Home Issue Let's Encrypt HTTP Challenge Fails – Timeout during connect (likely firewall problem)

Let's Encrypt HTTP Challenge Fails – Timeout during connect (likely firewall problem)

Last updated on Jun 03, 2025

❗ Problem

When issuing an SSL certificate using Let's Encrypt with HTTP-01 challenge, you may see the following error:

Fetching http://your-domain/.well-known/acme-challenge/xxxx: Timeout during connect (likely firewall problem)

🧠 Cause

Let's Encrypt tries to connect to your server via HTTP (port 80) to verify your domain.
If port 80 is blocked by a firewall or not open in your hosting provider’s firewall settings, validation will fail.

✅ Solution

Open port 80 in your hosting provider's firewall:

  1. Go to your cloud provider dashboard

  2. Locate the firewall or security group settings

  3. Allow inbound traffic on TCP port 80

    Example settings:

    • Port: 80

    • Protocol: TCP

    • Source: 0.0.0.0/0 (for public access)