Before deploying an SSL certificate, confirm your web server type — such as Nginx, Apache, or IIS — to choose the correct certificate file format and installation method. This topic describes three methods to identify the web server type.
Method 1: Local quick check
When the server hides the Server header, or sits behind a proxy such as a CDN or load balancing service, this method may return the proxy server type instead of the origin server type. If the result is unexpected, use Method 2 for confirmation.
Use browser developer tools
Open the target website in a browser (Chrome, Edge, or Firefox).
Press
F12to open Developer Tools. View the server type as follows:Click the Network tab, select the target request in the left-side request list, and then in the Headers tab on the right side, find the
Serverfield under Response Headers to confirm the server type (for example,nginx/1.20.1).
Use the command line interface (CLI)
Run the following command in a terminal on your local computer. Replace <yourdomain> with your actual domain name.
curl -sIL https://<yourdomain>In the output, find the last Server response header — the line starting with server: or Server:. The value on that line is the server name.
Method 2: Log in to the server
Log in to the web server directly. This is the most accurate method to confirm the web server type. The following examples assume the server listens on port 80 or 443.
Linux
Run the following command in a terminal. Identify the web server from the process name in the output.
sudo netstat -tlnp | grep -E ':(80|443)\s+'Windows
Press
Win + R, typeresmon, and press Enter to open Resource Monitor.Go to the Network tab and click Listening Ports.
Find any record where the port is 80 or 443. The Name column shows the process name, which identifies the web server.
Method 3: Consult an engineer
If neither method above gives a clear result, contact the development or O&M engineer responsible for the website.
Deploy SSL certificates
To deploy SSL certificates, see .