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Apache, SSL and self signed certificates

August 14, 2011

Just read an excellent guide about how to create self-signed certificates.

Here's what it boils down to:

# The cool thing about SSL is it's just 2 text files. A public key and a private key. # They have a "pem" and a "crt" extension, but they are just plain text. Neat. # Okay, first step is to create a private key "pem" file. # every time you run this the random output pem file will be different: openssl genrsa -des3 -out private_key.pem 1024 # (enter passphrase) # Next, generate a "signing request". openssl req -new -key private_key.pem -out private_key_certificate_signing_request.csr # (for common name enter the full domain name: # (the extra options aren't necessary--just hit enter) # Next remove the password from the private_key. Otherwise you'd have to enter # that password at all sorts of inconvenient times.....be careful because # if someone gets this unencrypted ket, you'll need to get a new cert..so make your pem readable # only by root! cp private_key.pem private_key.pem.original openssl rsa -in private_key.pem.original -out private_key.pem # now you can generate your public self signed certificate: openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in private_key_certificate_signing_request.csr -signkey private_key.pem -out self_signed_public_certificate.crt # now copy the private key (pem file) and the public key ( crt file ) to your web server. mkdir /etc/httpd/certs cp self_signed_public_certificate.cert /etc/httpd/certs cp private_key.pem /etc/httpd/certs # you can delete the CRT file. you don't need that crap anymore. you got the cert/public key and the pem/private key. thats all you need rm private_key_certificate_signing_request.csr # if you don't have mod_ssl installed you need to install it. on fedora: yum install mod_ssl #now edit the apache config to let apache with mod_ssl know where the keys are: SSLEngine on SSLCertificateFile /etc/httpd/certs/self_signed_public_certificate.crt SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/httpd/certs/private_key.pem



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