Node.js: HTTPS SSL Certificate

How to set up a Node.js HTTPS server#

Need to use HTTPS for a project? Or just wondering how easy or tough it is to implement HTTPS in Node.js? In this post I'll show you how to set up an HTTPS Node.js server on your local system.

First off, we'll need to create a SSL certificate for our server. The recommended way is to get your certificate signed by a Certificate Authority, but for testing purposes we will sign it ourself.

$ openssl genrsa -out hacksparrow-key.pem 1024 
$ openssl req -new -key hacksparrow-key.pem -out certrequest.csr
... bunch of prompts
$ openssl x509 -req -in certrequest.csr -signkey hacksparrow-key.pem -out hacksparrow-cert.pem

There you have it - your SSL certificate. Nothing prevents this certificate from being used on a production server, but browsers will show a loud warning to its users about the 'dubious' nature of the certificate. If you are serious about your reputation, better not use a self-signed certificate at all.

Now that we are done with the acquiring of an SSL certificate, let's set up our HTTPS server.

var https = require('https');
var fs = require('fs');

var hskey = fs.readFileSync('hacksparrow-key.pem');
var hscert = fs.readFileSync('hacksparrow-cert.pem')

var options = {
    key: hskey,
    cert: hscert
};

https.createServer(options, function (req, res) {
    res.writeHead(200);
    res.end("Hi from HTTPS");
}).listen(8000);

Setting up an HTTPS Node.js server is that easy. In case you are using the Express.js Web framework, do this to set up an HTTPS Express server:

var fs = require('fs');

var hskey = fs.readFileSync('hacksparrow-key.pem');
var hscert = fs.readFileSync('hacksparrow-cert.pem')

var options = {
    key: hskey,
    cert: hscert
};
var app = require('express').createServer(options);

Very simple again.

If you are a business enterprise, it is highly recommended that you get your SSL certificate signed by a reputed and authorized CA. Good luck with your project / experiment.