4 ms·

Leaving beta? They don't even have a Windows/IIS client yet. They're nowhere close to "release quality".

wtetzner 11y ago
Sure they are. They're a CA, the clients are just for users' convenience. Anyone who wants to can write their own client against the LE rest API.
- blakeyrat 11y ago
  I disagree. When you go to the webpage linked above and hit "getting started", there's not even a hint that their system works in OSes other than Linux. Possible there is support for Windows and IIS, but their own website strongly suggests otherwise. EDIT: if they consider their client and their CA as two different products, well, right now the website conflates the two badly. And there's absolutely nothing there to suggest it supports Windows/IIS.
  - wtetzner 11y ago
    > here's not even a hint that their system works in OSes other than Linux. > And there's absolutely nothing there to suggest it supports Windows/IIS. Their "system" is an API for issuing certificates. There's nothing platform specific about that. > right now the website conflates the two badly. From https://letsencrypt.org/getting-started/ https://letsencrypt.org/getting-started/: You’re welcome to use any compatible client, but we only provide instructions for using the client that we provide. Edit: This is the protocol they use: https://github.com/letsencrypt/acme-spec https://github.com/letsencrypt/acme-spec I found the link here: https://letsencrypt.org/how-it-works/ https://letsencrypt.org/how-it-works/
    - blakeyrat 11y ago
      So what part of this is going out of beta? The protocol, the CA, or the client? Now I'm just confused. But I still say: if their mission is to make it as easy as possible to install a SSL cert on any website, as long as they don't have any (apparent) support for Windows/IIS, they're a long, long, long way away from fulfilling that mission and probably shouldn't be leaving beta.
      - cbr 11y ago
        Typically beta/stable is about stability, not about features or platform support.
- OldSchoolJohnny 11y ago
  Could not disagree more. They are a CA with a very short expiring time frame and without the proper client software to automate that it's not practical to use at all.
pfg 11y ago
There are a number of Windows/IIS clients[1]. [1]: https://github.com/letsencrypt/letsencrypt/wiki/Links#windows https://github.com/letsencrypt/letsencrypt/wiki/Links#window...
- blakeyrat 11y ago
  Their own "getting started" page mentions nothing about Windows/IIS. Maybe you're right, but how would a potential user know it?
  - pfg 11y ago
    Sure, the documentation isn't perfect yet. The client is being split from the CA in the near-future (as well as renamed), so this aspect of the documentation will need to be reworked anyway. That being said, I sincerely hope that anyone responsible for TLS deployment knows how to use a search engine and enter "letsencrypt windows".
    - blakeyrat 11y ago
      Well I see people are voting me down for having the audacity to ask about compatibility with the second most popular web server in existence. Oh noes the ebil Microsoftz! Seriously, though. Maybe I misunderstand. Wasn't the entire point of this project to make it as easy as possible to add and maintain a SSL cert for any website? If that's their mission statement, then they're really, really, really far away from that goal and I re-assert that they probably shouldn't be calling it "production-ready". If I'm wrong, and that's not their goal, well, fair enough. All I'm saying is I run a website based on IIS and I go to their website, there's absolutely no hint that they support Windows in any fashion whatsoever. Nor even a hint that I might be able to Google for alternative clients that do. Now I think that's a pretty damned big flaw. Maybe I'm the only one. EDIT: (As an aside, the documentation is part of the project, so if it's "not perfect yet", as you claim, that also supports that they're not ready to leave beta yet.)
      - pfg 11y ago
OldSchoolJohnny 11y ago
Yup, agree completely, anyone voting you down is ignorant of the issues. I was excited to use this, kept up with the news for over a year then when it launched there were no really practical to use windows clients and after fighting with it for a while we decided it was cheaper and easier to just renew our paid cert instead of wasting time with it any longer. I hope there is a viable automated windows client for this before we have to renew again next year but everything is pointing to this being more of a non-windows thing so far.
- blakeyrat 11y ago
  And it's not like IIS is a minor player. IIS is fully 30% of the market, according to this recent Netcraft report: http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2016/01/26/january-2016-web-server-survey.html http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2016/01/26/january-2016-we...
- nsgi 11y ago
  You could always write one yourself.
icebraining 11y ago
Bah, like you'd use their open source client anyway!

