How do I allow HTTPS for Apache on localhost?

Question

I was asked to set up HTTPS with a self-signed cert on Apache on localhost, but how do I actually do that? I have no idea at all.

Answer 1

I've just attempted this - I needed to test some development code on my localhost Apache on Windows. This was WAAAY more difficult than it should be. But here are the steps that managed to work after much hairpulling...

I found that my Apache install comes with openssl.exe which is helpful. If you don't have a copy, you'll need to download it. My copy was in Apache2\bin folder which is how I reference it below.

Steps:

1. Ensure you have write permissions to your Apache conf folder
2. Open a command prompt in Apache2\conf folder
3. Type
   ..\bin\openssl req -config openssl.cnf -new -out blarg.csr -keyout blarg.pem

4. You can leave all questions blank except:

   • PEM Passphrase: a temporary password such as "password"
   • Common Name: the hostname of your server

   

5. When that completes, type
   ..\bin\openssl rsa -in blarg.pem -out blarg.key

6. Generate your self-signed certificate by typing:
   ..\bin\openssl x509 -in blarg.csr -out blarg.cert -req -signkey blarg.key -days 365

   

7. Open Apache's conf\httpd.conf file and ensure SSL module is enabled - there should be no hash at the start of this line:
   LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so

   

8. Some Apache installations place the SSL config in a separate file. If so, ensure that the SSL conf file is being included. In my case I had to uncomment this line:
   Include conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf

9. In the SSL config httpd-ssl.conf I had to update the following lines:

   • Update
     SSLSessionCache "shmcb:C:\Program Files (x86)\Zend\Apache2/logs/ssl_scache(512000)"
     to
     SSLSessionCache "shmcb:C:/Progra\~2/Zend/Apache2/logs/ssl_scache(512000)"
     (The brackets in the path confuse the module, so we need to escape them)
   • DocumentRoot - set this to the folder for your web files
   • ServerName - the server's hostname
   • SSLCertificateFile "conf/blarg.cert"
   • SSLCertificateKeyFile "conf/blarg.key"

   

10. Restart Apache.

11. Try loading https://localhost/ in your browser.

Hopefully you made it this far. Feel free to update this post with any other helpful info.

(Screenshots courtesy of Neil Obremski and his helpful article - although now quite out-of-date.)

Answer 2

I use ngrok (https://ngrok.com/) for this. ngrok is a command line tool and create a tunnel for localhost. It creates both http and https connection. After downloading it, following command needs to be run :

ngrok http 80

( In version 2, the syntax is : ngrok http 80 . In version 2, any port can be tunneled. )

After few seconds, it will give two urls :

http://a_hexadecimal_number.ngrok.com
https://a_hexadecimal_number.ngrok.com

Now, both the urls point to the localhost.

Answer 3

here is simplest way to do this

first copy these server.crt & server.key files (find in attachment ) into your apache/conf/ssl directory

then open httpd.conf file & add following line

Listen 80
Listen 443

NameVirtualHost *:80
NameVirtualHost *:443

<VirtualHost *:443>
    DocumentRoot "d:/wamp/www"  #your wamp www root dir
    ServerName localhost
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile "d:/wamp/bin/apache/Apache2.4.4/conf/ssl/server.crt"
    SSLCertificateKeyFile "d:/wamp/bin/apache/Apache2.4.4/conf/ssl/server.key"
</VirtualHost>

Answer 4

In order to protect the security of information being sent to and from your web server, it's a good idea to enable encryption of the communication between clients and the server. This is often called SSL.

So let's set up HTTPS with a self-signed certificate on Apache2. I am going to list the steps which you should follow:

• Install apache2 web-server on your machine. For linux machine open the terminal and type

sudo apt-get install apache2

• After successful installation check the status of apache2 service by executing command

sudo service apache2 status

It should output

• Navigate to browser and type

http://localhost:80

Verify that you get default page for apache2 like this.

• For encrypting a web connection we need certificate from CA (certificate authority) or we can use self signed certificates. Let's create a self signed certificate using the following command.

openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout mykey.key -out mycert.pem -days 365 -nodes

Please fill the information accordingly as shown below.

mykey.key and mycert.pem should be created in your present working directory.

• It would be nice we if move certificates and keys at a common place and it will be easy for apache2 web server to find them. So let's execute the following commands

sudo cp mycert.pem /etc/ssl/certs

sudo cp mykey.key /etc/ssl/private

• Let's enable the SSL mode on your server

sudo a2enmod ssl

It should output like this

• Let's configure apache2 to use self signed certificate and key which we have generated above.

sudo vi /etc/apache2/sites-available/default-ssl.conf

Please find these two lines and replace them with your cert and key paths.

