In this article, we will see various methods to use SSL on a Cloudflare-enabled account.
How to use Cloudflare with an SSL certificate?
You must need to install the SSL certificate on your site that ensures the secure connection for your users. Once you get SSL certificate installed and Cloudflare enabled to your site, then the entire connection gets encrypted, right from the browser to Cloudflare and even your web server.
Let’s Encrypt
Let’s Encrypt is a free and automated certificate that is recognized by most modern browsers. It is supported by all the MilesWeb hosting accounts, and can also be generated automatically for immediate use. Let’s Encrypt certificate is used for the following configurations :
SSL Enabled Root Domains
If your SSL is enabled for the root domain then you must upgrade it to Cloudflare Pro that will allow you to use SSL and Cloudflare simultaneously.
Cloudflare gives you two options for the SSL enabled sites :
Full SSL: To enable this option, you need at least a self-signed SSL certificate.
Full SSL (strict): To enable this option, you need to have a valid SSL certificate that is signed by a Certificate Authority. This is the most preferred method because even if you disable Cloudflare for
your site, it still remains completely protected by the SSL certificate.
SSL Enabled Subdomains
If the SSL is enabled for a subdomain then you will be able to continue using the free version of Cloudflare on your root domain. But you need to ensure that the SSL -enabled subdomain is disabled (that means it has got the gray icon next to it) in your Cloudflare settings.
To use Cloudflare with an SSL-enabled subdomain, you need to upgrade to Cloudflare Pro.
# How to use Cloudflare without using an SSL certificate
In case your site doesn’t have an SSL certificate at present than you can use Cloudflare Universal SSL.
This is a free feature and it encrypts connections between users’ web browsers and Cloudflare. But the connection between Cloudflare and your website is not encrypted. To secure these connections you need to install an SSL certificate on your server.
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