How to Configure SSL Certificate in Apache Web Server

Now check the httpd.conf if everything is perfectly configured by the below command.

# httpd -t
Syntax OK

As we can see above everything looks good, So let’s start the apache server and also start it on Startup by the below command.

# /etc/init.d/httpd start
Starting httpd:                                            [  OK  ]
# chkconfig --level 35 httpd on
# chkconfig --list httpd
   httpd           0:off   1:off   2:off   3:on    4:off   5:on    6:off

Now test it by entering http://localhost in Browser.

OR If you want to access by a domain name as mentioned in VirtualHost i.e. itsmarttricks.com, you have to Configure BIND DNS Server OR just enter in /etc/hosts file as shown below.

Just edit the /etc/hosts file using the command nano /etc/hosts and enter the line as highlighted below on the snapshot.

As we can see above now our site is opening as http://localhost means now it’s not configured with SSL, Let’s configure this VirtualHost to work over https, So Follow the below steps.

Step : 1 Install Required Packages

We need to install two Packages to Configure SSL for Apache VirtualHost i.e.

1. openssl
2. mod_ssl

So Let’s Install the required packages by the below command.

# yum -y install openssl mod_ssl
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
 * addons: mirror.fibergrid.in
 * base: mirror.fibergrid.in
 * extras: mirror.fibergrid.in
 * updates: mirror.fibergrid.in
Setting up Install Process
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package mod_ssl.i386 1:2.2.3-92.el5.centos set to be updated
--> Processing Dependency: libdistcache.so.1 for package: mod_ssl
--> Processing Dependency: libnal.so.1 for package: mod_ssl
---> Package openssl.i686 0:0.9.8e-40.el5_11 set to be updated
--> Running transaction check
---> Package distcache.i386 0:1.4.5-14.1 set to be updated
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

================================================================================================================
 Package                  Arch                Version                              Repository              Size
================================================================================================================
Installing:
 mod_ssl                  i386                1:2.2.3-92.el5.centos                updates                 98 k
Updating:
 openssl                  i686                0.9.8e-40.el5_11                     updates                1.7 M
Installing for dependencies:
 distcache                i386                1.4.5-14.1                           base                   119 k

Transaction Summary
================================================================================================================
Install       2 Package(s)
Upgrade       1 Package(s)

Total download size: 1.9 M
Downloading Packages:
(1/3): mod_ssl-2.2.3-92.el5.centos.i386.rpm                                              |  98 kB     00:03     
(2/3): distcache-1.4.5-14.1.i386.rpm                                                     | 119 kB     00:01     
(3/3): openssl-0.9.8e-40.el5_11.i686.rpm                                                 | 1.7 MB     00:14     
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                                                            58 kB/s | 1.9 MB     00:33     
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Finished Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
  Updating       : openssl                                                                                  1/4 
  Installing     : distcache                                                                                2/4 
  Installing     : mod_ssl                                                                                  3/4 
  Cleanup        : openssl                                                                                  4/4 

Installed:
  mod_ssl.i386 1:2.2.3-92.el5.centos                                                                            

Dependency Installed:
  distcache.i386 0:1.4.5-14.1                                                                                   

Updated:
  openssl.i686 0:0.9.8e-40.el5_11                                                                               

Complete!
[root@localhost ~]# 

Step : 2 Generate Self-Signed Certificate

Now Let’ go ahead and Generate a Self-Signed Certificate for our VirtualHost to be work as SSL, So Follow the below steps :

1. Generate Private Key using below Command :

# openssl genrsa -out itsmarttricks.key 2048
Generating RSA private key, 2048 bit long modulus
............+++
.........................................+++
e is 65537 (0x10001)

2. Generate CSR i.e. Certificate Signing Request :

# openssl req -new -key itsmarttricks.key -out itsmarttricks.csr
You are about to be asked to enter information that will be incorporated
into your certificate request.
What you are about to enter is what is called a Distinguished Name or a DN.
There are quite a few fields but you can leave some blank
For some fields there will be a default value,
If you enter '.', the field will be left blank.
-----
Country Name (2 letter code) [GB]:IN
State or Province Name (full name) [Berkshire]:Maharashtra
Locality Name (eg, city) [Newbury]:Mumbai
Organization Name (eg, company) [My Company Ltd]:itsmarttricks
Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []:Linux Education
Common Name (eg, your name or your server's hostname) []:itsmarttricks.com
Email Address []:admin@itsmarttricks.com