Initial

Final

• Enable the site

cd /etc/apache2/sites-available/

sudo a2ensite default-ssl.conf

• Restart the apache2 service

sudo service apache2 restart

• Verify the apache2 web-server on HTTPS. Open your browser again and type

https://localhost:443

It should output something like this with a warning that page you are about to view is not secure because we have configured the server with self-signed certificate.

• Congratulations you have configured your apache2 with HTTPS endpoint, now click on advanced --> add exception --> confirm security exception, you will see the default page again.

Answer 5

Windows + Apache 2.4, for example:

1. uncomment ssl_module in your httpd.conf file.

   LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so
   

2. listen 443 port just like 80 port in your httpd.conf file.

   Listen 80
   Listen 443
   

3. uncomment Include Virtual hosts in your httpd.conf file.

   # Virtual hosts
   Include conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf
   

4. add VirtualHost in your conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

   <VirtualHost _default_:443>
       DocumentRoot "D:/www"  #your site directory path
       ServerName localhost
       #ServerAlias localhost.com localhost2.com
       SSLEngine on
       SSLCertificateFile "${SRVROOT}/conf/ssl/server.crt"
       SSLCertificateKeyFile "${SRVROOT}/conf/ssl/server.key"
       <Directory "D:/www">
           Options -Indexes +FollowSymLinks +ExecCGI
           AllowOverride All
           Require all granted
       </Directory>
   </VirtualHost>
   

only the port number 443 and SSL...... lines are different from normal http config.

save you config file and restart apache service. then you can visit https://localhost/

The web browser will warn you that it's unsafe at the first time, just choose go on.

Answer 6

It's actually quite easy, assuming you have an openssl installation handy. (What platform are you on?)

Assuming you're on linux/solaris/mac os/x, Van's Apache SSL/TLS mini-HOWTO has an excellent walkthrough that I won't reproduce here.

However, the executive summary is that you have to create a self-signed certificate. Since you're running apache for localhost presumably for development (i.e. not a public web server), you'll know that you can trust the self-signed certificate and can ignore the warnings that your browser will throw at you.

Answer 7

Running Apache on Windows 10 here. I couldn't get Chrome to trust the certificate made in the top answer by Simon. What I ended up doing was using PowerShell to generate a self signed certificate.

Step 1 - Generate Self-Signed certificate

In PowerShell
New-SelfSignedCertificate -DnsName "localhost" -CertStoreLocation "cert:\LocalMachine\My" ¹

Step 2 - Configure and Export Certificate

Type Certificate into the Windows search bar, click the Manage Computer Certificates control panel item that is suggested.

From the Certificate Management program that comes up (certlm), you should now see a localhost key under Personal >> Certificates.

I copied this certificate into Trusted Root Certification Authorities. I'll be honest in that I'm not sure if that's necessary.

Selecting the newly copied certificate, double click on it (the localhost certificate). From the Certificate modal, click the Details tab, then the Copy to File... button.

This will bring up and Export Wizard, I chose to export the private key, click next. I also chose to Export all extended properties (again, I'm not certain if that was necessary). I chose to use a simple password (pass) and the default encryption. Choose a folder to export to and name the file. You can always move and rename the file if necessary. For simplicity's sake let's copy it to your conf folder under your Apache installation (In my case: C:\apache\conf) and name the file myCert (the resulting file will be a .pfx file)

Step 3 - Convert .pfx file for use with Apache

From here I basically followed the tutorial here, but I'll add instructions here (tweaked for our settings) in case that site goes down.

Open your Command Prompt in the /apache/conf/ folder
Run the following commands: Note: This assumes you have openssl.exe in the bin folder in the apache root folder (this should be standard/default)

..\bin\openssl pkcs12 -in myCert.pfx -nocerts -out privateKey.pem

This will prompt you for a password, enter what you input for Step 2 when you exported the .pfx file. In my case, this is pass. I entered the same password for the PEM phrase and again to verify. This will create a new file called privateKey.pem in your conf folder.

Then, run

..\bin\openssl rsa -in privateKey.pem -out private.pem

Again you will be prompted for a password (Enter pass phrase for privateKey.pem:), use the password you set for privateKey.pem. (In my case, pass)
You should see a message that says writing RSA key and a new file called private.pem in your conf/ folder. This will be your SSLCertificateKeyFile.

