TLS Handshake Inspector
Inspect a server's Transport Layer Security (TLS) handshake: version, cipher, Application-Layer Protocol Negotiation (ALPN), full cert chain.
Monitor TLS Handshake Inspector automatically
Inspect a server's Transport Layer Security (TLS) handshake: version, cipher, Application-Layer Protocol Negotiation (ALPN), full cert chain. NetTests can run this check on a schedule, preserve historical results, compare changes over time, and alert you the moment something breaks.
Start monitoring free → See all monitoring productsFrequently Asked Questions
What does the TLS Handshake Inspector show?
It performs a Transport Layer Security (TLS) handshake and reports: negotiated TLS version, cipher suite, Application-Layer Protocol Negotiation (ALPN) protocol (e.g. h2, http/1.1), and the full certificate chain — subject, issuer, validity dates, Subject Alternative Names (SANs), and fingerprints for each certificate. It is the server's side of the handshake, as any TLS client connecting to port 443 sees it.
What is the certificate chain and why does it matter?
A Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificate chain consists of: your domain's leaf certificate, one or more intermediate Certificate Authority (CA) certificates, and the root CA certificate (trusted by browsers). Browsers verify the chain from root to leaf. A missing intermediate certificate is a common misconfiguration that causes 'certificate not trusted' errors in some clients even though the certificate itself is valid.
What is ALPN and which protocols appear here?
Application-Layer Protocol Negotiation (ALPN) is a Transport Layer Security (TLS) extension that selects the application protocol during the handshake. Common values: h2 (HTTP/2), http/1.1 (HTTP/1.1), acme-tls/1 (Let's Encrypt validation). The absence of h2 means the server doesn't support HTTP/2, or that it requires HTTP/2 negotiation separately.
How is this different from TLS/SSL Quick Scan?
TLS/SSL Quick Scan probes all supported Transport Layer Security (TLS) versions and ciphers systematically. This tool performs a single handshake exactly as a client would, showing what version and cipher are actually negotiated — useful for verifying your server's preference order, checking Server Name Indication (SNI) behaviour, and inspecting the full cert chain.