLCertificateKeyFile & SSLCACertificateFile lines. Assuming your site is hosted / stored in /var/www/html/ directory and SSL certificates generated with WP Encryption WordPress plugin stored in keys directory, modify the 3 lines to look like this:

SSLCertificateFile /var/www/html/keys/certificate.crt
SSLCertificateKeyFile /var/www/html/keys/private.pem
SSLCACertificateFile /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wp-letsencrypt-ssl-pro/cabundle/ca.crt

Save the file by pressing CTRL+O and exit editor with CTRL+X. CMD+O and CMD+X on Mac Terminal.

4a. Restart Apache2 server for SSL changes to take effect

Now we are done with the server config changes, it’s time to restart apache2 server once for changes to take effect. Please run the below SSH commands to do so:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

OR

sudo service apache2 restart

Your HTTPS site should be working perfectly now!.

The post How to install SSL for WordPress on Apache server appeared first on WP Encryption.