I'm trying to wrap my head around how ACME renewals work, specifically how renewing a certificate before it expires affects the validity of the new one. For example, if I have a 1-year certificate that expires on April 1, 2026, and my ACME client automatically renews it on March 1, 2026, will the new certificate only be valid from March 1, 2026, to March 1, 2027? And then if it renews again in February 2027, would it only be valid from February 2027 to February 2028? Am I essentially losing 30 days each time I renew a certificate?
5 Answers
Basically, yes, it expires 1 year from whenever you renew it. The beauty of ACME is it simplifies this whole renewal process for you—though the cert validity is getting much shorter than a whole year now.
The move of the industry is definitely toward 47-day expiration periods, with annual renewals expected every month. So yes, your concern might not matter soon since you won't be able to get those longer-lasting 1 year certificates anymore.
On paper, sure, it seems like you’re losing that month each time you renew.
It really depends if you're managing your own internal setup or using a public provider like GoDaddy. With ACME, you get certs that have much shorter terms, but renewing keeps extending the expiration date—you're not actually losing anything significant unless you let the product itself lapse.
You got it! When you renew, the new certificate is valid from the date it's issued, which means you're losing out on those 30 days from the old certificate. But honestly, with all the changes coming to how long certificates can last, it's really not a huge deal. Starting in March, the max validity for certificates drops to 200 days, and it'll keep shrinking after that. Just design your process to allow for flexible renewals, and look for a vendor that lets you re-issue as needed.
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