Please enter the following 'extra' attributes
to be sent with your certificate request
A challenge password []:
An optional company name []:
[root@localhost ~]# 

3. Generate Self-Signed Certificate :

# openssl x509 -req -days 1095 -in itsmarttricks.csr -signkey itsmarttricks.key -out itsmarttricks.crt
Signature ok
subject=/C=IN/ST=Maharashtra/L=Mumbai/O=itsmarttricks/OU=Linux Education/CN=itsmarttricks.com/emailAddress=admin@itsmarttricks.com
Getting Private key

So we Generated all required Certificates as shown below.

   
# ls
   anaconda-ks.cfg  Desktop  itsmarttricks.crt  itsmarttricks.csr  itsmarttricks.key  install.log  install.log.syslog

Step : 3 Copy Certificates to Necessary Location

Now we have to copy all created Certificates to necessary location.

Copy the itsmarttricks.crt to /etc/pki/tls/cert

# cp itsmarttricks.crt /etc/pki/tls/certs/
# ls /etc/pki/tls/certs/
ca-bundle.crt  itsmarttricks.crt  localhost.crt  make-dummy-cert  Makefile

Copy the itsmarttricks.key to /etc/pki/tls/private

# cp itsmarttricks.key /etc/pki/tls/private/
# ls
anaconda-ks.cfg  Desktop  itsmarttricks.crt  itsmarttricks.csr  itsmarttricks.key  install.log  install.log.syslog

Copy the itsmarttricks.csr to /etc/pki/tls/private

# cp itsmarttricks.csr /etc/pki/tls/private/
# ls /etc/pki/tls/private/
itsmarttricks.csr  itsmarttricks.key  localhost.key

Step : 4 Configure ssl.conf

As we can see above we copied all Certificates to the required directories, now let’s configure the ssl.conf file as shown below.

Edit the /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf file as shown below

# nano /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf

now search for SSLCertificateFile and then mention the path of SSL Certificate file in front of that which we created above i.e. itsmarttricks.crt

After mentioning the path the line should look like as mentioned below :

SSLCertificateFile /etc/pki/tls/certs/itsmarttricks.crt

now search for SSLCertificateKeyFile and then mention the path of SSL Certificate Key file infront of that which we created above i.e. itsmarttricks.key

After mentioning the path the line should look like as mentioned below :

SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/pki/tls/private/itsmarttricks.key

As shown on the snapshot above required changes in ssl.conf configuration file highlighted by blue color.

Step: 5  SSL Configuration for VirtualHost

Now we have to make changes in our VirtualHost as shown below :

Before we have added VirtualHost for Port 80 on this tutorial above, now we need to make changes in that configuration To Work for https, So Follow the below steps.

VirtualHost Configured for Port 80 as shown below :

We need to do changes on the above configuration for https is :

Replace the Port 80 with 443 as the Port Number of SSL is 443  and then place below-mentioned lines after <VirtualHost 192.168.0.107:443>

# To Enable the SSL Support for this VirtualHost

SSLEngine on

# Path of SSL Certificate File   
 
SSLCertificateFile /etc/pki/tls/certs/itsmarttricks.crt

# Path of SSL Certificate Key File  

SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/pki/tls/private/itsmarttricks.key   

After Complete changes the VirtualHost should look like as shown on the snapshot below, and all changes are hilighted by blue color.

Now restart the Apache Service by the below command.

# /etc/init.d/httpd restart
Stopping httpd:                                            [  OK  ]
Starting httpd:                                            [  OK  ]

So We have completed our configuration part, Now it’s time for Testing So Just open the Web Browser and Enter https://<IP_Address_Of_The_Apache_Web_Server>, In our Case It’s https://192.168.0.107 as shown in the snapshot below.

Note: In Firefox Web Browser you may found Exception Error, So just Click on add Exception and Accept the Certificate manually. Then you can access https Site on Firefox. Follow the same step for Google Chrome also.

Also Read – How to Configure Basic Authentication in Apache Web Server

That’s all, In this article, we have explained How to Configure SSL Certificate in Apache Web Server. I hope you enjoy this article. If you like this article, then just share it. If you have any questions about this article, please comment.