How to Get an SSL Certificate from Cloudflare

Online privacy is now a top priority, and having a secure website is no longer optional – it’s a necessity. An SSL certificate encrypts data transmitted between your website and its visitors, protecting sensitive information such as passwords and payment details. Not only does this safeguard your users, but it also boosts your site’s credibility and improves search engine rankings.

Cloudflare makes securing your website easier and more affordable by offering free and paid SSL certificates. No matter if you’re a beginner or an advanced user, Cloudflare’s streamlined process allows you to obtain and install SSL quickly. This guide will walk you through everything from generating an SSL certificate on Cloudflare to installing it on your web server – ensuring your site is protected and fully encrypted.

What Is an SSL Certificate and Why Your Website Needs It

An SSL certificate (Secure Sockets Layer) is a digital security certificate that encrypts the connection between a website and its visitors. It protects sensitive information such as passwords, payment details, login credentials, and personal data from being intercepted by hackers.

When a website installs an SSL certificate, its address changes from HTTP to HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). HTTPS ensures that all data exchanged between the user’s browser and the web server is encrypted and secure.

This encryption converts readable data into coded information that can only be decrypted by the intended server. As a result, attackers cannot easily intercept or modify the data while it is being transmitted over the internet.

SSL certificates are issued by trusted organizations known as Certificate Authorities (CAs). These authorities verify a website’s identity before issuing a certificate, helping establish trust between the website and its visitors.

When SSL is active, users will see a padlock icon in the browser address bar, indicating that the website connection is secure and protected.

Read more: Guide to Securing Your WordPress Site

Why SSL Certificates Are Important for Websites?

• Protects Sensitive Data – SSL locks your information so hackers can’t steal it.
• Boosts Google Ranking – Google favors secure (HTTPS) websites, helping them rank higher in search results.
• Builds Trust – The padlock symbol in the address bar shows visitors your site is safe.
• Meets Security Rules – Many online regulations require SSL to protect user data.
• Avoids “Not Secure” Warnings – Without SSL, browsers warn users that your site isn’t safe, which can scare them away.
• Aligns with Compliance: Meets industry standards like PCI-DSS for online transactions.

Simply put, an SSL certificate keeps your website secure, improves trust, and helps with SEO, making it a must-have for any website today.

Cloudflare SSL Modes Explained

Cloudflare offers multiple SSL modes that determine how traffic is encrypted.

SSL Mode	Security Level	Recommended
Off	No encryption	❌
Flexible	Browser → Cloudflare encrypted	⚠️
Full	End-to-end encrypted	✔️
Full (Strict)	Fully verified encryption	⭐ Best

• Flexible SSL: Traffic between visitors and Cloudflare is encrypted, but Cloudflare connects to the server using HTTP. This means your origin server is not fully protected.
• Full SSL: Traffic is encrypted between the visitor and Cloudflare and also between Cloudflare and the origin server. However, the origin certificate is not validated.
• Full (Strict) SSL: This is the most secure option. Cloudflare verifies that your origin server has a valid SSL certificate before connecting.

Recommendation:
Always use Full (Strict) when possible.

Step-by-Step: How to Get an SSL Certificate from Cloudflare

Follow these steps to secure your website with a free SSL certificate using Cloudflare.

Step 1: Sign Up or Log In to Cloudflare

Go to Cloudflare.com and log in or create a free account. You can use your Google or Apple account or any other email address while signing up. Upon successful login, you’ll see the Cloudflare dashboard with all available configuration menus in the left side panel.

Step 2: Add Your Website to Cloudflare

Once inside the dashboard, you will be redirected to the Account Home page.

• Enter your domain name in the field provided.
• Click Continue.
• Cloudflare will automatically scan your existing DNS records.

Carefully review the detected records and confirm that everything looks correct before continuing.

Step 3: Select the Right Plan for Your Needs

After adding your domain, Cloudflare will ask you to select a plan.