Now to generate the corresponding Server Certificate. Run:

..\bin\openssl pkcs12 -in myCert.pfx -clcerts -nokeys -out EntrustCert.pem

This will prompt you for a password, enter what you input for Step 2 when you exported the .pfx file. Enter it and you will now have a file called EntrustCert.pem in your conf folder. This is your SSLCertificateFile

Step 4 - Configure httpd.conf

Use the new files created as you server's key and certificate. Be sure to change your document root to where your files are!

ServerName localhost:80
Protocols h2 h2c http/1.1
<Directory />
    Options FollowSymLinks
    AllowOverride All
</Directory>

<VirtualHost _default_:443>
  ServerName localhost:443
  DocumentRoot ${SRVROOT}/htdocs/MYSITE
  SSLEngine on
  SSLCertificateFile "${SRVROOT}/conf/EntrustCert.pem"
  SSLCertificateKeyFile "${SRVROOT}/conf/private.pem"
</VirtualHost>

Also in httpd.conf:

• Make sure LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so is uncommented (no # in front)
• Uncomment LoadModule socache_shmcb_module modules/mod_socache_shmcb.so
• Uncomment LoadModule http2_module modules/mod_http2.so
• Uncomment Include conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf (NOTE: Ensure that's where the file is!)

I also have curl and open ssl libraries included:

# load curl and open ssl libraries
LoadFile "C:\php\libeay32.dll"
LoadFile "C:\php\ssleay32.dll"
LoadFile "C:\php\libssh2.dll"

These modules shouldn't be necessary, but I'll note that I have them enabled:
LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so
LoadModule filter_module modules/mod_filter.so
LoadModule deflate_module modules/mod_deflate.so

Step 5 - Config httpd-ssl.conf

In the extra/ folder in the conf/ folder you should see a file called httpd-ssl.conf.

5a. Change the DocumentRoot - Change the DocumentRoot from the default to the directory where your files are.

5b. Change the ServerName - Change the ServerName from the default (something like www.example.com:443) to localhost:443

5c. Change the SSLCertificateFile
Change the SSLCertificateFile from the default (${SRVROOT}/conf/server.crt) to ${SRVROOT}/conf/EntrustCert.pem

5c. Change the SSLCertificateKeyFile
Change the SSLCertificateKeyFile from the default (${SRVROOT}/conf/server.key) to ${SRVROOT}/conf/private.pem

All together, in the <VirtualHost _default_:443> tag.

#   General setup for the virtual host
DocumentRoot "${SRVROOT}/htdocs/MYSITE"
ServerName localhost:443
ServerAdmin admin@example.com
ErrorLog "${SRVROOT}/logs/error.log"
TransferLog "${SRVROOT}/logs/access.log"

#   SSL Engine Switch:
#   Enable/Disable SSL for this virtual host.
SSLEngine on

#   Server Certificate:
#   Point SSLCertificateFile at a PEM encoded certificate.  If
#   the certificate is encrypted, then you will be prompted for a
#   pass phrase.  Note that a kill -HUP will prompt again.  Keep
#   in mind that if you have both an RSA and a DSA certificate you
#   can configure both in parallel (to also allow the use of DSA
#   ciphers, etc.)
#   Some ECC cipher suites (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4492.txt)
#   require an ECC certificate which can also be configured in
#   parallel.
SSLCertificateFile "${SRVROOT}/conf/EntrustCert.pem"
#SSLCertificateFile "${SRVROOT}/conf/server-dsa.crt"
#SSLCertificateFile "${SRVROOT}/conf/server-ecc.crt"

#   Server Private Key:
#   If the key is not combined with the certificate, use this
#   directive to point at the key file.  Keep in mind that if
#   you've both a RSA and a DSA private key you can configure
#   both in parallel (to also allow the use of DSA ciphers, etc.)
#   ECC keys, when in use, can also be configured in parallel
SSLCertificateKeyFile "${SRVROOT}/conf/private.pem"
#SSLCertificateKeyFile "${SRVROOT}/conf/server-dsa.key"
#SSLCertificateKeyFile "${SRVROOT}/conf/server-ecc.key"

Restart Apache

After making these changes you should be able to restart Apache and navigate to https://localhost without a security warning and a little padlock!

I hope this helps someone!

Sources:
1.) Auri Rahimzadeh's answer on creating a self-signed certificate
2.) Entrust Datacard - How do I convert a .pfx to be used with an Apache server?

