SSL Certificate Setup with Node-Express

(Self Certified and Certificate Authority (CA))

📌 Check IP Address

hostname -I   ## to see IP address

🔐 SSL Certificate Setup Steps

1. Generate Private Key

→ file.key or key.pem

2. Generate CSR (Certificate Signing Request)

→ file.csr or csr.pem

3. Generate Certificate File

→ file.crt or cert.pem

🔑 Step 1: Generate Private Key

openssl genrsa -out server.key

📄 Step 2: Generate CSR

Generate CSR file using private key:

openssl req -new -key server.key -out server.csr

Note:

  • Give correct hostname
  • Example:
Common Name (e.g. server FQDN or YOUR name) []: localhost

📜 Step 3: Generate Certificate File

Generate certificate using CSR file.

a. Self Certified

openssl x509 -req -days 9999 -in server.csr -signkey server.key -out server.crt

b. Using Certificate Authority (CA)

Upload server.csr to an SSL provider (e.g., GoDaddy).

They will provide:

  • certificate.crt → Main certificate
  • certificate.pem
  • gd_bundle-g2-g1.crt → Chain files

🔁 Alternative Using .pem Extensions

openssl genrsa -out key.pem
openssl req -new -key key.pem -out csr.pem
openssl x509 -req -days 9999 -in csr.pem -signkey key.pem -out cert.pem

Optional cleanup:

rm csr.pem

Other Methods & References

1. Official Node.js Documentation

https://nodejs.org/en/knowledge/HTTP/servers/how-to-create-a-HTTPS-server/

2. DigitalOcean (Run with sudo)

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

Reference:

3. Express HTTPS Guide