HTTP SSL with GoDaddy's Certificate: Incomplete Certificate Chain

In utilizing SSL encryption within Go using GoDaddy certificates, a common error encountered is the incomplete certificate chain, resulting in a grade cap of B upon SSL test analysis.

Reason for the Error

As per the Go's official documentation, incomplete certificate chains occur when the provided certificate does not include the root authority certificates. When a web server presents a certificate to a client, it expects to receive the entire certificate chain extending to the trusted root authority. If any intermediate certificates or the root certificate are missing, the client cannot validate the server's identity and the certificate chain is considered incomplete.

Proposed Solution

To rectify this issue, consult the following steps:

1. Obtain Intermediate and Root Certificates: Reach out to your certificate provider, GoDaddy in this case, to acquire any intermediate and root certificates associated with the main certificate file. Intermediate certificates are issued by the root CA and sign the server certificate, while the root certificate is the trusted authority recognized by web browsers.
2. Concatenate Certificates: Combine the main certificate with all the intermediate certificates and the root certificate into a single file. This file will serve as the complete certificate chain to be used by your web server.
3. Update Go Code with Complete Certificate File: Modify your Go server code to utilize the updated certificate file containing the complete certificate chain. Ensure that the path to the certificate file is correct and that it is being loaded properly using the LoadX509KeyPair function.
4. Test and Validate: Restart your web server and conduct an SSL test using a tool like SSL Labs (https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/) to verify if the issue has been resolved. A complete certificate chain should result in a successful validation and an improved SSL test grade.

Additional Considerations

• While concatenating the certificate files, ensure there are no extra newline characters or spaces in the file. Any errors in formatting could lead to parsing issues.
• Consider including additional cipher suites in your TLS configuration for enhanced security.
• As indicated by the Go documentation, including the root certificate in the certificate chain is optional. Some systems may expect the root certificate to be present, while others may not.

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