Cloudflare DNS Integration Guide

CertSecure Manager uses Cloudflare as a DNS provider to complete ACME DNS-01 domain validation for automated certificate issuance and renewal.

Prerequisites

  • An active Cloudflare account with the target zone(s) already hosted on Cloudflare — the domain’s nameservers must point to Cloudflare.
  • Permission in Cloudflare to create API tokens with DNS edit rights for those zones.
  • Administrative access to CertSecure Manager, including Utilities > ACME > Domain.
  • Outbound HTTPS (443) connectivity from the CertSecure Manager server to api.cloudflare.com.
  • An ACME profile configured for the intended CA (e.g. Let’s Encrypt, Google Public CA).

Configuration Steps

Step 1: Create a Cloudflare API Credential

  • Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard > My Profile > API Tokens > Create Token.
  • Grant the token DNS edit rights for the target zone: Permissions > Zone > DNS > Edit, scoped to the specific zone(s).
  • Create the token and copy it (Cloudflare shows the token value only once).

Note: The token must be able to create and delete TXT records for the DNS-01 challenge.

Step 2: Add the Domain in CertSecure Manager

  • Go to: Utilities > ACME > Domain.
  • Click + Add Domain and fill in:
    • Domain: the FQDN managed in Cloudflare (e.g. example.com)
    • Provider: Cloudflare
    • API Token: the Cloudflare credential from Step 1
  • Click Save.

Step 3: Validate DNS Ownership

  • Use the Validate action on the domain entry to trigger a DNS-01 check — CertSecure creates and removes a TXT record via the Cloudflare API.
  • When successful, the Validation column shows Valid. Domains must be Valid before certificate issuance.

Step 4: Use in ACME Issuance

  • The validated Cloudflare-managed domain can now be selected by ACME profiles (Let’s Encrypt, Google Public CA) for automated DNS-01 issuance and renewal.