Greenlock Express is Let's Encrypt for Node

| Built by Root for Hub

Free SSL, Automated HTTPS / HTTP2, served with Node via Express, Koa, hapi, etc.

Let's Encrypt for Node and Express (and Koa, hapi, rill, etc)

Greenlock Express is a Web Server with Fully Automated HTTPS and renewals.

You define your app, and let Greenlock handle issuing and renewing Free SSL Certificates.

Cloud-ready with Node cluster.

Serve your Sites with Free SSL

• 1. Create a Project with Greenlock Express
• 2. Initialize and Setup
• 3. Add Domains, and Hello, World!

npm init

npm install --save greenlock-express@v3

npx greenlock init --maintainer-email 'jon@example.com' --manager-config-file ./greenlock.json

server.js

"use strict";

require("greenlock-express")
    .init(function() {
        return {
            greenlock: require("./greenlock.js"),

            // whether or not to run at cloudscale
            cluster: false
        };
    })
    .ready(function(glx) {
        var app = require("./app.js");

        // Serves on 80 and 443
        // Get's SSL certificates magically!
        glx.serveApp(app);
    });

greenlock.js

"use strict";

var pkg = require("./package.json");
module.exports = require("@root/greenlock").create({
    // name & version for ACME client user agent
    packageAgent: pkg.name + "/" + pkg.version,

    // contact for security and critical bug notices
    maintainerEmail: pkg.author,

    // where to find .greenlockrc and set default paths
    packageRoot: __dirname
});

app.js

var app = function(req, res) {
    res.end("Hello, Encrypted World!");
};

module.exports = app;

npx greenlock defaults --subscriber-email 'jon@example.com' --agree-to-terms

npx greenlock add --subject example.com --altnames example.com

npm start -- --staging

Let's Encrypt for...

• IoT
• Enterprise On-Prem
• Local Development
• Home Servers
• Quitting Heroku

Features

• Let's Encrypt v2 (November 2019)
  • ACME Protocol (RFC 8555)
  • HTTP Validation (HTTP-01)
  • DNS Validation (DNS-01)
  • ALPN Validation (TLS-ALPN-01)
    • Need ALPN validation? contact us
• Automated HTTPS
  • Fully Automatic Renewals every 45 days
  • Free SSL
  • Wildcard SSL
  • Localhost certificates
  • HTTPS-enabled Secure WebSockets (wss://)
• Fully customizable
  • Reasonable defaults
  • Domain Management
  • Key and Certificate Management
  • ACME Challenge Plugins

QuickStart Guide

Easy as 1, 2, 3... 4

1. Create a node project

1. Create a node project

Create an empty node project.

Be sure to fill out the package name, version, and an author email.

mkdir ~/my-project
pushd ~/my-project
npm init

2. Create an http app (i.e. express)

2. Create an http app (i.e. express)

This example is shown with Express, but any node app will do. Greenlock works with everything. (or any node-style http app)

my-express-app.js:

"use strict";

// A plain, node-style app

function myPlainNodeHttpApp(req, res) {
    res.end("Hello, Encrypted World!");
}

// Wrap that plain app in express,
// because that's what you're used to

var express = require("express");
var app = express();
app.get("/", myPlainNodeHttpApp);

// export the app normally
// do not .listen()

module.exports = app;

3. Serve with Greenlock Express

3. Serve with Greenlock Express

Greenlock Express is designed with these goals in mind:

• Simplicity and ease-of-use
• Performance and scalability
• Configurability and control

You can start with near-zero configuration and slowly add options for greater performance and customization later, if you need them.

server.js:

"use strict";

require("greenlock-express")
    .init(function() {
        var pkg = require("./package.json");
        return {
            greenlock: require("@root/greenlock").create({
                // name & version for ACME client user agent
                packageAgent: pkg.name + "/" + pkg.version,

                // contact for security and critical bug notices
                maintainerEmail: pkg.author,

                // where to find .greenlockrc and set default paths
                packageRoot: __dirname
            }),

            // whether or not to run at cloudscale
            cluster: false
        };
    })
    .ready(function(glx) {
        var app = require("./app.js");

        // Serves on 80 and 443
        // Get's SSL certificates magically!
        glx.serveApp(app);
    });

And start your server:

# Allow non-root node to use ports 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS)
sudo setcap 'cap_net_bind_service=+ep' $(which node)

# `npm start` will call `node ./server.js` by default
npm start

# use --staging to use the development API until you're ready to get real certificates
npm start -- --staging

Greenlock v3.0.0
Greenlock Manager Config File: ~/.config/greenlock/manager.json
Greenlock Storage Directory: ~/.config/greenlock/

Listening on 0.0.0.0:80 for ACME challenges and HTTPS redirects
Listening on 0.0.0.0:443 for secure traffic

4. Manage SSL Certificates and Domains

4. Manage domains

The management API is built to work with Databases, S3, etc.

By default, it's just a simple config file and directory.

