# A Certificate fails to issue several times in a row, for example because the issuer is misconfigured. How does cert-manager retry?

cert-manager, Hard (Expert), Troubleshooting. https://k8wiz.com/uquiz/a-certificate-fails-to-issue-several-times-in-a-row-for-example-because-the-issuer-is-misconfigured-how-does-cert-manager-retry

- A. Every 5 minutes until it succeeds
- B. With an exponentially increasing delay, from 1 hour up to 32 hours by default
- C. It stops after three failures until you recreate the Certificate
- D. Only when the cert-manager pods restart

**Answer:** With an exponentially increasing delay, from 1 hour up to 32 hours by default

**Explanation:** After a failed issuance, cert-manager waits longer before each new attempt, starting at 1 hour and capped at 32 hours. Both limits can be changed with controller flags. This keeps a broken setup from hammering the ACME server. Once you fix the cause, 'cmctl renew' retries straight away.