Enable free Let's Encrypt HTTPS certificates on a Dokku app
domain: dokku.com · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
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Steps
Install the plugin: sudo dokku plugin:install https://github.com/dokku/dokku-letsencrypt.git
Set a contact email globally or per app: dokku letsencrypt:set --global email you@example.com
Ensure the app is already deployed and reachable over plain HTTP, then run dokku letsencrypt:enable <app>
Install the auto-renewal cron job once: sudo dokku letsencrypt:cron-job --add (renews when a cert enters its grace period, default 30 days before the 90-day expiry)
Re-run letsencrypt:enable whenever you add/change the app's domains, since the certificate's SAN list needs to cover them
Known gotchas
The app must be live and answering HTTP requests before the first HTTP-01 challenge — a freshly created but never-deployed app cannot be enabled
Every new Dokku app gets a subdomain on the shared Dokku root domain; enabling Let's Encrypt across many such apps quickly hits the per-registered-domain weekly certificate rate limit — point real per-app domains instead, or use dokku letsencrypt:set <app> server staging while testing
letsencrypt:enable is idempotent and safe to run on every deploy — it only calls the ACME server when something (domains, email, config) actually changed or renewal is due
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