What is AWS Certificate Manager?
AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) is a service for provisioning and managing SSL/TLS certificates for AWS resources. The service fully automates certificate creation, validation, and renewal, eliminating manual processes and expired certificates.
Key Features
- Free public SSL/TLS certificates for AWS services
- Automatic renewal before expiration date
- DNS or email-based domain validation
- Private Certificate Authority for internal certificates
- Wildcard certificates for subdomains
Common Use Cases
HTTPS for Web Applications: Secure your websites and APIs with free SSL certificates. Integration with CloudFront or Application Load Balancer in a few clicks without manual certificate configuration.
Multi-Domain Certificates: A single ACM certificate can cover up to 10 domains (SAN). Wildcard certificates (*.example.com) automatically secure all subdomains.
Private PKI for Enterprises: ACM Private CA creates a private Certificate Authority for internal applications, IoT devices, or microservices communication with full control over the certificate chain.
Benefits
- No cost for public certificates on AWS services
- No manual renewal processes
- Native integration with AWS load balancers and CDN
- Compliance-ready with audit logs via CloudTrail
Integration with innFactory
As an AWS Reseller, innFactory supports you with AWS Certificate Manager: architecture for secure TLS communication, building private PKI infrastructure, and migrating existing certificates to ACM.
Typical Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
Are ACM certificates really free?
Public SSL/TLS certificates for AWS services are free. Private certificates via ACM Private CA cost $400 per month per CA plus $0.75 per certificate (tiered pricing).
Which AWS services does ACM support?
ACM certificates work with CloudFront, Elastic Load Balancing, API Gateway, Elastic Beanstalk, CloudFormation, and AWS Nitro Enclaves. For EC2 directly, you need exported certificates.
How does automatic renewal work?
ACM automatically renews public certificates before expiration. With DNS validation, no action is required. With email validation, you must confirm the renewal once.
Can I export ACM certificates?
Public ACM certificates cannot be exported. Private certificates via ACM Private CA can be exported and used on any servers.