How to use “SSL/TLS Certificate Inspector”

SSL/TLS Certificate Inspector belongs to the network tools on KivTools. The workbench above handles the whole job on one screen: a mix of typed values and options, then a text result you can copy.

The workbench sends your request to the KivTools endpoint in Los Angeles and returns the answer to the page. Nothing is written to a database, but the input does travel over the network, so live secrets and personal data do not belong in it.

  1. Adjust the fields above the button until the form matches your case.
  2. Press Inspect certificate to run the conversion.
  3. Check the result against a second source before you rely on it in production.

Background and accuracy

Network tools

Web infrastructure problems are usually visible only from the outside: what DNS answers, which headers a server returns, whether a redirect loops or a certificate covers the hostname. These tools inspect a live endpoint from the public internet and report what an ordinary client would see.

A single probe is a snapshot, not a guarantee. GeoDNS, CDNs and caches can answer differently from another network, so compare results from a second vantage point before changing production settings.

Getting reliable results

Browsers, desktop tools and command-line utilities should agree on the result; a mismatch usually means a different encoding, locale or version. Reproduce the finding with the platform’s own tools (dig, curl -I, openssl s_client) before you act on it; the numbers should agree.

Timeouts and blocked ports often come from firewalls or ISPs on the path, not from the target service itself, which is why an external check is a useful second opinion. Keep a copy of the input while you experiment, so a wrong setting never destroys the source.

Practical details

Input & output

Accepts a public hostname and port; displays certificate presentation, health, issuer, subject, SANs, validity, SHA-256 fingerprint, negotiated TLS protocol, cipher, and handshake timing as on-page results.

Common uses

Check when a certificate expires before renewal; confirm a certificate's SANs cover a specific hostname; compare negotiated TLS protocol and cipher during a configuration audit.

Processing & privacy

The submitted public hostname and port are sent to KivTools; its server opens a TLS connection and inspects the certificate.

Limits & compatibility

Only publicly reachable HTTPS hosts can be inspected; internal, private, or non-HTTPS endpoints are not supported because KivTools must open the TLS connection.

Frequently asked questions

Is SSL/TLS Certificate Inspector free to use?

Yes. Every tool on KivTools is free, needs no account and has no usage quota. There is no paid tier hiding behind the workbench, and no email address is required to use the result.

Where is my data processed?

On the KivTools server. The input is sent over HTTPS, processed for the response and discarded; only anonymous request counters are kept.

What can I feed into SSL/TLS Certificate Inspector?

Accepts a public hostname and port; displays certificate presentation, health, issuer, subject, SANs, validity, SHA-256 fingerprint, negotiated TLS protocol, cipher, and handshake timing as on-page results. Large inputs are usually handled without trouble, but extremely large ones are better processed in a local command-line tool.

How accurate is the result?

Caches and CDNs lie happily: check the authoritative source and a second resolver. Compare a small known-good sample first when the output feeds an automated pipeline.

Can I use the output commercially?

The output is yours: no watermark, no licence tag, no attribution requirement. Check the underlying format or library licence when the result ships in a product.

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