How to configure wget to trust a custom CA CRT file

Internal package mirrors, staging APIs, and lab download servers often use a private certificate authority instead of the public web PKI. Pointing wget at the correct CA .crt file keeps HTTPS verification enabled and avoids falling back to --no-check-certificate just to make one request work.

GNU wget uses --ca-certificate to load a CA bundle for one command, and ca_certificate is the matching startup-file directive for repeated use. The CA file must be PEM encoded, and --ca-directory is the better fit only when a hashed certificate directory already exists.

Keep the CA file in an account-private location, confirm its fingerprint before first use, and test the endpoint with an explicit command before saving the same path in ~/.wgetrc. If the server rejects HEAD requests, verify with a small real download instead of --spider.

1. Create a private directory for the custom CA file.

   $ install -d -m 700 "$HOME/.local/share/wget/ca"

   Use an account-local path when only one job or one account needs the extra CA.

2. Copy the CA certificate into that directory with restrictive permissions.

   $ install -m 600 ops-download-root-ca.crt "$HOME/.local/share/wget/ca/ops-download-root-ca.crt"

   A .crt extension is fine as long as the certificate contents are PEM encoded.

3. Inspect the certificate fingerprint and expiry before trusting it for live downloads.

   $ openssl x509 -in "$HOME/.local/share/wget/ca/ops-download-root-ca.crt" -noout -subject -issuer -enddate -fingerprint -sha256
   subject=CN=Example Operations Download Root CA, O=Example Operations, OU=Artifact Delivery
   issuer=CN=Example Operations Download Root CA, O=Example Operations, OU=Artifact Delivery
   notAfter=Mar 26 01:18:12 2036 GMT
   sha256 Fingerprint=06:55:9D:59:6B:25:9C:BF:5E:84:77:0F:91:5B:54:CD:75:FA:6B:97:1D:BE:F0:5C:B2:CE:1D:9C:2E:41:50:19

   Match the fingerprint against an out-of-band PKI record before using the file against internal or production endpoints.

4. Reproduce the certificate failure once without the custom CA file.

   $ wget --spider https://downloads.ops.example.net/packages/agent-2026.03.tar.gz
   Spider mode enabled. Check if remote file exists.
   --2026-03-29 09:19:11--  https://downloads.ops.example.net/packages/agent-2026.03.tar.gz
   Resolving downloads.ops.example.net (downloads.ops.example.net)... 198.51.100.24
   Connecting to downloads.ops.example.net (downloads.ops.example.net)|198.51.100.24|:443... connected.
   ERROR: cannot verify downloads.ops.example.net's certificate, issued by 'OU=Artifact Delivery,O=Example Operations,CN=Example Operations Download Root CA':
     Unable to locally verify the issuer's authority.
   To connect to downloads.ops.example.net insecurely, use '--no-check-certificate'.

   A clean baseline failure keeps later DNS, routing, or HTTP problems from being mistaken for a trust-store issue.

5. Retry the same request with --ca-certificate and confirm that the endpoint now verifies cleanly.

   $ wget --spider --ca-certificate="$HOME/.local/share/wget/ca/ops-download-root-ca.crt" https://downloads.ops.example.net/packages/agent-2026.03.tar.gz
   Spider mode enabled. Check if remote file exists.
   --2026-03-29 09:19:11--  https://downloads.ops.example.net/packages/agent-2026.03.tar.gz
   Resolving downloads.ops.example.net (downloads.ops.example.net)... 198.51.100.24
   Connecting to downloads.ops.example.net (downloads.ops.example.net)|198.51.100.24|:443... connected.
   HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
   Length: 1048576 (1.0M) [application/gzip]
   Remote file exists.

   --spider keeps the proof focused on TLS trust without starting the full transfer.

6. Put the tested CA path in a preview startup file before changing the real user profile.

   wget-ca-preview.wgetrc
   ca_certificate = /home/deploy/.local/share/wget/ca/ops-download-root-ca.crt

   The value should be the real absolute path to the CA file for the account that runs wget.

7. Load the preview file and confirm that the same request now works without --ca-certificate.

   $ wget --config=wget-ca-preview.wgetrc --spider https://downloads.ops.example.net/packages/agent-2026.03.tar.gz
   Spider mode enabled. Check if remote file exists.
   --2026-03-29 09:19:11--  https://downloads.ops.example.net/packages/agent-2026.03.tar.gz
   Resolving downloads.ops.example.net (downloads.ops.example.net)... 198.51.100.24
   Connecting to downloads.ops.example.net (downloads.ops.example.net)|198.51.100.24|:443... connected.
   HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
   Length: 1048576 (1.0M) [application/gzip]
   Remote file exists.

   Related: How to configure default options in ~/.wgetrc

8. Save the same directive in ~/.wgetrc for recurring downloads.

   ~/.wgetrc
   ca_certificate = /home/deploy/.local/share/wget/ca/ops-download-root-ca.crt

   Keep only the CA path that the account actually needs instead of turning the profile into a catch-all trust override.

9. Run a normal download without --ca-certificate and confirm that the transfer succeeds with the saved profile.

   $ wget https://downloads.ops.example.net/packages/agent-2026.03.tar.gz
   --2026-03-29 09:19:29--  https://downloads.ops.example.net/packages/agent-2026.03.tar.gz
   Resolving downloads.ops.example.net (downloads.ops.example.net)... 198.51.100.24
   Connecting to downloads.ops.example.net (downloads.ops.example.net)|198.51.100.24|:443... connected.
   HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
   Length: 1048576 (1.0M) [application/gzip]
   Saving to: 'agent-2026.03.tar.gz'
   
        0K ...................................................... 100% 14.8M=0.07s
   
   2026-03-29 09:19:29 (14.8 MB/s) - 'agent-2026.03.tar.gz' saved [1048576/1048576]

   A successful transfer without the flag confirms that the saved ca_certificate setting is active for later wget commands.