How to Install TLS Certificate

Securing your server with a TLS certificate is fundamental to ensure the protection of data during file transfers. TLS certificates encrypt the communication between your server and clients and between the server and the server’s Administration interface, ensuring that data remains confidential and integer.

Since the TLS certificate used by the server for administrative connections is generated automatically during installation.

This article guides you through the steps to install a server TLS certificate.

Installing a TLS Certificate:

1. Launch the Administration interface.
2. From the Server menu click on “Server” and select “Configure.”
3. In the FileZilla Server Configuration dialog, navigate to the “FTP over TLS (FTPS)” section.
4. In the Connection Security tab go to TLS Certificate
5. Select Use Let’s Encrypt Certificate
6. Generate a new Button
7. Click OK

If you have obtained a TLS certificate from a trusted third-party CA, follow these steps:

• Click on “Manually provide a certificate.”
• Enter the paths to the certificate and private key files in PEM format.

If required, enter the password for the private key.

If you don’t have a certificate from a third party, you can generate a self-signed certificate:

• Click on “Generate new.”
• Enter the Distinguished Name (DN) and applicable hostnames for the certificate. You can leave these fields empty if you’re unsure.

To use Let’s Encrypt® for certificate generation, you need to set up Let’s Encrypt® options first. Once done, follow these steps:

• Click on “Generate new.”
• Enter the applicable hostnames for the certificate. This field is mandatory.
8. Save Settings: after specifying the certificate and key files and configuring TLS options, click the “OK” button to save your settings.
9. Test the TLS Configuration: to ensure that the TLS certificate installation was successful, you can test it by connecting to your server using an FTPS client (FTP over TLS).

To learn more about TLS Certificate see Setting Up FTP Listeners and Connection Security article.

The video tutorial below shows how to install TLS certificate.

Video tutorial: How to Configure Let’s Encrypt with FileZilla Server