Automação na gestão de certificados digitais: um estudo sobre o protocolo ACME

Abstract

This work presents a study of the ACME protocol and its role in automating the management of digital certificates in web environments. The research combines a conceptual review, based primarily on RFC 8555, with the development of a proof of concept that demonstrates the essential workflow for automated issuance, renewal, and revocation of TLS/SSL certificates. To accomplish this, an environment was configured using Nginx, Certbot, and the DuckDNS service, enabling practical observation of domain-validation mechanisms and the interaction between the ACME client and server. The results indicate that the protocol operates reliably even in minimal setups, reducing the need for manual intervention and facilitating the adoption of HTTPS. The challenges observed — such as network restrictions and limitations imposed by the DNS provider — underscore the importance of understanding the protocol’s operational requirements. Overall, the study offers an applied perspective on ACME and provides guidance for its adoption in contexts that require basic certificate-automation capabilities.