How to use HTTPS with Node.js

Question

I have little experience with HTTPS, SSL, etc.

I want to know how to use Node.js with HTTPS. I know how to use node.js fine, but when using HTTPS it gives errors.

I think I need to install something (openSSL?). I would like to be told of ALL the things I have to install on a windows 8.1 computer (no, I do not want to get any form of linux. No cygwin either), in order to use a node.js HTTPS server.

I do not need to have a paid certificate, I just need to have it work. It's not receiving requests from a browser, so I don't care about a paid certificate.

Answer 1

Once you have node.js installed on your system, just follow the procedure below to get a basic web server running with support for both HTTP and HTTPS!

Step 1 : Build a Certificate Authority

1. create the folder where you want to store your key & certificate :

   mkdir conf

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2. go to that directory :

   cd conf

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3. grab this ca.cnf file to use as a configuration shortcut :

   wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anders94/https-authorized-clients/master/keys/ca.cnf

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4. create a new certificate authority using this configuration :

   openssl req -new -x509 -days 9999 -config ca.cnf -keyout ca-key.pem -out ca-cert.pem

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5. now that we have our certificate authority in ca-key.pem and ca-cert.pem, let's generate a private key for the server :

   openssl genrsa -out key.pem 4096

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6. grab this server.cnf file to use as a configuration shortcut :

   wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anders94/https-authorized-clients/master/keys/server.cnf

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7. generate the certificate signing request using this configuration :

   openssl req -new -config server.cnf -key key.pem -out csr.pem

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8. sign the request :

   openssl x509 -req -extfile server.cnf -days 999 -passin "pass:password" -in csr.pem -CA ca-cert.pem -CAkey ca-key.pem -CAcreateserial -out cert.pem

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Step 2 : Install your certificate as a root certificate

1. copy your certificate to your root certificates' folder :

   sudo cp ca-cert.pem /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/ca-cert.pem

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2. update CA store :

   sudo update-ca-certificates

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Step 3 : Starting your node server

First, make sure the code of your server.js looks something like this :

var http = require('http');
var https = require('https');
var fs = require('fs');

var httpsOptions = {
    key: fs.readFileSync('/path/to/HTTPS/server-key.pem'),
    cert: fs.readFileSync('/path/to/HTTPS/server-crt.pem')
};

var app = function (req, res) {
  res.writeHead(200);
  res.end("hello world\n");
}

http.createServer(app).listen(8888);
https.createServer(httpsOptions, app).listen(4433);

1. go to the directory where your server.js is located :

   cd /path/to

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2. run server.js :

   node server.js