Trying to create SSL certificate using LetsEncrypt

I have Nextcloud installed in Hyper-V under Windows 8.1 host. Nextcloud is working on local network and is accessible using my domain name, but only via HTTP. I have ports 80 and 443 opened on my router for the Nextcloud IP address. Trying to create an SSL Certificate.

I obtained a domain name to use only for Nextcloud exclusively. I do not have a web site, so nothing is being “hosted” by any service provider.

At the registration service where I bought the domain name, I configured the “A” rules using the wildcard “*” so that my domain name points to my external IP address. I also added an entry for “cloud” so that “cloud.mydomain.net” also points to my external IP address. I added both of these as “trusted domains” in my Nextcloud config file.

When I try to create a certificate using:

sudo /var/scripts/activate-ssl.sh

after answering the questions and entering my domain name (ie, cloud.mydomain.net), it just hangs (indicator spins) an will not progress.

Question: Can I “self-host” my domain (ie, Nextcloud) or do I have to have my domain hosted at a hosting service in order to create the certificate?

Does Nextcloud have the ACME Cert Bot function built in, or do I have to have my domain hosted by a service provider?

Do I need to check with my ISP to make sure they’re allowing this kind of traffic to my computer?

This is very confusion. Not sure if I used correct terms above. After much searching, could not find answers to these questions. Thanks.

With help from users at LetsEncrypt I was able to solve my certificate creation problem.

I had mis-configured my domain settings on the registers web site. I used " * " where I should have used " @ " to redirect to my external IP address. After making the correction I was able to complete the certification creation.