Available options include:

• Free Plan – Suitable for most personal websites and blogs
• Pro Plan – Includes advanced security and performance features

For most users, the Free plan is enough to enable SSL encryption.

Step 4: Update Your Domain Nameservers

This is one of the most important steps. Cloudflare will provide two nameservers, for example:

adam.ns.cloudflare.com
emma.ns.cloudflare.com

You can find these nameservers in:

Cloudflare Dashboard → Overview
or
DNS → Records → Scroll to Nameservers

Next, go to your domain registrar (such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Hostinger) and replace your existing nameservers with the ones provided by Cloudflare.

DNS propagation may take up to 24 hours, but in many cases it completes much faster.

Step 5: Enable SSL/TLS Encryption

While people still use the term “SSL,” most modern encryption actually uses TLS for security. Cloudflare and other providers issue TLS certificates, even if they are commonly referred to as SSL. So don’t get confused seeing TLS here.

Go to SSL/TLS > Overview in the dashboard. And choose from:

• Automatic SSL/TLS (default): Cloudflare analyzes your traffic to determine if enhanced encryption is needed and automatically adjusts your settings accordingly.
• Custom SSL/TLS: Choose the encryption mode that Cloudflare will use to establish a connection with your origin server.

You can choose the custom encryption mode, and we recommend selecting the Full (Strict) option. This ensures full encryption with a valid SSL certificate on your origin server.

Step 6: Configure Edge Certificates

Enable Always Use HTTPS and Automatic HTTPS Rewrites under SSL/TLS > Edge Certificates to force secure connections.

• Always Use HTTPS: Redirects all HTTP requests to HTTPS, preventing insecure connections.
• Automatic HTTPS Rewrites: This fixes mixed content issues by rewriting HTTP links to HTTPS when possible, ensuring a fully secure browsing experience.

These settings help protect user data, improve SEO rankings, and maintain trust by enforcing secure connections across your site.

Step 7: Verify Your SSL Certificate Is Working

After installing an SSL certificate, follow these steps to confirm that it’s properly set up and securing your website:

• Open your browser and visit the website using https://yourdomain.com.
• Look for a padlock icon in the address bar.
• Click the padlock to view SSL certificate details.

You can also use an SSL Checker Tool. Test your SSL installation with online tools like:

• SSL Labs’ SSL Test
• Why No Padlock?

These tools check for expiration, security issues, and proper configuration. If you know how to use commands, run the following command to check SSL on your server:

curl -I https://yourdomain.com

If SSL is working, the response should include HTTP/2 200 OK or HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently (redirecting to HTTPS).

Step 8: (Optional) Generate a Cloudflare Origin Certificate

This step is necessary if your hosting doesn’t support SSL. Install the generated certificate on your web server. Go to SSL/TLS > Origin Server > Create Certificate.

Go to:

SSL/TLS → Origin Server → Create Certificate

Then follow these steps:

1. Select Generate private key and CSR with Cloudflare
2. Choose your private key type
3. Add hostnames (for example):

example.com
*.example.com

4. Choose the certificate validity period (default: 15 years)
5. Click Create

Cloudflare will generate:

• Certificate file (cert.pem)
• Private key (privkey.pem)

Install these files on your web server to enable Full (Strict) SSL encryption.

Your Cloudflare Origin SSL certificate is now ready to use.

Step 9: Install SSL Certificate on Your Web Server

After generating the Cloudflare Origin SSL Certificate, you need to install it on your web server. The process differs slightly depending on whether you’re using Apache or Nginx.

Install SSL on Apache

Follow these steps to configure the Cloudflare SSL certificate on an Apache server.