Answer 8

2021 Update

I’m posting this answer since I struggled with this myself and Chrome updated their security with requiring Subject Alternative Name which a lot of posts do not have as it was not required when they were posted as an answer. I’m assuming that WAMP is already installed.

STEP 1

Download OpenSSL Light and install

**STEP 2 (Optional)**

Although this part is optional, but it makes it easier later to execute commands. If you skip this step, you’ll have to provide full path to openssl.exe where you will execute the command. If you prefer to set it then update the openssl.exe path in Environment Variables.

Environment Variables -> System Variables -> Path -> Edit -> New -> c:\Program Files\OpenSSL-Win64\bin

**STEP 3**

Create a folder named “key” in the c:/wamp64/bin/apache/apache2.4.27(your version number)/conf/ directory.

Create configuration file for your CA MyCompanyCA.cnf with contents (you can change it to your needs):

[ req ]
distinguished_name  = req_distinguished_name
x509_extensions     = root_ca

[ req_distinguished_name ]
countryName             = Country Name (2 letter code)
countryName_min         = 2
countryName_max         = 2
stateOrProvinceName     = State or Province Name (full name)
localityName            = Locality Name (eg, city)
0.organizationName      = Organization Name (eg, company)
organizationalUnitName  = Organizational Unit Name (eg, section)
commonName              = Common Name (eg, fully qualified host name)
commonName_max          = 64
emailAddress            = Email Address
emailAddress_max        = 64

[ root_ca ]
basicConstraints            = critical, CA:true

Create the extensions configuration file MyCompanyLocalhost.ext for your web server certificate:

subjectAltName = @alt_names
extendedKeyUsage = serverAuth

[alt_names]
DNS.1   = localhost
DNS.2   = mycy.mycompany.com

**STEP 4**

Execute these commands in the given order to generate the key and certificates:

openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -out MyCompanyCA.cer -outform PEM -keyout MyCompanyCA.pvk -days 10000 -verbose -config MyCompanyCA.cnf -nodes -sha256 -subj "/CN=MyCompany CA"
openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout MyCompanyLocalhost.pvk -out MyCompanyLocalhost.req -subj /CN=localhost -sha256 -nodes
openssl x509 -req -CA MyCompanyCA.cer -CAkey MyCompanyCA.pvk -in MyCompanyLocalhost.req -out MyCompanyLocalhost.cer -days 10000 -extfile MyCompanyLocalhost.ext -sha256 -set_serial 0x1111

As a result, you will have MyCompanyCA.cer, MyCompanyLocalhost.cer and MyCompanyLocalhost.pvk files.

**STEP 5**

Install MyCompanyCA.cer under

Control Panel -> Manage User Certificates -> Trusted Root Certification Authorities -> Certificates

To install MyCompanyLocalhost.cer just double click it.

**STEP 6**

Open c:/wamp64/bin/apache/apache2.4.27(your version number)/conf/httpd.conf and un-comment (remove the #) the following 3 lines:

LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so
Include conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf
LoadModule socache_shmcb_module modules/mod_socache_shmcb.so

**STEP 7**

Open c:/wamp64/bin/apache/apache2.4.37/conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf and change all the parameters to the ones shown below:

Directory "c:/wamp64/www"
DocumentRoot "c:/wamp64/www"
ServerName localhost:443
ServerAdmin admin@example.com
ErrorLog "c:/wamp64/bin/apache/apache2.4.27/logs/error.log"
TransferLog "c:/wamp64/bin/apache/apache2.4.27/logs/access.log"
SSLCertificateFile "c:/wamp64/bin/apache/apache2.4.27/conf/key/MyCompanyLocalhost.cer"
SSLCertificateKeyFile "c:/wamp64/bin/apache/apache2.4.27/conf/key/MyCompanyLocalhost.pvk"
SSLSessionCache "shmcb:c:/wamp64/bin/apache/apache2.4.27/logs/ssl_scache(512000)"
CustomLog "c:/wamp64/bin/apache/apache2.4.27/logs/ssl_request.log" \
          "%t %h %{SSL_PROTOCOL}x %{SSL_CIPHER}x \"%r\" %b"

Note: This is the tricky part. If you make any small mistake while editing this file, SSL won’t work. Make a copy of it before you edit it.

