Making Secured Connection Using Lighttpd Web Server

[sumitv]

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Hi,

I have cross compiled and configured lighttpd server on my PXA270 ARM board. I am able to login to this server through http connection. Everything is working OK for me.

Now I need to have secured connection to this web server using https. I studied some topic related to SSL. I have openssl package dynamic library compiled for ARM board. I am stucked at a point on how to configure lighttpd server and I got some useful information on this link: Howto: Linux Lighttpd SSL (Secure Server Layer) Https Configuration And Installation

I am not clear, about certification authority CA. Do I need to send a certificate to CA? Is this mandatory? Is there any other way to make it secure?

---Sumit

[kakariko81280]

Hi there,

You don't need to send your certificate to a CA, you can self-sign it. On the one hand it's quick and easy to do, a little light googling should point you at a tutorial.

The downside is people who don't trust your CA (everyone else) will get errors if they try to connect to your server. That's what using a third party CA gets you; everyone else will be able to trust your server certificate because they trust the CA to check you are who you say you are.

Depending on what you are trying to do, this may not be a problem. Personal use is fine and I've seen a few developer groups that self-sign because it's only a dozen or so people (who are already techies) who need to install the new certificate.

Let us know how you get on

[sumitv]

Now, I am able to connect to my web server using https connection. I compiled lighttpd library with SSL option enabled. But when I type in http://<IP address of web server>, ot doesn't redirect automatically to https.

How should I do that?

As far I certificates are concerned, I figured it out that in my case, I don't need to have security certificates signed by CA. I can simply generate .pm file and use it.
Thanks for the information.

Regards,
Sumit

[kakariko81280]

The first result in google looks quick and simple.

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/howto-...nnections.html

Let us know how you get on.