Getting Started with CertTracker
Welcome to CertTracker — automated SSL/TLS certificate monitoring for teams. This guide walks you through everything you need to get up and running in under 5 minutes.
1. Create Your Account
Visit certtracker.12squared.com and click Sign Up. Enter your company name, email address, and a password. You will receive a verification email — click the link inside to activate your account.
Once verified, log in and you will land on the Dashboard.
Choosing a plan: Start with the Free plan (5 monitors, daily polling, 1 user) and upgrade at any time from the Billing page. No credit card is required for the Free plan.
2. Add Your First Monitor
Navigate to Monitors in the top navigation bar, then click + Add Monitor to expand the form.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Hostname | The subdomain part of your URL (e.g. www, api, mail) |
| Domain | Your domain name (e.g. example.com) |
| Port | 443 for HTTPS, or your custom SSL port |
| Path | Optional URL path for the HTTP check (e.g. /) |
| Interval | How often to poll — from 5 minutes to Daily (plan-dependent) |
| Poller | Public (hosted) or a private on-box poller |
The URL preview updates live as you type. Click Add Monitor — polling starts immediately on the next timer cycle.
Tip: Drag the
≡handle on any monitor row to reorder by priority. Click Save Priority Order to persist the change.
3. Set Up Alert Addresses
Go to Administration → Alert Addresses and click Add Alert Address. Enter any email address — it does not need a CertTracker login account.
Alert addresses receive notifications at these thresholds:
- 60 days before expiry — first early warning
- 30 days — renewal should be in progress
- 14 days — urgent reminder
- 7 days — critical, act immediately
- Day of expiry — certificate has expired
- On change — certificate was replaced or reissued
4. Reading Your Dashboard
The Dashboard shows a live overview of every monitor. Key columns:
- Status — colour-coded: OK (green), Warning (amber), Expired (red), Changed (teal), Paused (grey)
- Availability — uptime percentage over the last 30 days
- Certificate — issuer, common name, and days to expiry
- TLS — TLS version negotiated on the most recent poll
- Last Checked — timestamp of the most recent successful poll
- Change State — Stable or Changed; flags when cert details differ from the baseline
Click any row to open the full certificate detail view, including history and change log.
5. Next Steps
- Add more monitors up to your plan limit
- Invite team members under Administration → User Management
- Browse the Community Wiki for tips and advanced guides
- Upgrade your plan from the Billing page