1. Access your server via SSH

ssh [email protected]

2. Create a directory for SSL files

sudo mkdir /etc/ssl/cloudflare

3. Upload the certificate and private key

Upload the files you downloaded from Cloudflare:

cert.pem
privkey.pem

Place them in:

/etc/ssl/cloudflare/

4. Update the Apache configuration

Open your domain’s configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/yourdomain.com.conf

Ensure the following lines exist:

SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/cloudflare/cert.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/cloudflare/privkey.pem

5. Enable the site and restart Apache

sudo a2ensite yourdomain
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Your Apache server will now use the Cloudflare Origin SSL certificate.

Install SSL on Nginx

Follow these steps to install the Cloudflare Origin SSL Certificate on an Nginx server.

1. Access your server via SSH

ssh [email protected]

2. Create a directory for SSL files

sudo mkdir /etc/nginx/ssl

3. Upload the certificate and private key

Copy the files you generated from Cloudflare:

• cert.pem
• privkey.pem

Upload them to:

/etc/nginx/ssl/

4. Update the Nginx configuration

Open your site configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com.conf

Add or modify the SSL configuration inside the server block:

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name yourdomain.com;    ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/cert.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/privkey.pem;    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:80;
    }
}

Save the file after making the changes.

5. Test and restart Nginx

Before restarting, check that the configuration is valid:

sudo nginx -t

If everything looks good, restart Nginx:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Your Cloudflare Origin SSL certificate should now be active on your Nginx server.

Install SSL Using cPanel or Other Control Panels

cPanel is a widely used control panel for website management. While we’ve demonstrated the process using cPanel here, the steps are somewhat similar for other popular control panels as well.

• Log in to cPanel.
• Go to Security > SSL/TLS.
• Click Manage SSL Sites under Install and Manage SSL.
• Paste the contents of:
  • Certificate (CRT): From cert.pem.
  • Private Key (KEY): From privkey.pem.
• Click Install Certificate.

Finally, verify that the certificate is working correctly by visiting your website over HTTPS, as explained in Step 7.

Simplify SSL Certificate Setup with FlyWP

If you manage WordPress websites on a VPS server, installing and configuring SSL certificates manually can be time-consuming.

The process often involves working with server settings, SSH commands, and web server configurations, which can be challenging if you’re not familiar with server management.

This is where FlyWP makes the process much easier.

FlyWP provides a simple graphical dashboard that allows you to install and manage SSL certificates without dealing with complex server configurations. Even users with minimal technical experience can secure their websites in just a few clicks.

How to Install an SSL Certificate Using FlyWP

Follow these simple steps to install and verify an SSL certificate in FlyWP:

1. Log in to your FlyWP dashboard.
2. Go to the Sites section.
3. Select the server and website where you want to install SSL.
4. Click SSL from the left-side menu.

Under the New Certificate section, choose one of the following options:

• Let’s Encrypt – Install a free SSL certificate automatically.
• Install Existing – Upload an existing SSL certificate manually.

Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Once the process finishes, your SSL certificate will be installed and verified automatically, and your website will be secured with HTTPS.

Why Use FlyWP for SSL Management:

FlyWP simplifies SSL management by allowing you to:

• Install SSL certificates in one click
• Manage SSL for multiple websites
• Enable secure HTTPS connections quickly
• Avoid complex server configuration

This makes FlyWP an ideal solution for WordPress users, developers, and agencies managing VPS servers.

Learn more about FlyWP’s SSL Management to streamline your website security.

Final Thoughts

Securing your website with an SSL certificate is essential for protecting user data and improving trust. While obtaining an SSL certificate from Cloudflare and installing it on your web server can be a bit technical, the benefits of enhanced security, improved SEO, and a better user experience make it well worth the effort.

For those who find manual installation overwhelming, cloud server management platforms like FlyWP can make the process much easier. With its intuitive interface for managing SSL certificates, FlyWP streamlines not only SSL management but also the overall cloud server management. You can easily ensure your website stays secure with minimal effort.

Looking for a simpler way to manage your SSL and cloud server? Try FlyWP to take the hassle out of both and keep your website running securely.