How CertKit Works

Issue, deploy, and verify your SSL certificates.
Fully automated.

CertKit is your centralized certificate automation platform. It handles the entire certificate lifecycle, from discovery to renewal, so your team can focus on real work.

With certificate lifetimes now capped at 200 days and heading to 47, managing renewals server by server no longer scales. Here is the architecture that makes full automation possible.

Issue → Deploy → Verify

CertKit automates certificates from request to confirming they're live on every system.

 CA             CertKit                  Your Servers             Your Devices
┌─────────┐    ┌──────────────────┐     ┌───────────────────┐    ┌───────────────┐
│         │ACME│                  │   ┌───────────────┐     │    │               │
│  x509   │◄──►│      Manage      │◄──│ CertKit Agent │─────────►│ [x] Cert via  │
│         │    │   Certificates   │   └───┬─┬─────────┘     │    │   REST API    │
└─────────┘  ┌───┐                │     │ │ └► [x] cert     │    │ [x] Cert via  │
             │DNS│────┬───────────┘     │ │       updated   │    │   Remote CLI  │
             └───┘    └───────────────► │ └──► [x] software │    │               │
                        Verify cert     │         reloaded  │    └───────────────┘
                                        └───────────────────┘

Your infrastructure doesn't need ACME. You don't open ports. You don't change DNS.
You just run the agent.
Here's how it works ↓

Issuing and Renewing Certificates

 Your DNS            CertKit               CA
┌────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐
│                │  │                  │  │             │
│                │  │  Request cert    │  │             │
│ CNAME ─────────────► via ACME     ─────────►          │
│ one-time setup │  │                  │  │             │
│                │  │ [x] Domain       │  │  Validate   │
│                │  │     Validated ◄───────  domain    │
└────────────────┘  │                  │  │             │
                    │ [x] Certificate  │  │             │
                    │     Auto-renewed ◄───             │
                    │                  │  │             │
                    └──────────────────┘  └─────────────┘

CertKit acts as your centralized ACME client. Add your domains, and CertKit requests certificates from an ACME Certificate Authority on your behalf. It supports wildcard and multi-domain certificates out of the box.

Validation uses delegated DNS. You create a one-time CNAME record, and CertKit handles every challenge after that.

Certificates renew automatically without any intervention. Unlike Certbot or ACME.sh, you don't run ACME on every server. CertKit manages it all from one place.

Deploying Certificates

 Your Devices        Your Servers                    CertKit
┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐
│              │    │  ┌────────────────────┐  │    │              │
│  Network     │    │  │ CertKit Agent      │  │    │              │
│  appliance   │◄───│  │                    │  │    │ New Cert     │
│              │    │  │  Poll for updates ───────────► available! │
│ [x] Cert via │    │  │                    │  │    │              │
│     API/CLI  │    │  │ [x] Write certs    │  │    └──────────────┘
│              │    │  │ [x] Restart service│  │    - No open ports
└──────────────┘    │  └────────────────────┘  │    - No ACME
                    │                          │    - Change windows
                    │  Nginx, Apache, HAProxy  │
                    │  IIS, F5, more.          │
                    └──────────────────────────┘

The CertKit Agent runs as a lightweight background service on your servers. It polls CertKit for updated certificates and deploys them automatically. It deploys to Nginx, Apache, HAProxy, IIS, F5, Palo Alto, Citrix, and Fortinet, and is extensible for other platforms.

Your servers don't need to speak ACME. They don't open ports or change DNS. The agent only makes outbound connections, so it works behind firewalls.

Some devices can't run software at all. Firewalls, load balancers, and other network appliances won't host an agent, but they still need certificates. CertKit handles them with a deploy agent: the agent runs on a nearby server and pushes each renewed certificate to the appliance over its own API or CLI, like the F5 iControl REST, Palo Alto PAN-OS, FortiGate, and SonicWall interfaces. One server reaches every appliance on the network, so the devices themselves stay untouched.

One certificate can deploy to dozens of servers automatically. Unlike Certbot, there is no per-server ACME configuration to manage. MSPs can manage certificates across multiple client environments from a single account.

Verifying Certificates

 Your Infra.           CertKit
┌──────────────┐      ┌───────────────────┐
│              │      │                   │
│ serving   ◄────────── TLS handshake     │
│ certificate  │      │                   │
│             ─────────► Expected cert?   │
└──────────────┘      │ [x] Serial match  │
                      │ [x] Correct SANs  │
                      │ [x] Not expiring  │
                      │                   │
                      │  CT Logs          │
                      │ [x] Alert if new  │
                      │                   │
                      └───────────────────┘

CertKit monitors every certificate and confirms everything actually worked. It connects to your domains and checks that the specific certificate it issued is the one being served. Not just valid TLS — the expected serial number, SANs, and expiration.

CertKit also monitors Certificate Transparency logs for unexpected certificate issuance on your domains. Every certificate, renewal, and deployment is logged for a full audit trail.

DIY tools leave you hoping the cron job worked. CertKit closes the loop.

Security & trust

Many organizations are concerned about certificate platforms storing private keys. CertKit stores private keys using AES-256-GCM with Additional Authenticated Data (AAD) encryption. Modern TLS adds a further safety net with Perfect Forward Secrecy: even if a private key were compromised, it cannot be used to decrypt past traffic. Every TLS 1.3 connection uses ephemeral session keys that exist only for that connection.

For organizations that require local key storage, the CertKit Keystore keeps your private keys entirely on-premise. CertKit manages issuance and renewal, but keys never leave your network. The Keystore is available on Enterprise plans.

Using CertKit to manage our public-facing SSL certificates has been an excellent decision. The platform is user-friendly, certificates are easy to deploy, and the automation agent streamlines the entire certificate lifecycle, eliminating concerns around shortening certificate validity periods.

Chris Austin, IT Engineer, Buckman

Start your free 90-day trial

Get full access to CertKit for 90 days — long enough to see your certificates renew automatically and know the system works for your infrastructure.

No credit card required. Free engineering support to get you set up.

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