Dehydrated is an ACME client implemented as a shell script that automates the provisioning and renewal of TLS certificates from ACME-compatible certificate authorities.
The tool solves the problem of obtaining and maintaining valid TLS certificates by implementing the ACME protocol in pure shell script. It communicates with ACME servers to validate domain ownership, retrieve signed certificates, and handle renewals. The shell-script approach means it has minimal dependencies and can run on systems where installing additional software is impractical or undesirable. Users configure it through simple configuration files and hook scripts, allowing integration with their existing infrastructure and certificate deployment workflows.
Dehydrated suits projects that need straightforward certificate automation without heavyweight dependencies. It works well in containerized environments, on embedded systems, or in minimal server setups where a full-featured client framework would be overkill. The shell-script implementation makes it particularly valuable for systems administrators who prefer to understand and modify their tooling directly. It supports multiple ACME providers including those compatible with the protocol standard, giving flexibility in certificate authority choice.
The project maintains steady activity with regular commits addressing bug fixes and compatibility improvements. Development focuses on keeping the codebase lean and functional rather than expanding feature scope. The maintainers respond to issues and pull requests, indicating active stewardship of the tool's reliability and compatibility with evolving ACME server implementations.
