nodejs-self-signed-certificate-example/README.md

nodejs-self-signed-certificate-example
======================================

The end off all your self-signed certificate woes (in node.js at least)

This is an easy-as-git-clone example that will get you on your way without
any `DEPTH_ZERO_SELF_SIGNED_CERT` or `SSL certificate problem: Invalid certificate chain` headaches.

See
[the explanation](https://github.com/coolaj86/node-ssl-root-cas/wiki/Painless-Self-Signed-Certificates-in-node.js) for
the many details.

Also, you may be interested in [coolaj86/nodejs-ssl-trusted-peer-example](https://git.coolaj86.com/coolaj86/nodejs-ssl-trusted-peer-example).

Test for yourself
---

An example that works.

```bash
example
├── make-root-ca-and-certificates.sh
├── package.json
├── serve.js
└── request-without-warnings.js
```

### Get the repo

```bash
git clone https://git.coolaj86.com/coolaj86/nodejs-self-signed-certificate-example.git
pushd nodejs-self-signed-certificate-example
npm install
```

**For the super impatient**:

```bash
bash test.sh
```

### Create certificates for your FQDN

`localhost.daplie.com` points to `localhost`, so it's ideal for your first test.

```bash
bash make-root-ca-and-certificates.sh 'localhost.daplie.com'
```

```
certs/
├── ca
│   ├── my-root-ca.crt.pem
│   ├── my-root-ca.key.pem
│   └── my-root-ca.srl
├── client
│   ├── chain.pem
│   └── pubkey.pem
├── server
│   ├── cert.pem
│   ├── chain.pem
│   ├── fullchain.pem
│   └── privkey.pem
└── tmp
    └── csr.pem
```

### Run the server

```bash
node ./serve.js 8043 &
# use `fg` and `ctrl+c` to kill
```


### Test in a client

Test (warning free) in node.js

```bash
node ./request-without-warnings.js 8043
```

Test (warning free) with cURL

```bash
curl -v https://localhost.daplie.com:8043 \
  --cacert certs/client/chain.pem
```

Note: on macOS curl's `--cacert` option may not work properly
and so you may need to add the cert to the system keychain (described below)

Visit in a web browser

<https://localhost.daplie.com:8043>

To get rid of the warnings, simply add the certificate in the `client` folder
to your list of certificates by alt-clicking "Open With => Keychain Access"
on `chain.pem`

You do have to set `Always Trust` a few times
[as explained](http://www.robpeck.com/2010/10/google-chrome-mac-os-x-and-self-signed-ssl-certificates/#.U8RqrI1dVd8) by Rob Peck.

Now season to taste
---

You can poke around in the files for generating the certificates,
but all you really have to do is replace `localhost.daplie.com`
with your very own domain name.

But where's the magic?
====

Who's the man behind the curtain you ask?

Well... I lied. This demo doesn't use self-signed certificates
(not in the server at least).
It uses a self-signed Root CA and a signed certificate.

It turns out that self-signed certificates were designed to be
used by the Root Certificate Authorities, not by web servers.

So instead of trying to work through eleventeen brazillion errors
about self-signed certs, you can just create an authority and then
add the authority to your chain (viola, now it's trusted).

Client Authentication
====

In the example above, the server trusts the client without the need for the client to be authenticated.
So, a common enhancement to the example above would be to add client authentication.
To add client authentication, it's necessary to generate a client key and have it signed by the CA defined above.
Execute `make-client-key-certificate.sh` to generate key and certificate.
To use generated key and certificate, `key`, `cert` and `passphrase` TLS options need to be added, e.g.:

```
var ca = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'certs', 'client', 'chain.pem'));
var key = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'certs', 'client-auth', 'privkey.pem'));
var passphrase = 'secret';
var cert = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'certs', 'client-auth', 'cert.pem'));

var options = {
  host: hostname
, port: port
, path: '/'
, ca: ca
, key: key
, passphrase: passphrase
, cert: cert
};
```

Generating Java Key Stores
====

If the server component is written in Java, the server needs to be plugged with a Java KeyStore containing security certificates.
In the example above, the `fullchain.pem` file needs to be converted into a Java KeyStore file.
To create a Java KeyStore file, the JDK needs to be installed and have `keytool` utility in the path.
To do that, please follow these instructions:

    $ mkdir certs/java/server
    $ openssl pkcs12 \
      -export \
      -inkey certs/server/privkey.pem \
      -in certs/server/fullchain.pem \
      -name test \
      -out certs/java/server/keystore_server.p12
    $ keytool \
      -importkeystore \
      -srckeystore certs/java/server/keystore_server.p12 \
      -srcstoretype pkcs12 \
      -destkeystore certs/java/server/keystore_server.jks

Trust Store for Client Authentication
----

If using client authentication, it is necessary for the server to trust to the client.
To do that, it's necessary for a trust store to be created that contains the client's public key.
Such a trust store can be created using these steps:

    $ rsync -a certs/ca/my-root-ca.crt.pem certs/client-auth/chain.pem
    $ cat certs/client-auth/cert.pem certs/client-auth/chain.pem > certs/client-auth/fullchain.pem
    $ openssl pkcs12
      \-export
      \-inkey certs/client-auth/privkey.pem
      \-in certs/client-auth/fullchain.pem
      \-name test
      \-out certs/infinispan/trustore_server.p12
    $ keytool
      \-importkeystore
      \-srckeystore certs/infinispan/trustore_server.p12
      \-srcstoretype pkcs12
      \-destkeystore certs/infinispan/trustore_server.jks

Other SSL Resources
=========

Zero-Config clone 'n' run (tm) Repos:


* [node.js HTTPS SSL Example](https://github.com/coolaj86/nodejs-ssl-example)
* [node.js HTTPS SSL Self-Signed Certificate Example](https://git.coolaj86.com/coolaj86/nodejs-self-signed-certificate-example)
* [node.js HTTPS SSL Trusted Peer Client Certificate Example](https://github.com/coolaj86/nodejs-ssl-trusted-peer-example)
* [node.js HTTPS SSL module for Loopback](https://www.npmjs.com/package/loopback-ssl)
* [SSL Root CAs](https://github.com/coolaj86/node-ssl-root-cas)

Articles

* [http://greengeckodesign.com/blog/2013/06/15/creating-an-ssl-certificate-for-node-dot-js/](Creating an SSL Certificate for node.js)
* [http://www.hacksparrow.com/express-js-https-server-client-example.html/comment-page-1](HTTPS Trusted Peer Example)
* [How to Create a CSR for HTTPS SSL (demo with name.com, node.js)](http://blog.coolaj86.com/articles/how-to-create-a-csr-for-https-tls-ssl-rsa-pems/)
* [coolaj86/Painless-Self-Signed-Certificates-in-node](https://github.com/coolaj86/node-ssl-root-cas/wiki/Painless-Self-Signed-Certificates-in-node.js)