Features
SSL certificate monitoring and expiry alerts
Uptimely checks an SSL certificate by connecting to your host and reading it: how many days it has left, whether it is trusted, and whether it has already expired. Add a rule such as Expires In Days less than 30, and the monitor changes status and opens an incident while there is still time to renew.
An expired certificate takes a site down as completely as a crashed server, and every browser makes sure each visitor sees the warning. Certificates renew automatically most of the time, which is exactly why a broken renewal goes unnoticed until the day it matters.
An SSL Certificate monitor is its own monitor type, separate from a website monitor. Out of the box it goes offline only when it cannot read a certificate at all. An expired or untrusted certificate is detected on every check, but it pages nobody until you add a rule for it, and the steps below cover the two rules most teams start with.
What you get
- Days and hours left. Every check reads how long the certificate has left, in days and in hours, and a rule can act on either.
- Trust and hostname checks. Every check verifies that the certificate is signed by a trusted authority, issued for the host you entered, and not expired. A self-signed certificate fails that check.
- Any host and port. Check a website on port 443, or put the port in the address, such as mail.example.com:465, for mail servers and other TLS services.
- Expiry reminders on your terms. Get the reminder 30 days before expiration, at 14, or 24 hours out, or whenever the certificate fails verification. Each rule can change the monitor's status and open an incident.
- Alerts on every channel. Alerts go out by email, SMS, phone call, Slack, Discord and browser push, the same channels every other monitor uses.
How it works
- Create a monitor and choose SSL Certificate. Enter the host, such as example.com, or host:port for another service.
- In the monitor's criteria, add a rule on Expires In Days, Less Than, 30, and turn on Change Monitor Status and Create Incident.
- Add a second rule on Is Not A Valid Certificate, so a broken chain or a wrong hostname reaches you too.
- Choose who hears about it: email, SMS, phone call, Slack, Discord and browser push.
What the Free plan includes
- 10 monitors: one per certificate you watch
- Expiry, trust and hostname checks
- Incidents, on-call and alerts
- No credit card, and no time limit
Every plan and limit is on the pricing page.
Questions
Will Uptimely warn me before my certificate expires?
Yes, once you add an expiry rule. Set Expires In Days to less than 30, or whatever lead time you want, and the monitor changes status and opens an incident when the certificate crosses that line. Without a rule, the monitor reads the days left but does not alert on them.
How do I monitor SSL certificate expiration?
Create an SSL Certificate monitor for the host, add a rule on Expires In Days, Less Than, 30, and turn on Change Monitor Status and Create Incident. Uptimely then tracks the days left on every check, and when the certificate crosses that line your team gets the expiry reminder on the channels you chose.
Can it check certificates on ports other than 443?
Yes. Put the port in the address, for example mail.example.com:465 or example.com:8443. Without one, the monitor uses the port you configured on it, and 443 if you set none.
Does it catch self-signed or misconfigured certificates?
Yes, once you add a rule for it. Every check verifies the certificate chain, the expiry date and the hostname you entered, and a rule on Is Not A Valid Certificate alerts you when any of them fails: a self-signed certificate, an expired one, one issued for another host, or one from an untrusted chain.
Do I need an SSL monitor if I already monitor the website?
Usually, yes. A website monitor tells you the site is down once it is down. An SSL Certificate monitor with an expiry rule tells you weeks earlier, while renewing is still a routine job.
Does Uptimely renew certificates?
No, it watches them. Renewal stays with whatever issues your certificates today, such as your host, your load balancer or a tool like certbot, and Uptimely tells you when that process has stopped working.
Watch your first certificate on the Free plan. No credit card needed.
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