Sure they are. They're a CA, the clients are just for users' convenience. Anyone who wants to can write their own client against the LE rest API.

blakeyrat 11y ago
I disagree. When you go to the webpage linked above and hit "getting started", there's not even a hint that their system works in OSes other than Linux. Possible there is support for Windows and IIS, but their own website strongly suggests otherwise. EDIT: if they consider their client and their CA as two different products, well, right now the website conflates the two badly. And there's absolutely nothing there to suggest it supports Windows/IIS.
- wtetzner 11y ago
  > here's not even a hint that their system works in OSes other than Linux. > And there's absolutely nothing there to suggest it supports Windows/IIS. Their "system" is an API for issuing certificates. There's nothing platform specific about that. > right now the website conflates the two badly. From https://letsencrypt.org/getting-started/ https://letsencrypt.org/getting-started/: You’re welcome to use any compatible client, but we only provide instructions for using the client that we provide. Edit: This is the protocol they use: https://github.com/letsencrypt/acme-spec https://github.com/letsencrypt/acme-spec I found the link here: https://letsencrypt.org/how-it-works/ https://letsencrypt.org/how-it-works/
  - blakeyrat 11y ago
    So what part of this is going out of beta? The protocol, the CA, or the client? Now I'm just confused. But I still say: if their mission is to make it as easy as possible to install a SSL cert on any website, as long as they don't have any (apparent) support for Windows/IIS, they're a long, long, long way away from fulfilling that mission and probably shouldn't be leaving beta.
    - cbr 11y ago
      Typically beta/stable is about stability, not about features or platform support.
OldSchoolJohnny 11y ago
Could not disagree more. They are a CA with a very short expiring time frame and without the proper client software to automate that it's not practical to use at all.

pfg 11y ago

There are a number of Windows/IIS clients[1]. [1]: https://github.com/letsencrypt/letsencrypt/wiki/Links#windows https://github.com/letsencrypt/letsencrypt/wiki/Links#window...

blakeyrat 11y ago
Their own "getting started" page mentions nothing about Windows/IIS. Maybe you're right, but how would a potential user know it?
- pfg 11y ago
  Sure, the documentation isn't perfect yet. The client is being split from the CA in the near-future (as well as renamed), so this aspect of the documentation will need to be reworked anyway. That being said, I sincerely hope that anyone responsible for TLS deployment knows how to use a search engine and enter "letsencrypt windows".
  - blakeyrat 11y ago
    Well I see people are voting me down for having the audacity to ask about compatibility with the second most popular web server in existence. Oh noes the ebil Microsoftz! Seriously, though. Maybe I misunderstand. Wasn't the entire point of this project to make it as easy as possible to add and maintain a SSL cert for any website? If that's their mission statement, then they're really, really, really far away from that goal and I re-assert that they probably shouldn't be calling it "production-ready". If I'm wrong, and that's not their goal, well, fair enough. All I'm saying is I run a website based on IIS and I go to their website, there's absolutely no hint that they support Windows in any fashion whatsoever. Nor even a hint that I might be able to Google for alternative clients that do. Now I think that's a pretty damned big flaw. Maybe I'm the only one. EDIT: (As an aside, the documentation is part of the project, so if it's "not perfect yet", as you claim, that also supports that they're not ready to leave beta yet.)
    - pfg 11y ago

OldSchoolJohnny 11y ago

Yup, agree completely, anyone voting you down is ignorant of the issues. I was excited to use this, kept up with the news for over a year then when it launched there were no really practical to use windows clients and after fighting with it for a while we decided it was cheaper and easier to just renew our paid cert instead of wasting time with it any longer. I hope there is a viable automated windows client for this before we have to renew again next year but everything is pointing to this being more of a non-windows thing so far.

blakeyrat 11y ago
And it's not like IIS is a minor player. IIS is fully 30% of the market, according to this recent Netcraft report: http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2016/01/26/january-2016-web-server-survey.html http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2016/01/26/january-2016-we...
nsgi 11y ago
You could always write one yourself.

icebraining 11y ago

Bah, like you'd use their open source client anyway!