**STEP 8**

Restart Wamp and Chrome. Localhost is now secure: https://localhost

Answer 9

This should be work Ubuntu, Mint similar with Apache2

It is a nice guide, so following this

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-create-a-ssl-certificate-on-apache-for-ubuntu-14-04

and leaving your ssl.conf like this or similar similar

<VirtualHost _default_:443>
        ServerAdmin your@email.com
        ServerName localhost
        ServerAlias www.localhost.com

        DocumentRoot /var/www


    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/apache2/ssl/apache.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/apache2/ssl/apache.key

you can get it.

Hope this help for linuxer

Answer 10

It's very simple,

just run the following commands

sudo a2enmod ssl

sudo service apache2 restart

sudo a2ensite default-ssl.conf

That's it, you are done.

If you want to force SSL (to use https always), edit the file:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf

and add this one line

<VirtualHost *:80>
        . . .

        Redirect "/" "https://your_domain_or_IP/"

        . . .
</VirtualHost>

then restart again

sudo service apache2 restart

Answer 11

This HowTo for CentOS was easy to follow and only took about 5 minutes: https://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/Https

I won't detail each step here, but the main steps are:

1.) Install the openssl module for apache, if not already installed

2.) Generate a self-signed certificate

--At this point, you should be able to visit https://localhost successfully

3.) Set up a virtual host if needed

Answer 12

This worked on Windows 10 with Apache24:

1 - Add this at the bottom of C:/Apache24/conf/httpd.conf

Listen 443
<VirtualHost *:443>
    DocumentRoot "C:/Apache24/htdocs"
    ServerName localhost
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile "C:/Apache24/conf/ssl/server.crt"
    SSLCertificateKeyFile "C:/Apache24/conf/ssl/server.key"
</VirtualHost>

2 - Add the server.crt and server.key files in the C:/Apache24/conf/ssl folder. See other answers on this page to find those 2 files.

That's it!

Answer 13

tl;dr

ssh -R youruniquesubdomain:80:localhost:3000 serveo.net

And your local environment can be accessed from https://youruniquesubdomain.serveo.net

Serveo is the best

• No signup.
• No install.
• Has HTTPS.
• Accessible world-wide.
• You can specify a custom fix, subdomain.
• You can self host it, so you can use your own domain, and be future proof, even if the service goes down.

I couldn't believe when I found this service. It offers everything and it is the easiest to use. If there would be such an easy and painless tool for every problem...

Answer 14

I'd like to add something to the very good answer of @CodeWarrior, that works perfectly on Chrome, but for Firefox needs an additional step.

Since Firefox does not thrust CA Certificates that Windows does by default, you need to go on about:config, scroll down to security.enterprise_roots.enabled and change it to true.

Now your certificate should be seen as valid also on Firefox.

Of course this is only for development purposes, since ssl trust is a critical security concern and change this settings only if you know the implications.

Answer 15

Another simple method is using Python Server in Ubuntu.

1. Generate server.xml with the following command in terminal:

   openssl req -new -x509 -keyout server.pem -out server.pem -days 365 -nodes

   Note: Assuming you have openssl installed.

2. Save below code in a file named simple-https-server.py in any directory you want to run the server.

   import BaseHTTPServer, SimpleHTTPServer
   import ssl
   
   httpd = BaseHTTPServer.HTTPServer(('localhost', 4443), SimpleHTTPServer.SimpleHTTPRequestHandler)
   httpd.socket = ssl.wrap_socket (httpd.socket, certfile='./server.pem', server_side=True)
   httpd.serve_forever()
   

3. Run the server from terminal:

   python simple-https-server.py

4. Visit the page at:

   https://localhost:4443

Extra notes::

1. You can change the port in simple-https-server.py file in line

   httpd = BaseHTTPServer.HTTPServer(('localhost', 4443), SimpleHTTPServer.SimpleHTTPRequestHandler)

2. You can change localhost to your IP in the same line above:

   httpd = BaseHTTPServer.HTTPServer(('10.7.1.3', 4443), SimpleHTTPServer.SimpleHTTPRequestHandler)

   and access the page on any device your network connected. This is very handy in cases like "you have to test HTML5 GeoLocation API in a mobile, and Chrome restricts the API in secure connections only".

Gist: https://gist.github.com/dergachev/7028596

http://www.piware.de/2011/01/creating-an-https-server-in-python/

Answer 16

For those using macOS this is a great guide https://getgrav.org/blog/macos-sierra-apache-multiple-php-versions to set up your local web dev environment. In its 3rd part https://getgrav.org/blog/macos-sierra-apache-ssl Andy Miller explains how to set up apache with a self-signed certificate:

This is the key command:

openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout server.key -out server.crt

But there are a few steps you need to follow, so check that out and good luck! ;)