# /etc/letsencrypt -- is it also used by the LetsEncrypt that virtualmin installs for us? Or may I delete it?

**URL:** <https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/etc-letsencrypt-is-it-also-used-by-the-letsencrypt-that-virtualmin-installs-for-us-or-may-i-delete-it/59567>\
**Category:** Help! (Home for newbies)\
**Created:** [December 8, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/etc-letsencrypt-is-it-also-used-by-the-letsencrypt-that-virtualmin-installs-for-us-or-may-i-delete-it/59567 "2018-12-08T21:19:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![OliverF](https://cdn.forum.virtualmin.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/ce73a5/32.png) [@OliverF](https://forum.virtualmin.com/u/OliverF)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/etc-letsencrypt-is-it-also-used-by-the-letsencrypt-that-virtualmin-installs-for-us-or-may-i-delete-it/59567/1 "2018-12-08T21:19:15Z")

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Hello!

**The context of my question:**

I host a plethora of websites for friends and relatives as a courtesy (not as a commercial service, my dedi is for another purpose), and I forgot to add letsencrypt to one of those domains.

I couldn’t do the usual, Virtual host \> Server configuration \> Manage SSL certificates \> Let’s encrypt \> Request certificate.

There was an error for this domain, about web-based validation failing because the LE “client was used previously on this system” with the follow-up explanation that any further letsencrypt installations would have to use the old-style client rather than the Virtualmin way.

Following a support thread ( [https://www.virtualmin.com/node/40920](https://www.virtualmin.com/node/40920) ), I get that deleting /etc/letsencrypt gets rid of the problem and allows to once again use virtualmin to setup Letsencrypt. OK.

**My actual question** - sorry it took so long to reach it, haha.

Here’s the object of my worries, if I delete /etc/letsencrypt, will that, or won’t that, break SSL and Letsencrypt for every other website that had LE installed through virtualmin?

May I safely trust that /etc/letsencrypt was uniquely used by the old school client, and the virtual domains won’t need it for the LE installed and handled by Virtualmin?

I’d be most grateful if I could have a confirmation I am not going to screw SSL for every virtual host already using LE with virtualmin, thank you very much if you can tell me 🙂

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**Author:** ![OliverF](https://cdn.forum.virtualmin.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/ce73a5/32.png) [@OliverF](https://forum.virtualmin.com/u/OliverF)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/etc-letsencrypt-is-it-also-used-by-the-letsencrypt-that-virtualmin-installs-for-us-or-may-i-delete-it/59567/2 "2018-12-26T15:25:59Z")

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I will respectfully allow myself to ping this thread once 🙂

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**Author:** ![system](https://cdn.forum.virtualmin.com/uploads/default/original/2X/c/cd96d761e326db4b2bef94886a639109bd7a8e76.svg) [@system](https://forum.virtualmin.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 5:38am UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/etc-letsencrypt-is-it-also-used-by-the-letsencrypt-that-virtualmin-installs-for-us-or-may-i-delete-it/59567/3 "2020-04-30T05:38:35Z")

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Closed on April 30, 2020, 5:38am UTC