SSL Certificate Checker
A practical reference for teams that need to inspect TLS certificate expiry and validity.
SSL Certificate Checker from Sandglass helps you inspect TLS certificate expiry and validity. Use the result to decide what to monitor continuously.
When to reach for this tool
Reach for this when you need to inspect TLS certificate expiry and validity during setup, debugging, or an incident review. A one-off check is useful for diagnosis, but production systems need continuous monitoring once the immediate question is answered.
- Confirm the issuer and the full list of covered hostnames.
- Note the renewal date so a continuous check can warn you early.
- A wildcard or multi-domain certificate can cover more hosts than you expect.
From one-off check to continuous monitor
Use the certificate result to verify the issuer, the hostnames it covers, and how soon it renews before you add a continuous SSL certificate check on that host.
- Recreate the same check in Sandglass on an interval so the next change is caught without re-running the lookup.
- Send failures to email, a Slack webhook channel, or a generic webhook owned by whoever fixes the problem.
- Track the result over time instead of treating one manual reading as the final answer.
Why a lookup is not monitoring
A certificate that is valid today can expire on a weekend when nobody is watching. A one-time check tells you the current state; only a scheduled check warns you ahead of the expiry date.
Use this tool well
Step 1: Run the check and read the result
Use the output to confirm the current state, and treat anything surprising as a starting point for diagnosis rather than a verdict.
Step 2: Define what healthy means
Write down which results count as healthy, degraded, or failed before you automate anything.
Step 3: Promote it to a continuous monitor
Recreate the same check in Sandglass on an interval so the next change is caught automatically.
Step 4: Route the alert to an owner
Send failures to email, a Slack webhook channel, or a generic webhook owned by whoever will fix them.