This article gives step by step instructions on how to install Apache 2 with mod_ssl.
I prefer to install Apache from source, as it gives me more flexibility on exactly what modules I want to enable or disable, and I can also upgrade or apply patch immediately after it is released by the Apache foundation.
1. Download Apache
Download Apache from httpd.apache.org. The current stable release is 2.2.17.
Once you get the direct URL to download the latest stable version of Apache, use wget as shown below to download it directly to you server.
cd ~ wget http://www.eng.lsu.edu/mirrors/apache//httpd/httpd-2.2.17.tar.gz tar xvfz httpd-2.2.17.tar.gz
2. Install Apache with SSL/TLS
View all available Apache installation and configuration options as shown below.
cd httpd-2.2.17 ./configure --help
To install an Apache module, you would typically say –enable-{module-name}. For example, to install SSL with Apache, it is –enable-ssl. To install ldap module, it is –enable-ldap.
To uninstall any default module that comes with Apache, you would typically say –disable-{module-name}. For example, to disable basic authentication in Apache, it is –disable-auth-basic
In this example, we will install Apache with all default modules, with addition of –enable-ssl (to install mod_ssl for SSL support), and –enable-so, which helps to load modules in Apache during run-time via the Dynamic Shared Object (DSO) mechanism, rather than requiring a recompilation.
./configure --enable-ssl --enable-so make make install
Note: By default the above installs Apache under /usr/local/apache2. If you like to change this location, use –prefix option in the ./configure.
3. Enable SSL in httpd.conf
Apache configuration file httpd.conf is located under /usr/local/apache2/conf.
Uncomment the httpd-ssl.conf Include line in the /usr/local/apache2/conf/httpd.conf file.
# vi /usr/local/apache2/conf/httpd.conf Include conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf
View the httpd-ssl.conf to review all the default SSL configurations. For most cases, you don’t need to modify anything in this file.
vi /usr/local/apache2/conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf
The SSL certificate and key are required before we start the Apache. The server.crt and server.key file mentioned in the httpd-ssl.conf needs to be created before we move forward.
# egrep 'server.crt|server.key' httpd-ssl.conf SSLCertificateFile "/usr/local/apache2/conf/server.crt" SSLCertificateKeyFile "/usr/local/apache2/conf/server.key"
4. Create server.crt and server.key file
First, Generate the server.key using openssl.
cd ~ openssl genrsa -des3 -out server.key 1024
The above command will ask for the password. Make sure to remember this password. You need this while starting your Apache later.
If you don’t provide a password, you’ll get the following error message.
2415:error:28069065:lib(40):UI_set_result:result too small:ui_lib.c:849:You must type in 4 to 8191 characters
Next, generate a certificate request file (server.csr) using the above server.key file.
openssl req -new -key server.key -out server.csr
Finally, generate a self signed ssl certificate (server.crt) using the above server.key and server.csr file.
openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in server.csr -signkey server.key -out server.crt
For more details refer to: How To Generate SSL Key, CSR and Self Signed Certificate For Apache
5. Copy the server.key and server.crt
Copy the server.key and server.crt file to appropriate Apache configuration directory location.
cd ~ cp server.key /usr/local/apache2/conf/ cp server.crt /usr/local/apache2/conf/
6. Start the apache and verify SSL
Start the Apache as shown below.
/usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl start
This will prompt you to enter the password for your private key.
Apache/2.2.17 mod_ssl/2.2.17 (Pass Phrase Dialog) Some of your private key files are encrypted for security reasons. In order to read them you have to provide the pass phrases. Server www.example.com:443 (RSA) Enter pass phrase: OK: Pass Phrase Dialog successful.
By default Apache SSL runs on 443 port. Open a web browser and verify that you can access your Apache using https://{your-ip-address}
