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Latchu@DevOps
Latchu@DevOps

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πŸ”’ AWS ACM Now Lets You Export Public TLS Certificates β€” Even Outside AWS!

πŸš€ Big news from AWS Certificate Manager (ACM):

You can now request exportable public TLS certificates and use them anywhere β€” whether it's on AWS, on-prem, or other cloud platforms.

Previously

You could only use ACM public certs inside AWS services (like CloudFront, ALB).
No access to the private key meant no usage on custom EC2 apps, containers, or hybrid setups.

But now

βœ… You can export the cert + private key
βœ… Use it on any compute workload
βœ… Works for hybrid, multicloud, or on-prem use cases


πŸ§ͺ Real-World Use Case

Let’s say you’re running a containerized app on a private EC2 instance (or even on-premises) and need a valid TLS cert from a trusted CA.

Before: You had to buy a cert from a 3rd party (like GoDaddy, Sectigo, etc).
Now: Just use ACM to get a public, exportable certificate, save time, cost, and integrate it into your automation workflows!


πŸ“¦ Key Features

πŸ”‘ Exportable public certs with private key access

⏱️ Fast issuance (once domain is validated)

πŸ“† Valid for 395 days

πŸ’° Pricing:

  • $15 per FQDN
  • $149 per wildcard domain

🎯 No contract needed β€” one-time payment

πŸ”„ Integrated with CloudWatch events for lifecycle automation

πŸ” IAM policies to control who can request/export certificates


πŸ›‘οΈ Security Notes

  • You can’t export older certs issued before this feature

  • Only authorized IAM users can request exportable certs

  • Designed with zero trust and visibility in mind


πŸ“Œ How to Get Started

  1. Go to ACM console

  2. Request a new public certificate

  3. Mark it as exportable

  4. Validate your domain

  5. Download and install it where needed (EC2, Nginx, custom workload, etc)

public-tls-export


πŸ’¬ Final Thoughts

This feature fills a big gap for those managing hybrid infrastructure, allowing seamless cert management with AWS automation β€” even outside the AWS ecosystem.

It’s cheaper, faster, and tightly integrated with AWS tooling.
Perfect for DevOps, SREs, and security teams managing complex infra.


Have you tried this new ACM export feature?
Let me know how you're planning to use it in your workloads! πŸ‘‡

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