Continuous domain validation, powered by UltraDNS

Shorter TLS certificate validity periods are changing the way teams think about certificate lifecycle management. It’s no longer enough to automate certificate issuance and renewal. You also need to make sure every domain is validated and ready when a certificate request happens.

That creates a practical challenge. Domain Control Validation (DCV) has often depended on recurring manual work, especially when teams use DNS-based validation. Someone must create, update, or confirm the right DNS records before certificates can be issued or renewed. As certificate lifecycles get shorter, that work happens more often.

DigiCert Continuous Validation, powered by DigiCert UltraDNS, helps solve that problem by automating continuous domain validation. Instead of treating DCV as a recurring task, Continuous Validation helps keep domains continuously validated so certificates are ready for issuance and renewal when your team needs them.

Why continuous domain validation matters

DCV confirms that a certificate requester controls the domain associated with a certificate. It’s a necessary step in issuing publicly trusted TLS certificates, but it can become an operational bottleneck when validation expires or requires manual DNS changes.

For teams managing certificates across multiple domains, business units, environments, and DNS providers, that bottleneck can create real friction. A certificate request may be automated, but if the domain is no longer validated, issuance can still be delayed. Renewal workflows can stall. In the worst cases, expired validation can contribute to certificate-related outages.

That risk grows as certificate validity periods shorten. More frequent certificate renewals mean more frequent dependencies on valid domain control. If DCV remains manual, the process becomes harder to scale.

Continuous domain validation changes the model. Instead of waiting until a certificate needs to be issued or renewed, your team can keep domains validated in the background.

What is DigiCert Continuous Validation

DigiCert Continuous Validation is an automated domain validation service that connects DigiCert Trust Lifecycle Manager with customers’ DNS providers through DigiCert UltraDNS.

Rather than requiring teams to manually complete DNS-based validation for each certificate request, Continuous Validation monitors domain validation status and refreshes DNS-based validation before it expires. That helps keep domains ready for certificate issuance and renewal without adding another manual step to the certificate lifecycle.

The result is a more resilient approach to certificate automation. Certificate workflows can move faster because domain validation is already maintained. Security and IT teams can spend less time on repetitive validation tasks. And certificate lifecycle management becomes easier to scale as renewal activity increases.

How UltraDNS powers continuous validation

DigiCert UltraDNS serves as the secure DNS automation layer behind Continuous Validation.

With UltraDNS, Continuous Validation can create and manage the DNS records needed for validation while helping reduce direct dependency on individual DNS provider credentials. It acts as a controlled connection point between DigiCert Trust Lifecycle Manager and the customer’s DNS environment, making it easier to automate validation securely across complex infrastructure.

What Continuous Validation helps teams do

With DigiCert Continuous Validation, teams can: 

• Keep domains continuously validated for certificate issuance and renewal 
• Monitor domain validation status before it becomes a blocker 
• Refresh DNS-based validation before it expires 
• Reduce manual DNS validation work 
• Remove dangling records after validation  
• Accelerate certificate issuance by keeping domains ready 
• Simplify certificate lifecycle management across large environments 
• Scale certificate automation as validity periods continue to shrink 

These benefits are especially important for teams that already use automation to request, issue, and deploy certificates. Continuous Validation helps close a common gap in those workflows: the validation step that still depends on manual action.

Built for the next phase of certificate lifecycle management

DigiCert Continuous Validation helps teams prepare for shorter certificate validity periods by moving DCV from a recurring operational task to an automated, continuously managed process. This helps reduce validation delays, lower operational overhead, and keep domains ready for certificate issuance and renewal.

For teams managing certificates at scale, continuous domain validation can become a practical foundation for more reliable certificate automation.

Learn more

With DigiCert Continuous Validation, your team can automate DNS-based validation, simplify certificate lifecycle management, and keep domains continuously validated so certificates are ready when you need them.

Contact a DigiCert expert to see how continuous domain validation can help your organization prepare for the future of certificate management.