Invalid term specified Error

Symptom

When renewing SSL certificate orders with a term of 2 years, you may see the following error:

Error: Invalid term specified
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Cause

The regulations governing the maximum validity period of SSL certificates changed on September 1, 2020. These changes enforced a maximum length of 1 year for SSL certificates.

As a result, it is no longer possible to renew an SSL certificate for 2 years, resulting in the Invalid term specified error message.

For more information, see the announcement on the Digicert website.

Workaround

To renew the certificate for 1 year instead:

  1. Go to the Products/Services tab in the client profile and select their SSL service.
  2. Choose 1 year/annually from Billing Cycle.
  3. Click Save Changes.
  4. Click Renew.

This will  renew the certificate for 1 year. If you have already invoiced the client for two years, you can credit the customer with a portion of the amount that they paid in the Refund tab for the invoice.

Solution

WHMCS 8.5 introduces support for multi-year SSL certificates. This feature issues and renews a one year certificate each year until the completion of the plan.

For more information, see Multi-Year SSL Certificates.