# see which manager and what options are in use
cat .greenlockrc

Example Output

{
    "manager": "greenlock-manager-fs",
    "configFile": "./greenlock.json"
}

# show the global defaults
npx greenlock defaults

var defaults = await greenlock.defaults();

Example Output

{
    "store": {
        "module": "greenlock-store-fs",
        "basePath": "./greenlock.d"
    },
    "challenges": {
        "http-01": {
            "module": "acme-http-01-standalone"
        }
    },
    "renewOffset": "-45d",
    "renewStagger": "3d",
    "accountKeyType": "EC-P256",
    "serverKeyType": "RSA-2048",
    "subscriberEmail": "jon@example.com",
    "agreeToTerms": true
}

# show per-site configs
npx greenlock config --subject example.com

greenlock.sites.get({ subject: "example.com" });

Example Output

{
    "subject": "example.com",
    "altnames": ["example.com"],
    "renewAt": 1576638107754,
    "defaults": {
        "store": {
            "module": "greenlock-store-fs",
            "basePath": "./greenlock.d"
        },
        "challenges": {
            "http-01": {
                "module": "acme-http-01-standalone"
            }
        }
    }
}

Management can be done via the CLI or the JavaScript API. Since this is the QuickStart, we'll demo the CLI:

You need to create a Let's Encrypt subscriber account, which can be done globally, or per-site. All individuals, and most businesses, should set this globally:

# Set a global subscriber account
npx greenlock defaults --subscriber-email 'mycompany@example.com' --agree-to-terms true

greenlock.manager.defaults({
    subscriberEmail: "mycompany@example.com",
    agreeToTerms: true
});

A Let's Encrypt SSL certificate has a "Subject" (Primary Domain) and up to 100 "Alternative Names" (of which the first must be the subject).

# Add a certificate with specific domains
npx greenlock add --subject example.com --altnames example.com,www.example.com

greenlock.sites.add({
    subject: "example.com",
    altnames: ["example.com"]
});

Note: Localhost, Wildcard, and Certificates for Private Networks require DNS validation.

• DNS Validation
  • Wildcards (coming soon)
  • Localhost (coming soon)
  • CI/CD (coming soon)

Plenty of Examples

• greenlock-express.js/examples/
  • Express
  • Node's http2
  • Node's https
  • WebSockets
  • Socket.IO
  • Cluster
  • Wildcards (coming soon)
  • Localhost (coming soon)
  • CI/CD (coming soon)
  • HTTP Proxy

Easy to Customize

• Custom Domain Management
  • npx greenlock init --manager ./path-or-npm-name.js --manager-FOO 'set option FOO'
• Custom Key & Cert Storage
  • npx greenlock defaults --store greenlock-store-fs --store-base-path ./greenlock.d
• Custom ACME HTTP-01 Challenges
  • npx greenlock defaults --challenge-http-01 ./you-http-01.js
  • npx greenlock update --subject example.com --challenge-http-01 acme-http-01-standalone
• Custom ACME DNS-01 Challenges
  • npx greenlock defaults --challenge-dns-01 acme-dns-01-ovh --challenge-dns-01-token xxxx
  • `npx greenlock update --subject example.com --challenge-dns-01 ./your-dns-01.js

Ready-made Integrations

Greenlock Express integrates between Let's Encrypt's ACME Challenges and many popular services.

Type	Service	Plugin
dns-01	CloudFlare	acme-dns-01-cloudflare
dns-01	Digital Ocean	acme-dns-01-digitalocean
dns-01	DNSimple	acme-dns-01-dnsimple
dns-01	DuckDNS	acme-dns-01-duckdns
http-01	File System / Web Root	acme-http-01-webroot
dns-01	GoDaddy	acme-dns-01-godaddy
dns-01	Gandi	acme-dns-01-gandi
dns-01	NameCheap	acme-dns-01-namecheap
dns-01	Name.com	acme-dns-01-namedotcom
dns-01	Route53 (AWS)	acme-dns-01-route53
http-01	S3 (AWS, Digital Ocean, Scaleway)	acme-http-01-s3
dns-01	Vultr	acme-dns-01-vultr
dns-01	Build your own	acme-dns-01-test
http-01	Build your own	acme-http-01-test
tls-alpn-01	Contact us	-

Example Usage:

npx greenlock defaults --challenge-dns-01 acme-dns-01-ovh --challenge-dns-01-token xxxx
npx greenlock defaults --challenge-http-01 acme-http-01-s3 --challenge-http-01-bucket my-bucket

Search acme-http-01- or acme-dns-01- on npm to find more.

Full Documentation

Most of the documentation is done by use-case examples, as shown up at the top of the README.

We're working on more comprehensive documentation for this newly released version. Please open an issue with questions in the meantime.

Commercial Support

Do you need...

• training?
• specific features?
• different integrations?
• bugfixes, on your timeline?
• custom code, built by experts?
• commercial support and licensing?

You're welcome to contact us in regards to IoT, On-Prem, Enterprise, and Internal installations, integrations, and deployments.

We have both commercial support and commercial licensing available.

We also offer consulting for all-things-ACME and Let's Encrypt.

Legal & Rules of the Road

Greenlock™ is a trademark of AJ ONeal

The rule of thumb is "attribute, but don't confuse". For example:

Built with Greenlock Express (a Root project).

Please contact us if you have any questions in regards to our trademark, attribution, and/or visible source policies. We want to build great software and a great community.

Greenlock™ | MPL-2.0 | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy Privacy Policy