# SSL Expiration Monitoring

### What is the purpose of SSL expiration monitoring?

A secure sockets layer (SSL) is a digital document that works as a certificate to confirm the identity of a website and to make the connection between the user and the website more secure and private.

Ever since 2014, it has been required for websites to have an SSL certificate to prevent the website from being hidden in the Google rankings, to be marked as 'not secure' or, worst of all, for the website to not load at all or for anti-virus software to actively block your website.

For the safety, security, and overall functioning of your website, you need an SSL certificate that is active, valid and has not expired.

As important as SSL certificates are, much like domains, they do expire. In fact, most providers will only offer one that lasts for 90 days. They should auto-renew, but that is no guarantee and you cannot risk any interruption.

### How does it function?

Our monitoring will check the expiration date of your SSL certificate and notify you if it is due to expire soon. You choose how much notice we give you, at the top level you will be notified 30 days before the certificate expires. 30 days is around the point that most SSL certificate providers will auto-renew your certificate, so we will let you know as soon as the auto-renew has failed.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://upwatch.gitbook.io/upwatch/readme/ssl-expiration-monitoring.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.