How to Resolve PHP Data Fetching Issues After Installing SSL Certificate on IIS

gitbox 2025-06-30

How to Resolve PHP Data Fetching Issues After Installing SSL Certificate on IIS

With increasing awareness of network security, installing SSL certificates has become essential for web servers. In a Windows environment, IIS is a widely used web server, and PHP is commonly used for web development. However, after installing the SSL certificate, PHP may face issues fetching external HTTPS resources, often resulting in errors like "cURL error 60: SSL certificate problem: unable to get local issuer certificate".

Problem Analysis

After installing an SSL certificate on IIS, PHP may fail to verify SSL certificates when requesting HTTPS resources due to its default lack of SSL/TLS support. The solution lies in properly configuring PHP's SSL support and specifying the root certificate path.

Solution

1. Download the Root Certificate File

First, download the root certificate file from the SSL certificate authority's website and save it to a specified directory on the server.

2. Configure the php.ini File

Next, modify the php.ini file to ensure the SSL extension is enabled and the correct root certificate path is set. Open the php.ini file and ensure the following configuration:

extension=php_openssl.dll

curl.cainfo = "C:/path/to/your/cacert.pem"

Where "C:/path/to/your/cacert.pem" should be replaced with the actual root certificate path.

3. Configure the cURL Library for HTTPS Requests

PHP typically uses the cURL library for HTTP requests, including HTTPS. To ensure that cURL can verify the SSL certificate when making HTTPS requests, you need to configure it properly. Here’s an example code snippet:

$ch = curl_init();

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'https://example.com/api');

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, true);

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CAINFO, 'C:/path/to/your/cacert.pem');

$result = curl_exec($ch);

curl_close($ch);

echo $result;

In this code, we enable SSL certificate verification using the CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER option and specify the root certificate path with CURLOPT_CAINFO.

4. Test if the Configuration Works

After configuring the settings, test if PHP successfully fetches data from an HTTPS site. If everything is configured correctly, PHP should be able to access HTTPS resources without issues.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can effectively resolve the issue of PHP not fetching data after installing an SSL certificate on IIS. Proper configuration of the php.ini file and the use of the cURL library will ensure PHP can validate SSL certificates and securely fetch data from HTTPS resources. Be sure to adjust the configuration paths according to your specific setup and ensure the SSL certificate's validity.

We hope this article helps you solve related issues and ensures the security and proper operation of your website.