SSL & Domain Expiry

Overview

Every site monitor tracks two expiry dates automatically, with no extra configuration:

• SSL certificate expiry — read from the certificate presented on each check
• Domain expiry — looked up from the domain's registration records

Both are shown on the site's Overview and in the Sites list, colour-coded: amber under 30 days, red under 10.

An expired certificate takes a site down for every visitor with a browser warning they cannot easily bypass. An expired domain is worse and slower to fix. Both are entirely preventable, which is why this is on by default.

SSL certificate tracking

On every check of an https:// URL, Pingniner records the certificate's expiry date and issuer.

The Certificate expires trigger

Sites have a built-in Certificate expires trigger. It fires when the certificate has fewer than the configured number of days left.

• Default: 10 days
• Occurrences: 1 — one observation is conclusive
• Enabled by default: yes, if the URL starts with https://

WARNING

The trigger is only enabled automatically for URLs that were https:// when the monitor was created. If you added a site over HTTP and moved it to HTTPS later, enable the trigger yourself under the site's Triggers tab.

Choosing a threshold

Most automated certificate issuance, Let's Encrypt included, renews at 30 days remaining. That makes the threshold a question of what you want to be told:

Threshold	Tells you
30 days	Renewal is due — but this fires on every normal cycle, so it becomes noise
10 days (default)	Automated renewal has failed. Something needs attention.
3 days	Emergency. Probably too late for a slow DNS-validated certificate.

Keep the default unless you renew manually, in which case set it to however long your renewal process takes plus a margin.

Domain expiry tracking

Pingniner looks up your domain's registration data and records the expiry date, the registration date and the nameservers. These appear on the site's Overview.

The Domain expires trigger

Sites have a built-in Domain expires trigger.

• Default: 10 days
• Occurrences: 1
• Enabled by default: no

TIP

Turn this on. Domain expiry is rarer than certificate expiry and far more damaging — losing the domain takes down your email as well as your site, and recovery can involve redemption fees and days of downtime.

Because domains renew annually, a longer threshold makes sense here than for certificates. 30 days gives you time to fix a failed card payment with your registrar.

When domain data is unavailable

Domain expiry relies on public registration data, which is not available for every TLD. Some registries do not publish it, and some rate-limit lookups heavily.

If the Overview shows no domain expiry date, that data could not be retrieved. The Domain expires trigger cannot fire without it, so for those domains you will need a calendar reminder instead.

Where to see it

• Sites list — Certificate Expiration and Domain Expiration columns, colour-coded
• Site Overview — both dates, plus domain registration date and nameservers
• Alerts tab — incidents raised by either trigger

Best Practices

• Enable Domain expires on every site. It is off by default and it is the more expensive failure.
• Leave Certificate expires at 10 days. Earlier and it fires on every healthy renewal.
• Send these to a distribution list, not one person. Certificates have a habit of expiring while their owner is on holiday.
• Monitor the hostname your users visit, including www if that is what people type. Certificates cover specific names, and the one that expires is the one nobody is watching.
• Check the trigger is enabled after moving a site from HTTP to HTTPS.