Plesk Hosting Server Certificate Renewal (2022+)

The following announcement only affects customers who host their own domain name on our Plesk hosting server.

We have renewed our SSL/TLS security certificate for our Plesk hosting server (host.widomaker.com). This renewed certificate will be used for connections to the Plesk server and the Plesk Control Panel. This includes HTTPS, FTPS, and some email connections (POP3, IMAP, SMTP).

Server security certificates, which enable secure communication, have to be renewed on a regular basis. Previously, it was possible to renew every two years. However, industry norms have changed over the past several years. The certificate authority (CA) we now use offers certificates with a maximum length of ninety days. As a result, our Plesk server certificate will be automatically renewed every 60 to 90 days.

In most cases you will not notice anything different when a certificate is renewed. However, depending on the software you use, and the settings, some software may prompt you to confirm using the new certificate (See further below, to confirm the certificate you are presented with belongs to us.). If you are concerned about any certificate prompts you receive, feel free to contact our office to confirm they are legitimate.

In some cases, adding a custom SSL/TLS certificate, for your hosted domain name, in your Plesk hosting control panel, and adjusting your email software settings to use your own hostname, will prevent unnecessary certificate errors and prompts. Contact Support for assistance.

Potential Email Clients Issues

Some buggy, or poorly designed, email clients may stop working when a certificate is renewed. We have no control over those buggy, or poorly designed, email clients. However, some known problematic scenarios, and possible workarounds, are listed below…

Apple Mail Issues

We are aware that some Apple mail clients, especially iOS mail clients on the iPhone and iPad, are frequently affected, and display a “Cannot Verify Server Identity” error, without a way to proceed further (such as selecting the Details > Trust, or Continue/Accept button). This has been a known issue with those Apple mail clients for years, and it is outside of our control. If you are affected, the only known solution is to follow the steps, below:

• Remove all affected email accounts from the Apple iOS device. Go to Settings –> Accounts & Password –> [Account Name] –> Delete Account.
• Then delete all outgoing mail servers, associated with the previously removed email accounts, in settings.
• Re-add the mail account(s). Contact our office if you need help or instructions.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but this is outside of our control. Hopefully Apple will update their mail applications to resolve this longstanding issue that may occur when certificates are renewed.

In some cases, adding your own SSL/TLS certificate to your hosted domain name, and using your own hostname in your email software’s settings, can avoid some certificate issues related to email. Contact Support for help adding a free SSL/TLS certificate to your hosted domain name.

Certificate Details

For the security conscious, if you want to make sure the certificate, you are presented with, belongs to Widomaker, you may view the certificate and verify that the certificate is issued by “Let’s Encrypt” for host.widomaker.com: