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			1043 lines
		
	
	
		
			54 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			XML
		
	
	
	
	
	
			
		
		
	
	
			1043 lines
		
	
	
		
			54 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			XML
		
	
	
	
	
	
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><head><!--
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        XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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              This file is generated from xml source: DO NOT EDIT
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        XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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      -->
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<title>SSL/TLS Strong Encryption: FAQ - Apache HTTP Server</title>
 | 
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<link href="../style/css/manual.css" rel="stylesheet" media="all" type="text/css" title="Main stylesheet" />
 | 
						|
<link href="../style/css/manual-loose-100pc.css" rel="alternate stylesheet" media="all" type="text/css" title="No Sidebar - Default font size" />
 | 
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<link href="../style/css/manual-print.css" rel="stylesheet" media="print" type="text/css" />
 | 
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<link href="../images/favicon.ico" rel="shortcut icon" /></head>
 | 
						|
<body id="manual-page"><div id="page-header">
 | 
						|
<p class="menu"><a href="../mod/">Modules</a> | <a href="../mod/directives.html">Directives</a> | <a href="../faq/">FAQ</a> | <a href="../glossary.html">Glossary</a> | <a href="../sitemap.html">Sitemap</a></p>
 | 
						|
<p class="apache">Apache HTTP Server Version 2.3</p>
 | 
						|
<img alt="" src="../images/feather.gif" /></div>
 | 
						|
<div class="up"><a href="./"><img title="<-" alt="<-" src="../images/left.gif" /></a></div>
 | 
						|
<div id="path">
 | 
						|
<a href="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</a> > <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/">HTTP Server</a> > <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/">Documentation</a> > <a href="../">Version 2.3</a> > <a href="./">SSL/TLS</a></div><div id="page-content"><div id="preamble"><h1>SSL/TLS Strong Encryption: FAQ</h1>
 | 
						|
<div class="toplang">
 | 
						|
<p><span>Available Languages: </span><a href="../en/ssl/ssl_faq.html" title="English"> en </a></p>
 | 
						|
</div>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<blockquote>
 | 
						|
<p>The wise man doesn't give the right answers,
 | 
						|
he poses the right questions.</p>
 | 
						|
<p class="cite">-- <cite>Claude Levi-Strauss</cite></p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
</blockquote>
 | 
						|
<p>This chapter is a collection of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and
 | 
						|
corresponding answers following the popular USENET tradition. Most of these
 | 
						|
questions occurred on the Newsgroup <code><a href="news:comp.infosystems.www.servers.unix">comp.infosystems.www.servers.unix</a></code> or the mod_ssl Support
 | 
						|
Mailing List <code><a href="mailto:modssl-users@modssl.org">modssl-users@modssl.org</a></code>. They are collected at this place
 | 
						|
to avoid answering the same questions over and over.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p>Please read this chapter at least once when installing mod_ssl or at least
 | 
						|
search for your problem here before submitting a problem report to the
 | 
						|
author.</p>
 | 
						|
</div>
 | 
						|
<div id="quickview"><ul id="toc"><li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#about">About The Module</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#installation">Installation</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#aboutconfig">Configuration</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#aboutcerts">Certificates</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#aboutssl">The SSL Protocol</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#support">mod_ssl Support</a></li>
 | 
						|
</ul></div>
 | 
						|
<div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
 | 
						|
<div class="section">
 | 
						|
<h2><a name="about" id="about">About The Module</a></h2>
 | 
						|
<ul>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#history">What is the history of mod_ssl?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#wassenaar">mod_ssl and Wassenaar Arrangement?</a></li>
 | 
						|
</ul>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="history" id="history">What is the history of mod_ssl?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>The mod_ssl v1 package was initially created in April 1998 by <a href="mailto:rse@engelschall.com">Ralf S. Engelschall</a> via porting <a href="mailto:ben@algroup.co.uk">Ben Laurie</a>'s <a href="http://www.apache-ssl.org/">Apache-SSL</a> 1.17 source patches for
 | 
						|
    Apache 1.2.6 to Apache 1.3b6. Because of conflicts with Ben
 | 
						|
    Laurie's development cycle it then was re-assembled from scratch for
 | 
						|
    Apache 1.3.0 by merging the old mod_ssl 1.x with the newer Apache-SSL
 | 
						|
    1.18. From this point on mod_ssl lived its own life as mod_ssl v2. The
 | 
						|
    first publicly released version was mod_ssl 2.0.0 from August 10th,
 | 
						|
    1998. </p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p>After US export restrictions on cryptographic software were
 | 
						|
    loosened, <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html">mod_ssl</a></code> became part of the Apache HTTP
 | 
						|
    Server with the release of Apache httpd 2.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="wassenaar" id="wassenaar">Is mod_ssl affected by the Wassenaar Arrangement?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>First, let us explain what <dfn>Wassenaar</dfn> and its <dfn>Arrangement on
 | 
						|
    Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and
 | 
						|
    Technologies</dfn> is: This is a international regime, established in 1995, to
 | 
						|
    control trade in conventional arms and dual-use goods and technology. It
 | 
						|
    replaced the previous <dfn>CoCom</dfn> regime. Further details on 
 | 
						|
    both the Arrangement and its signatories are available at <a href="http://www.wassenaar.org/">http://www.wassenaar.org/</a>.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <p>In short, the aim of the Wassenaar Arrangement is to prevent the build up
 | 
						|
    of military capabilities that threaten regional and international security
 | 
						|
    and stability. The Wassenaar Arrangement controls the export of
 | 
						|
    cryptography as a dual-use good, that is, something that has both military and
 | 
						|
    civilian applications. However, the Wassenaar Arrangement also provides an
 | 
						|
    exemption from export controls for mass-market software and free software.</p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p>In the current Wassenaar <cite>List of Dual Use Goods and Technologies And
 | 
						|
    Munitions</cite>, under <q>GENERAL SOFTWARE NOTE (GSN)</q> it says
 | 
						|
    <q>The Lists do not control "software" which is either: 1. [...] 2. "in
 | 
						|
    the public domain".</q> And under <q>DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED IN
 | 
						|
    THESE LISTS</q> we find <q>In the public
 | 
						|
    domain</q> defined as <q>"technology" or "software" which has been made
 | 
						|
    available without restrictions upon its further dissemination. Note:
 | 
						|
    Copyright restrictions do not remove "technology" or "software" from being
 | 
						|
    "in the public domain".</q></p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p>So, both mod_ssl and OpenSSL are <q>in the public domain</q> for the purposes
 | 
						|
    of the Wassenaar Arrangement and its <q>List of Dual Use Goods and
 | 
						|
    Technologies And Munitions List</q>, and thus not affected by its provisions.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
 | 
						|
<div class="section">
 | 
						|
<h2><a name="installation" id="installation">Installation</a></h2>
 | 
						|
<ul>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#mutex">Why do I get permission errors related to 
 | 
						|
SSLMutex when I start Apache?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#entropy">Why does mod_ssl stop with the error "Failed to 
 | 
						|
generate temporary 512 bit RSA private key" when I start Apache?</a></li>
 | 
						|
</ul>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="mutex" id="mutex">Why do I get permission errors related to 
 | 
						|
	SSLMutex when I start Apache?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
    <p>Errors such as ``<code>mod_ssl: Child could not open
 | 
						|
    SSLMutex lockfile /opt/apache/logs/ssl_mutex.18332 (System error follows)
 | 
						|
    [...] System: Permission denied (errno: 13)</code>'' are usually
 | 
						|
    caused by overly restrictive permissions on the <em>parent</em> directories.
 | 
						|
    Make sure that all parent directories (here <code>/opt</code>,
 | 
						|
    <code>/opt/apache</code> and <code>/opt/apache/logs</code>) have the x-bit
 | 
						|
    set for, at minimum, the UID under which Apache's children are running (see
 | 
						|
    the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mpm_common.html#user">User</a></code> directive).</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="entropy" id="entropy">Why does mod_ssl stop with the error
 | 
						|
	"Failed to generate temporary 512 bit RSA private key" when I start 
 | 
						|
	Apache?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
    <p>Cryptographic software needs a source of unpredictable data
 | 
						|
    to work correctly. Many open source operating systems provide
 | 
						|
    a "randomness device" that serves this purpose (usually named
 | 
						|
    <code>/dev/random</code>). On other systems, applications have to
 | 
						|
    seed the OpenSSL Pseudo Random Number Generator (PRNG) manually with
 | 
						|
    appropriate data before generating keys or performing public key
 | 
						|
    encryption. As of version 0.9.5, the OpenSSL functions that need
 | 
						|
    randomness report an error if the PRNG has not been seeded with
 | 
						|
    at least 128 bits of randomness.</p>
 | 
						|
    <p>To prevent this error, <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html">mod_ssl</a></code> has to provide 
 | 
						|
    enough entropy to the PRNG to allow it to work correctly. This can 
 | 
						|
    be done via the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html#sslrandomseed">SSLRandomSeed</a></code> 
 | 
						|
    directive.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
 | 
						|
<div class="section">
 | 
						|
<h2><a name="aboutconfig" id="aboutconfig">Configuration</a></h2>
 | 
						|
<ul>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#parallel">Is it possible to provide HTTP and HTTPS from 
 | 
						|
the same server?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#ports">Which port does HTTPS use?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#httpstest">How do I speak HTTPS manually for testing 
 | 
						|
purposes?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#hang">Why does the connection hang when I connect to my 
 | 
						|
SSL-aware Apache server?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#refused">Why do I get ``Connection Refused'' errors, when 
 | 
						|
trying to access my newly installed Apache+mod_ssl server via HTTPS?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#envvars">Why are the <code>SSL_XXX</code> variables not
 | 
						|
available to my CGI & SSI scripts?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#relative">How can I switch between HTTP and HTTPS in 
 | 
						|
relative hyperlinks?</a></li>
 | 
						|
</ul>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="parallel" id="parallel">Is it possible to provide HTTP and HTTPS 
 | 
						|
	from the same server?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
    <p>Yes. HTTP and HTTPS use different server ports (HTTP binds to 
 | 
						|
    port 80, HTTPS to port 443), so there is no direct conflict between 
 | 
						|
    them. You can either run two separate server instances bound to 
 | 
						|
    these ports, or use Apache's elegant virtual hosting facility to 
 | 
						|
    create two virtual servers, both served by the same instance of Apache 
 | 
						|
    - one responding over HTTP to requests on port 80, and the other 
 | 
						|
    responding over HTTPS to requests on port 443.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="ports" id="ports">Which port does HTTPS use?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>You can run HTTPS on any port, but the standards specify port 443, which
 | 
						|
    is where any HTTPS compliant browser will look by default. You can force
 | 
						|
    your browser to look on a different port by specifying it in the URL. For
 | 
						|
    example, if your server is set up to serve pages over HTTPS on port 8080,
 | 
						|
    you can access them at <code>https://example.com:8080/</code></p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="httpstest" id="httpstest">How do I speak HTTPS manually for testing purposes?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
 <p>While you usually just use</p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <div class="example"><p><code>$ telnet localhost 80<br />
 | 
						|
    GET / HTTP/1.0</code></p></div>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <p>for simple testing of Apache via HTTP, it's not so easy for
 | 
						|
    HTTPS because of the SSL protocol between TCP and HTTP. With the
 | 
						|
    help of OpenSSL's <code>s_client</code> command, however, you can 
 | 
						|
    do a similar check via HTTPS:</p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <div class="example"><p><code>$ openssl s_client -connect localhost:443 -state -debug<br />
 | 
						|
    GET / HTTP/1.0</code></p></div>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <p>Before the actual HTTP response you will receive detailed
 | 
						|
    information about the SSL handshake. For a more general command
 | 
						|
    line client which directly understands both HTTP and HTTPS, can
 | 
						|
    perform GET and POST operations, can use a proxy, supports byte
 | 
						|
    ranges, etc. you should have a look at the nifty
 | 
						|
    <a href="http://curl.haxx.se/">cURL</a> tool. Using this, you can
 | 
						|
    check that Apache is responding correctly to requests via HTTP and
 | 
						|
    HTTPS as follows:</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <div class="example"><p><code>$ curl http://localhost/<br />
 | 
						|
    $ curl https://localhost/</code></p></div>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="hang" id="hang">Why does the connection hang when I connect 
 | 
						|
    to my SSL-aware Apache server?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p>This can happen when you try to connect to a HTTPS server (or virtual
 | 
						|
    server) via HTTP (eg, using <code>http://example.com/</code> instead of
 | 
						|
    <code>https://example.com</code>). It can also happen when trying to
 | 
						|
    connect via HTTPS to a HTTP server (eg, using
 | 
						|
    <code>https://example.com/</code> on a server which doesn't support HTTPS,
 | 
						|
    or which supports it on a non-standard port). Make sure that you're
 | 
						|
    connecting to a (virtual) server that supports SSL.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="refused" id="refused">Why do I get ``Connection Refused'' messages, 
 | 
						|
    when trying to access my newly installed Apache+mod_ssl server via HTTPS?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>
 | 
						|
    This error can be caused by an incorrect configuration.
 | 
						|
    Please make sure that your <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mpm_common.html#listen">Listen</a></code> directives match your 
 | 
						|
    <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#virtualhost"><VirtualHost></a></code>
 | 
						|
    directives. If all else fails, please start afresh, using the default 
 | 
						|
    configuration provided by <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html">mod_ssl</a></code>.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="envvars" id="envvars">Why are the <code>SSL_XXX</code> variables 
 | 
						|
    not available to my CGI & SSI scripts?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>Please make sure you have ``<code>SSLOptions +StdEnvVars</code>''
 | 
						|
    enabled for the context of your CGI/SSI requests.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="relative" id="relative">How can I switch between HTTP and HTTPS in relative 
 | 
						|
    hyperlinks?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p>Usually, to switch between HTTP and HTTPS, you have to use 
 | 
						|
    fully-qualified hyperlinks (because you have to change the URL 
 | 
						|
    scheme).  Using <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_rewrite.html">mod_rewrite</a></code> however, you can 
 | 
						|
    manipulate relative hyperlinks, to achieve the same effect.</p>
 | 
						|
    <div class="example"><p><code>
 | 
						|
    RewriteEngine on<br />
 | 
						|
    RewriteRule   ^/(.*):SSL$   https://%{SERVER_NAME}/$1 [R,L]<br />
 | 
						|
    RewriteRule   ^/(.*):NOSSL$ http://%{SERVER_NAME}/$1  [R,L]
 | 
						|
    </code></p></div>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <p>This rewrite ruleset lets you use hyperlinks of the form
 | 
						|
    <code><a href="document.html:SSL"></code>, to switch to HTTPS
 | 
						|
    in a relative link. (Replace SSL with NOSSL to switch to HTTP.)</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
 | 
						|
<div class="section">
 | 
						|
<h2><a name="aboutcerts" id="aboutcerts">Certificates</a></h2>
 | 
						|
<ul>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#keyscerts">What are RSA Private Keys, CSRs and 
 | 
						|
Certificates?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#startup">Is there a difference on startup between
 | 
						|
a non-SSL-aware Apache and an SSL-aware Apache?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#selfcert">How do I create a self-signed SSL 
 | 
						|
Certificate for testing purposes?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#realcert">How do I create a real SSL Certificate?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#ownca">How do I create and use my own Certificate 
 | 
						|
Authority (CA)?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#passphrase">How can I change the pass-phrase on my private 
 | 
						|
key file?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#removepassphrase">How can I get rid of the pass-phrase 
 | 
						|
dialog at Apache startup time?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#verify">How do I verify that a private key matches its 
 | 
						|
Certificate?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#badcert">Why do connections fail with an "alert bad 
 | 
						|
certificate" error?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#keysize">Why does my 2048-bit private key not work?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#hashsymlinks">Why is client authentication broken after 
 | 
						|
upgrading from SSLeay version 0.8 to 0.9?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#pemder">How can I convert a certificate from PEM to DER 
 | 
						|
format?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#verisign">Why can't I find the
 | 
						|
<code>getca</code> or <code>getverisign</code> programs mentioned by
 | 
						|
Verisign, for installing my Verisign certificate?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#sgc">Can I use the Server Gated Cryptography (SGC)
 | 
						|
facility (aka Verisign Global ID) with mod_ssl?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#gid">Why do browsers complain that they cannot
 | 
						|
verify my Verisign Global ID server certificate?</a></li>
 | 
						|
</ul>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="keyscerts" id="keyscerts">What are RSA Private Keys, CSRs and Certificates?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>An RSA private key file is a digital file that you can use to decrypt
 | 
						|
    messages sent to you. It has a public component which you distribute (via
 | 
						|
    your Certificate file) which allows people to encrypt those messages to
 | 
						|
    you.</p>
 | 
						|
    <p>A Certificate Signing Request (CSR) is a digital file which contains
 | 
						|
    your public key and your name. You send the CSR to a Certifying Authority
 | 
						|
    (CA), who will convert it into a real Certificate, by signing it.</p> 
 | 
						|
    <p>A Certificate contains your
 | 
						|
    RSA public key, your name, the name of the CA, and is digitally signed by
 | 
						|
    the CA. Browsers that know the CA can verify the signature on that
 | 
						|
    Certificate, thereby obtaining your RSA public key. That enables them to
 | 
						|
    send messages which only you can decrypt.</p>
 | 
						|
    <p>See the <a href="ssl_intro.html">Introduction</a> chapter for a general
 | 
						|
    description of the SSL protocol.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="startup" id="startup">Is there a difference on startup between 
 | 
						|
    a non-SSL-aware Apache and an SSL-aware Apache?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>Yes. In general, starting Apache with 
 | 
						|
    <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html">mod_ssl</a></code> built-in is just like starting Apache 
 | 
						|
    without it. However, if you have a passphrase on your SSL private 
 | 
						|
    key file, a startup dialog will pop up which asks you to enter the 
 | 
						|
    pass phrase.</p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p>Having to manually enter the passphrase when starting the server 
 | 
						|
    can be problematic - for example, when starting the server from the 
 | 
						|
    system boot scripts. In this case, you can follow the steps
 | 
						|
    <a href="#removepassphrase">below</a> to remove the passphrase from
 | 
						|
    your private key. Bear in mind that doing so brings additional security
 | 
						|
    risks - proceed with caution!</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="selfcert" id="selfcert">How do I create a self-signed SSL 
 | 
						|
Certificate for testing purposes?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
    <ol>
 | 
						|
    <li>Make sure OpenSSL is installed and in your <code>PATH</code>.<br />
 | 
						|
    <br />
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
    <li>Run the following command, to create <code>server.key</code> and
 | 
						|
        <code>server.crt</code> files:<br />
 | 
						|
	<code><strong>$ openssl req -new -x509 -nodes -out server.crt 
 | 
						|
			-keyout server.key</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
	These can be used as follows in your <code>httpd.conf</code> 
 | 
						|
	file:
 | 
						|
        <pre>
 | 
						|
             SSLCertificateFile    /path/to/this/server.crt
 | 
						|
             SSLCertificateKeyFile /path/to/this/server.key
 | 
						|
	</pre>
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
    <li>It is important that you are aware that this 
 | 
						|
	<code>server.key</code> does <em>not</em> have any passphrase.
 | 
						|
	To add a passphrase to the key, you should run the following 
 | 
						|
	command, and enter & verify the passphrase as requested.<br />
 | 
						|
	<p><code><strong>$ openssl rsa -des3 -in server.key -out 
 | 
						|
	server.key.new</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
	<code><strong>$ mv server.key.new server.key</strong></code><br /></p>
 | 
						|
	Please backup the <code>server.key</code> file, and the passphrase 
 | 
						|
	you entered, in a secure location.
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
    </ol>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="realcert" id="realcert">How do I create a real SSL Certificate?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>Here is a step-by-step description:</p>
 | 
						|
    <ol>
 | 
						|
    <li>Make sure OpenSSL is installed and in your <code>PATH</code>.
 | 
						|
    <br />
 | 
						|
    <br />
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
    <li>Create a RSA private key for your Apache server
 | 
						|
       (will be Triple-DES encrypted and PEM formatted):<br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ openssl genrsa -des3 -out server.key 1024</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       Please backup this <code>server.key</code> file and the
 | 
						|
       pass-phrase you entered in a secure location.
 | 
						|
       You can see the details of this RSA private key by using the command:<br />
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ openssl rsa -noout -text -in server.key</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       If necessary, you can also create a decrypted PEM version (not 
 | 
						|
       recommended) of this RSA private key with:<br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ openssl rsa -in server.key -out server.key.unsecure</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
    <li>Create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) with the server RSA private
 | 
						|
       key (output will be PEM formatted):<br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ openssl req -new -key server.key -out server.csr</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       Make sure you enter the FQDN ("Fully Qualified Domain Name") of the
 | 
						|
       server when OpenSSL prompts you for the "CommonName", i.e. when you
 | 
						|
       generate a CSR for a website which will be later accessed via
 | 
						|
       <code>https://www.foo.dom/</code>, enter "www.foo.dom" here.
 | 
						|
       You can see the details of this CSR by using<br />
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ openssl req -noout -text -in server.csr</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
    <li>You now have to send this Certificate Signing Request (CSR) to
 | 
						|
       a Certifying Authority (CA) to be signed. Once the CSR has been 
 | 
						|
       signed, you will have a real Certificate, which can be used by
 | 
						|
       Apache. You can have a CSR signed by a commercial CA, or you can 
 | 
						|
       create your own CA to sign it.<br />
 | 
						|
       Commercial CAs usually ask you to post the CSR into a web form, 
 | 
						|
       pay for the signing, and then send a signed Certificate, which 
 | 
						|
       you can store in a server.crt file. For more information about 
 | 
						|
       commercial CAs see the following locations:<br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       <ol>
 | 
						|
       <li>  Verisign<br />
 | 
						|
             <a href="http://digitalid.verisign.com/server/apacheNotice.htm">
 | 
						|
             http://digitalid.verisign.com/server/apacheNotice.htm
 | 
						|
             </a>
 | 
						|
       </li>
 | 
						|
       <li>  Thawte<br />
 | 
						|
         <a href="http://www.thawte.com/">http://www.thawte.com/</a>
 | 
						|
       </li>
 | 
						|
       <li>  CertiSign Certificadora Digital Ltda.<br />
 | 
						|
             <a href="http://www.certisign.com.br">
 | 
						|
             http://www.certisign.com.br
 | 
						|
             </a>
 | 
						|
       </li>
 | 
						|
       <li>  IKS GmbH<br />
 | 
						|
             <a href="http://www.iks-jena.de/leistungen/ca/">
 | 
						|
             http://www.iks-jena.de/leistungen/ca/
 | 
						|
             </a>
 | 
						|
       </li>
 | 
						|
       <li>  Uptime Commerce Ltd.<br />
 | 
						|
             <a href="http://www.uptimecommerce.com">
 | 
						|
             http://www.uptimecommerce.com
 | 
						|
             </a>
 | 
						|
       </li>
 | 
						|
       <li>  BelSign NV/SA<br />
 | 
						|
             <a href="http://www.belsign.be">
 | 
						|
             http://www.belsign.be
 | 
						|
             </a>
 | 
						|
       </li>
 | 
						|
       </ol>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
       For details on how to create your own CA, and use this to sign
 | 
						|
       a CSR, see <a href="#ownca">below</a>.<br />
 | 
						|
       
 | 
						|
       Once your CSR has been signed, you can see the details of the 
 | 
						|
       Certificate as follows:<br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ openssl x509 -noout -text -in server.crt</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
    <li>You should now have two files: <code>server.key</code> and
 | 
						|
    <code>server.crt</code>. These can be used as follows in your
 | 
						|
    <code>httpd.conf</code> file:
 | 
						|
       <pre>
 | 
						|
       SSLCertificateFile    /path/to/this/server.crt
 | 
						|
       SSLCertificateKeyFile /path/to/this/server.key
 | 
						|
       </pre>
 | 
						|
       The <code>server.csr</code> file is no longer needed.
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    </ol>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="ownca" id="ownca">How do I create and use my own Certificate Authority (CA)?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
    <p>The short answer is to use the <code>CA.sh</code> or <code>CA.pl</code>
 | 
						|
    script provided by OpenSSL. Unless you have a good reason not to, 
 | 
						|
    you should use these for preference. If you cannot, you can create a
 | 
						|
    self-signed Certificate as follows:</p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <ol>
 | 
						|
    <li>Create a RSA private key for your server
 | 
						|
       (will be Triple-DES encrypted and PEM formatted):<br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ openssl genrsa -des3 -out server.key 1024</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       Please backup this <code>host.key</code> file and the
 | 
						|
       pass-phrase you entered in a secure location.
 | 
						|
       You can see the details of this RSA private key by using the 
 | 
						|
       command:<br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ openssl rsa -noout -text -in server.key</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       If necessary, you can also create a decrypted PEM version (not 
 | 
						|
       recommended) of this RSA private key with:<br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ openssl rsa -in server.key -out server.key.unsecure</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
    <li>Create a self-signed Certificate (X509 structure)
 | 
						|
       with the RSA key you just created (output will be PEM formatted):<br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ openssl req -new -x509 -nodes -sha1 -days 365 
 | 
						|
		       -key server.key -out server.crt</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       This signs the server CSR and results in a <code>server.crt</code> file.<br />
 | 
						|
       You can see the details of this Certificate using:<br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ openssl x509 -noout -text -in server.crt</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
    </ol>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="passphrase" id="passphrase">How can I change the pass-phrase on my private key file?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>You simply have to read it with the old pass-phrase and write it again,
 | 
						|
    specifying the new pass-phrase. You can accomplish this with the following
 | 
						|
    commands:</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p><code><strong>$ openssl rsa -des3 -in server.key -out server.key.new</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
    <code><strong>$ mv server.key.new server.key</strong></code><br /></p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p>The first time you're asked for a PEM pass-phrase, you should
 | 
						|
    enter the old pass-phrase. After that, you'll be asked again to 
 | 
						|
    enter a pass-phrase - this time, use the new pass-phrase. If you
 | 
						|
    are asked to verify the pass-phrase, you'll need to enter the new 
 | 
						|
    pass-phrase a second time.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="removepassphrase" id="removepassphrase">How can I get rid of the pass-phrase dialog at Apache startup time?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>The reason this dialog pops up at startup and every re-start
 | 
						|
    is that the RSA private key inside your server.key file is stored in
 | 
						|
    encrypted format for security reasons. The pass-phrase is needed to decrypt
 | 
						|
    this file, so it can be read and parsed. Removing the pass-phrase 
 | 
						|
    removes a layer of security from your server - proceed with caution!</p>
 | 
						|
    <ol>
 | 
						|
    <li>Remove the encryption from the RSA private key (while
 | 
						|
       keeping a backup copy of the original file):<br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ cp server.key server.key.org</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ openssl rsa -in server.key.org -out server.key</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
    <li>Make sure the server.key file is only readable by root:<br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
       <code><strong>$ chmod 400 server.key</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
       <br />
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
    </ol>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <p>Now <code>server.key</code> contains an unencrypted copy of the key.
 | 
						|
    If you point your server at this file, it will not prompt you for a
 | 
						|
    pass-phrase. HOWEVER, if anyone gets this key they will be able to
 | 
						|
    impersonate you on the net. PLEASE make sure that the permissions on this
 | 
						|
    file are such that only root or the web server user can read it
 | 
						|
    (preferably get your web server to start as root but run as another
 | 
						|
    user, and have the key readable only by root).</p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p>As an alternative approach you can use the ``<code>SSLPassPhraseDialog
 | 
						|
    exec:/path/to/program</code>'' facility. Bear in mind that this is
 | 
						|
    neither more nor less secure, of course.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="verify" id="verify">How do I verify that a private key matches its Certificate?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>A private key contains a series of numbers. Two of these numbers form
 | 
						|
    the "public key", the others are part of the "private key". The "public
 | 
						|
    key" bits are included when you generate a CSR, and subsequently form
 | 
						|
    part of the associated Certificate.</p>
 | 
						|
    <p>To check that the public key in your Certificate matches the public
 | 
						|
    portion of your private key, you simply need to compare these numbers. 
 | 
						|
    To view the Certificate and the key run the commands:</p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p><code><strong>$ openssl x509 -noout -text -in server.crt</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
    <code><strong>$ openssl rsa -noout -text -in server.key</strong></code></p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p>The `modulus' and the `public exponent' portions in the key and the
 | 
						|
    Certificate must match. As the public exponent is usually 65537
 | 
						|
    and it's difficult to visually check that the long modulus numbers
 | 
						|
    are the same, you can use the following approach:</p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p><code><strong>$ openssl x509 -noout -modulus -in server.crt | openssl md5</strong></code><br />
 | 
						|
    <code><strong>$ openssl rsa -noout -modulus -in server.key | openssl md5</strong></code></p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p>This leaves you with two rather shorter numbers to compare. It is,
 | 
						|
    in theory, possible that these numbers may be the same, without the 
 | 
						|
    modulus numbers being the same, but the chances of this are 
 | 
						|
    overwhelmingly remote.</p>
 | 
						|
    <p>Should you wish to check to which key or certificate a particular 
 | 
						|
    CSR belongs you can perform the same calculation on the CSR as 
 | 
						|
    follows:</p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p><code><strong>$ openssl req -noout -modulus -in server.csr | openssl md5</strong></code></p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="badcert" id="badcert">Why do connections fail with an "alert 
 | 
						|
bad certificate" error?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>Errors such as <code>OpenSSL: error:14094412: SSL
 | 
						|
    routines:SSL3_READ_BYTES:sslv3 alert bad certificate</code> in the SSL
 | 
						|
    logfile, are usually caused by a browser which is unable to handle the server
 | 
						|
    certificate/private-key. For example, Netscape Navigator 3.x is 
 | 
						|
    unable to handle RSA key lengths not equal to 1024 bits.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="keysize" id="keysize">Why does my 2048-bit private key not work?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>The private key sizes for SSL must be either 512 or 1024 bits, for compatibility
 | 
						|
    with certain web browsers. A keysize of 1024 bits is recommended because
 | 
						|
    keys larger than 1024 bits are incompatible with some versions of Netscape
 | 
						|
    Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, and with other browsers that
 | 
						|
    use RSA's BSAFE cryptography toolkit.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="hashsymlinks" id="hashsymlinks">Why is client authentication broken after upgrading from
 | 
						|
SSLeay version 0.8 to 0.9?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>The CA certificates under the path you configured with
 | 
						|
    <code>SSLCACertificatePath</code> are found by SSLeay through hash
 | 
						|
    symlinks. These hash values are generated by the `<code>openssl x509 -noout
 | 
						|
    -hash</code>' command. However, the algorithm used to calculate the hash for a
 | 
						|
    certificate changed between SSLeay 0.8 and 0.9. You will need to remove
 | 
						|
    all old hash symlinks and create new ones after upgrading. Use the
 | 
						|
    <code>Makefile</code> provided by <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html">mod_ssl</a></code>.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="pemder" id="pemder">How can I convert a certificate from PEM to DER format?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>The default certificate format for SSLeay/OpenSSL is PEM, which is simply
 | 
						|
    Base64 encoded DER, with header and footer lines. For some applications
 | 
						|
    (e.g. Microsoft Internet Explorer) you need the certificate in plain DER
 | 
						|
    format. You can convert a PEM file <code>cert.pem</code> into the
 | 
						|
    corresponding DER file <code>cert.der</code> using the following command:
 | 
						|
    <code><strong>$ openssl x509 -in cert.pem -out cert.der -outform DER</strong></code></p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="verisign" id="verisign">Why can't I find the
 | 
						|
<code>getca</code> or <code>getverisign</code> programs mentioned by 
 | 
						|
Verisign, for installing my Verisign certificate?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>Verisign has never provided specific instructions
 | 
						|
    for Apache+mod_ssl. The instructions provided are for C2Net's 
 | 
						|
    Stronghold (a commercial Apache based server with SSL support).</p> 
 | 
						|
    <p>To install your certificate, all you need to do is to save the 
 | 
						|
    certificate to a file, and give the name of that file to the 
 | 
						|
    <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html#sslcertificatefile">SSLCertificateFile</a></code> directive.
 | 
						|
    You will also need to give it the key file. For more information, 
 | 
						|
    see the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html#sslcertificatekeyfile">SSLCertificateKeyFile</a></code>
 | 
						|
    directive.</p> 
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="sgc" id="sgc">Can I use the Server Gated Cryptography (SGC) 
 | 
						|
facility (aka Verisign Global ID) with mod_ssl?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>Yes. <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html">mod_ssl</a></code> has included support for the SGC 
 | 
						|
    facility since version 2.1. No special configuration is required - 
 | 
						|
    just use the Global ID as your server certificate. The 
 | 
						|
    <em>step up</em> of the clients is then automatically handled by 
 | 
						|
    <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html">mod_ssl</a></code> at run-time.</p> 
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="gid" id="gid">Why do browsers complain that they cannot 
 | 
						|
verify my Verisign Global ID server certificate?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>Verisign uses an intermediate CA certificate between the root CA 
 | 
						|
    certificate (which is installed in the browsers) and the server 
 | 
						|
    certificate (which you installed on the server). You should have 
 | 
						|
    received this additional CA certificate from Verisign.
 | 
						|
    If not, complain to them. Then, configure this certificate with the
 | 
						|
    <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html#sslcertificatechainfile">SSLCertificateChainFile</a></code> 
 | 
						|
    directive. This ensures that the intermediate CA certificate is 
 | 
						|
    sent to the browser, filling the gap in the certificate chain.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
 | 
						|
<div class="section">
 | 
						|
<h2><a name="aboutssl" id="aboutssl">The SSL Protocol</a></h2>
 | 
						|
<ul>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#random">Why do I get lots of random SSL protocol 
 | 
						|
errors under heavy server load?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#load">Why does my webserver have a higher load, now
 | 
						|
that it serves SSL encrypted traffic?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#establishing">Why do HTTPS connections to my server
 | 
						|
sometimes take up to 30 seconds to establish a connection?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#ciphers">What SSL Ciphers are supported by mod_ssl?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#adh">Why do I get ``no shared cipher'' errors, when
 | 
						|
trying to use Anonymous Diffie-Hellman (ADH) ciphers?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#sharedciphers">Why do I get a 'no shared ciphers'
 | 
						|
error when connecting to my newly installed server?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#vhosts">Why can't I use SSL with name-based/non-IP-based 
 | 
						|
virtual hosts?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#vhosts2">Why is it not possible to use Name-Based Virtual
 | 
						|
Hosting to identify different SSL virtual hosts?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#comp">How do I get SSL compression working?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#lockicon">When I use Basic Authentication over HTTPS
 | 
						|
the lock icon in Netscape browsers stays unlocked when the dialog pops up.
 | 
						|
Does this mean the username/password is being sent unencrypted?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#msie">Why do I get I/O errors when connecting via
 | 
						|
HTTPS to an Apache+mod_ssl server with Microsoft Internet Explorer 
 | 
						|
(MSIE)?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#nn">Why do I get I/O errors, or the message "Netscape has 
 | 
						|
encountered bad data from the server", when connecting via
 | 
						|
HTTPS to an Apache+mod_ssl server with Netscape Navigator?</a></li>
 | 
						|
</ul>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="random" id="random">Why do I get lots of random SSL protocol 
 | 
						|
errors under heavy server load?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>There can be a number of reasons for this, but the main one
 | 
						|
    is problems with the SSL session Cache specified by the
 | 
						|
    <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html#sslsessioncache">SSLSessionCache</a></code> directive. The DBM session
 | 
						|
    cache is the most likely source of the problem, so using the SHM session cache (or
 | 
						|
    no cache at all) may help.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="load" id="load">Why does my webserver have a higher load, now 
 | 
						|
that it serves SSL encrypted traffic?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>SSL uses strong cryptographic encryption, which necessitates a lot of
 | 
						|
    number crunching. When you request a webpage via HTTPS, everything (even
 | 
						|
    the images) is encrypted before it is transferred. So increased HTTPS
 | 
						|
    traffic leads to load increases.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="establishing" id="establishing">Why do HTTPS connections to my server 
 | 
						|
sometimes take up to 30 seconds to establish a connection?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>This is usually caused by a <code>/dev/random</code> device for
 | 
						|
    <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html#sslrandomseed">SSLRandomSeed</a></code> which blocks the 
 | 
						|
    read(2) call until enough entropy is available to service the 
 | 
						|
    request. More information is available in the reference
 | 
						|
    manual for the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html#sslrandomseed">SSLRandomSeed</a></code>
 | 
						|
    directive.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="ciphers" id="ciphers">What SSL Ciphers are supported by mod_ssl?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>Usually, any SSL ciphers supported by the version of OpenSSL in use, 
 | 
						|
    are also supported by <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html">mod_ssl</a></code>. Which ciphers are 
 | 
						|
    available can depend on the way you built OpenSSL. Typically, at 
 | 
						|
    least the following ciphers are supported:</p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <ol>
 | 
						|
    <li>RC4 with MD5</li>
 | 
						|
    <li>RC4 with MD5 (export version restricted to 40-bit key)</li>
 | 
						|
    <li>RC2 with MD5</li>
 | 
						|
    <li>RC2 with MD5 (export version restricted to 40-bit key)</li>
 | 
						|
    <li>IDEA with MD5</li>
 | 
						|
    <li>DES with MD5</li>
 | 
						|
    <li>Triple-DES with MD5</li>
 | 
						|
    </ol>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p>To determine the actual list of ciphers available, you should run 
 | 
						|
    the following:</p>
 | 
						|
    <div class="example"><p><code>$ openssl ciphers -v</code></p></div>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="adh" id="adh">Why do I get ``no shared cipher'' errors, when 
 | 
						|
trying to use Anonymous Diffie-Hellman (ADH) ciphers?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>By default, OpenSSL does <em>not</em> allow ADH ciphers, for security
 | 
						|
    reasons. Please be sure you are aware of the potential side-effects 
 | 
						|
    if you choose to enable these ciphers.</p>
 | 
						|
    <p>In order to use Anonymous Diffie-Hellman (ADH) ciphers, you must 
 | 
						|
    build OpenSSL with ``<code>-DSSL_ALLOW_ADH</code>'', and then add
 | 
						|
    ``<code>ADH</code>'' into your <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html#sslciphersuite">SSLCipherSuite</a></code>.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="sharedciphers" id="sharedciphers">Why do I get a 'no shared ciphers' 
 | 
						|
error when connecting to my newly installed server?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>Either you have made a mistake with your 
 | 
						|
    <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html#sslciphersuite">SSLCipherSuite</a></code>
 | 
						|
    directive (compare it with the pre-configured example in
 | 
						|
    <code>httpd.conf-dist</code>) or you chose to use DSA/DH
 | 
						|
    algorithms instead of RSA when you generated your private key
 | 
						|
    and ignored or overlooked the warnings. If you have chosen
 | 
						|
    DSA/DH, then your server cannot communicate using RSA-based SSL 
 | 
						|
    ciphers (at least until you configure an additional RSA-based
 | 
						|
    certificate/key pair). Modern browsers like NS or IE can only 
 | 
						|
    communicate over SSL using RSA ciphers. The result is the 
 | 
						|
    "no shared ciphers" error. To fix this, regenerate your server 
 | 
						|
    certificate/key pair, using the RSA algorithm.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="vhosts" id="vhosts">Why can't I use SSL with name-based/non-IP-based virtual hosts?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>The reason is very technical, and a somewhat "chicken and egg" problem. 
 | 
						|
    The SSL protocol layer stays below the HTTP protocol layer and 
 | 
						|
    encapsulates HTTP. When an SSL connection (HTTPS) is established
 | 
						|
    Apache/mod_ssl has to negotiate the SSL protocol parameters with the
 | 
						|
    client. For this, mod_ssl has to consult the configuration of the virtual
 | 
						|
    server (for instance it has to look for the cipher suite, the server
 | 
						|
    certificate, etc.). But in order to go to the correct virtual server
 | 
						|
    Apache has to know the <code>Host</code> HTTP header field. To do this, the
 | 
						|
    HTTP request header has to be read. This cannot be done before the SSL
 | 
						|
    handshake is finished, but the information is needed in order to 
 | 
						|
    complete the SSL handshake phase. Bingo!</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="vhosts2" id="vhosts2">Why is it not possible to use Name-Based
 | 
						|
Virtual Hosting to identify different SSL virtual hosts?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
    <p>Name-Based Virtual Hosting is a very popular method of identifying
 | 
						|
    different virtual hosts. It allows you to use the same IP address and
 | 
						|
    the same port number for many different sites. When people move on to
 | 
						|
    SSL, it seems natural to assume that the same method can be used to have
 | 
						|
    lots of different SSL virtual hosts on the same server.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <p>It comes as rather a shock to learn that it is impossible.</p> 
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <p>The reason is that the SSL protocol is a separate layer which
 | 
						|
    encapsulates the HTTP protocol. So the SSL session is a separate 
 | 
						|
    transaction, that takes place before the HTTP session has begun. 
 | 
						|
    The server receives an SSL request on IP address X and port Y 
 | 
						|
    (usually 443). Since the SSL request does not contain any Host: 
 | 
						|
    field, the server has no way to decide which SSL virtual host to use.
 | 
						|
    Usually, it will just use the first one it finds, which matches the 
 | 
						|
    port and IP address specified.</p> 
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <p>You can, of course, use Name-Based Virtual Hosting to identify many
 | 
						|
    non-SSL virtual hosts (all on port 80, for example) and then 
 | 
						|
    have a single SSL virtual host (on port 443). But if you do this,
 | 
						|
    you must make sure to put the non-SSL port number on the NameVirtualHost
 | 
						|
    directive, e.g.</p> 
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <div class="example"><p><code>
 | 
						|
      NameVirtualHost 192.168.1.1:80
 | 
						|
    </code></p></div>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p>Other workaround solutions include: </p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <p>Using separate IP addresses for different SSL hosts. 
 | 
						|
    Using different port numbers for different SSL hosts.</p> 
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="comp" id="comp">How do I get SSL compression working?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>Although SSL compression negotiation was defined in the specification
 | 
						|
of SSLv2 and TLS, it took until May 2004 for RFC 3749 to define DEFLATE as
 | 
						|
a negotiable standard compression method.
 | 
						|
</p>
 | 
						|
<p>OpenSSL 0.9.8 started to support this by default when compiled with the
 | 
						|
<code>zlib</code> option. If both the client and the server support compression,
 | 
						|
it will be used. However, most clients still try to initially connect with an
 | 
						|
SSLv2 Hello. As SSLv2 did not include an array of prefered compression algorithms
 | 
						|
in its handshake, compression cannot be negotiated with these clients.
 | 
						|
If the client disables support for SSLv2, either an SSLv3 or TLS Hello
 | 
						|
may be sent, depending on which SSL library is used, and compression may 
 | 
						|
be set up. You can verify whether clients make use of SSL compression by 
 | 
						|
logging the <code>%{SSL_COMPRESS_METHOD}x</code> variable.
 | 
						|
</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="lockicon" id="lockicon">When I use Basic Authentication over HTTPS 
 | 
						|
the lock icon in Netscape browsers stays unlocked when the dialog pops up. 
 | 
						|
Does this mean the username/password is being sent unencrypted?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>No, the username/password is transmitted encrypted. The icon in
 | 
						|
    Netscape browsers is not actually synchronized with the SSL/TLS layer.
 | 
						|
    It only toggles to the locked state when the first part of the actual 
 | 
						|
    webpage data is transferred, which may confuse people. The Basic 
 | 
						|
    Authentication facility is part of the HTTP layer, which is above 
 | 
						|
    the SSL/TLS layer in HTTPS. Before any HTTP data communication takes 
 | 
						|
    place in HTTPS, the SSL/TLS layer has already completed its handshake 
 | 
						|
    phase, and switched to encrypted communication. So don't be
 | 
						|
    confused by this icon.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="msie" id="msie">Why do I get I/O errors when connecting via 
 | 
						|
HTTPS to an Apache+mod_ssl server with Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE)?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>The first reason is that the SSL implementation in some MSIE versions has
 | 
						|
    some subtle bugs related to the HTTP keep-alive facility and the SSL close
 | 
						|
    notify alerts on socket connection close. Additionally the interaction
 | 
						|
    between SSL and HTTP/1.1 features are problematic in some MSIE versions. 
 | 
						|
    You can work around these problems by forcing Apache not to use HTTP/1.1, 
 | 
						|
    keep-alive connections or send the SSL close notify messages to MSIE clients. 
 | 
						|
    This can be done by using the following directive in your SSL-aware 
 | 
						|
    virtual host section:</p>
 | 
						|
    <div class="example"><p><code>
 | 
						|
    SetEnvIf User-Agent ".*MSIE.*" \<br />
 | 
						|
             nokeepalive ssl-unclean-shutdown \<br />
 | 
						|
             downgrade-1.0 force-response-1.0
 | 
						|
    </code></p></div>
 | 
						|
    <p>Further, some MSIE versions have problems with particular ciphers. 
 | 
						|
    Unfortunately, it is not possible to implement a MSIE-specific 
 | 
						|
    workaround for this, because the ciphers are needed as early as the 
 | 
						|
    SSL handshake phase. So a MSIE-specific 
 | 
						|
    <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_setenvif.html#setenvif">SetEnvIf</a></code> won't solve these 
 | 
						|
    problems. Instead, you will have to make more drastic
 | 
						|
    adjustments to the global parameters. Before you decide to do
 | 
						|
    this, make sure your clients really have problems. If not, do not 
 | 
						|
    make these changes - they will affect <em>all</em> your clients, MSIE
 | 
						|
    or otherwise.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <p>The next problem is that 56bit export versions of MSIE 5.x 
 | 
						|
    browsers have a broken SSLv3 implementation, which interacts badly 
 | 
						|
    with OpenSSL versions greater than 0.9.4. You can accept this and 
 | 
						|
    require your clients to upgrade their browsers, you can downgrade to 
 | 
						|
    OpenSSL 0.9.4 (not advised), or you can work around this, accepting 
 | 
						|
    that your workaround will affect other browsers too:</p>
 | 
						|
    <div class="example"><p><code>SSLProtocol all -SSLv3</code></p></div>
 | 
						|
    <p>will completely disables the SSLv3 protocol and allow those 
 | 
						|
    browsers to work. A better workaround is to disable only those 
 | 
						|
    ciphers which cause trouble.</p>
 | 
						|
    <div class="example"><p><code>SSLCipherSuite
 | 
						|
    ALL:!ADH:<strong>!EXPORT56</strong>:RC4+RSA:+HIGH:+MEDIUM:+LOW:+SSLv2:+EXP</code>
 | 
						|
    </p></div>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <p>This also allows the broken MSIE versions to work, but only removes the
 | 
						|
    newer 56bit TLS ciphers.</p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p>Another problem with MSIE 5.x clients is that they refuse to connect to
 | 
						|
    URLs of the form <code>https://12.34.56.78/</code> (where IP-addresses are used
 | 
						|
    instead of the hostname), if the server is using the Server Gated
 | 
						|
    Cryptography (SGC) facility. This can only be avoided by using the fully
 | 
						|
    qualified domain name (FQDN) of the website in hyperlinks instead, because
 | 
						|
    MSIE 5.x has an error in the way it handles the SGC negotiation.</p>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <p>And finally there are versions of MSIE which seem to require that
 | 
						|
    an SSL session can be reused (a totally non standard-conforming
 | 
						|
    behaviour, of course). Connecting with those MSIE versions only work
 | 
						|
    if a SSL session cache is used. So, as a work-around, make sure you
 | 
						|
    are using a session cache (see the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_ssl.html#sslsessioncache">SSLSessionCache</a></code> directive).</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="nn" id="nn">Why do I get I/O errors, or the message "Netscape has
 | 
						|
encountered bad data from the server", when connecting via
 | 
						|
HTTPS to an Apache+mod_ssl server with Netscape Navigator?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>
 | 
						|
    This usually occurs when you have created a new server certificate for
 | 
						|
    a given domain, but had previously told your browser to always accept 
 | 
						|
    the old server certificate. Once you clear the entry for the old 
 | 
						|
    certificate from your browser, everything should be fine. Netscape's SSL
 | 
						|
    implementation is correct, so when you encounter I/O errors with Netscape
 | 
						|
    Navigator it is usually caused by the configured certificates.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
 | 
						|
<div class="section">
 | 
						|
<h2><a name="support" id="support">mod_ssl Support</a></h2>
 | 
						|
<ul>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#resources">What information resources are available in 
 | 
						|
case of mod_ssl problems?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#contact">What support contacts are available in case of 
 | 
						|
mod_ssl problems?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#reportdetails">What information should I 
 | 
						|
provide when writing a bug report?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#coredumphelp">I had a core dump, can you help me?</a></li>
 | 
						|
<li><a href="#backtrace">How do I get a backtrace, to help find the reason
 | 
						|
for my core dump?</a></li>
 | 
						|
</ul>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="resources" id="resources">What information resources are available in case of mod_ssl problems?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>The following information resources are available.
 | 
						|
    In case of problems you should search here first.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <dl>
 | 
						|
    <dt>Answers in the User Manual's F.A.Q. List (this)</dt>
 | 
						|
    <dd><a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/trunk/ssl/ssl_faq.html">
 | 
						|
	http://httpd.apache.org/docs/trunk/ssl/ssl_faq.html</a><br />
 | 
						|
	First check the F.A.Q. (this text). If your problem is a common
 | 
						|
	one, it may have been answered several times before, and been included
 | 
						|
	in this doc.
 | 
						|
    </dd>
 | 
						|
    <dt>Postings from the modssl-users Support Mailing List
 | 
						|
        <a href="http://www.modssl.org/support/">http://www.modssl.org/support/</a></dt>
 | 
						|
    <dd>Search for your problem in the archives of the modssl-users mailing list. 
 | 
						|
	You're probably not the first person to have had this problem!
 | 
						|
    </dd>
 | 
						|
    </dl>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="contact" id="contact">What support contacts are available in case 
 | 
						|
of mod_ssl problems?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
 <p>The following lists all support possibilities for mod_ssl, in order of
 | 
						|
	 preference. Please go through these possibilities 
 | 
						|
	 <em>in this order</em> - don't just pick the one you like the look of. </p>
 | 
						|
    <ol>
 | 
						|
    <li><em>Send a Problem Report to the modssl-users Support Mailing List</em><br />
 | 
						|
        <a href="mailto:modssl-users@modssl.org">
 | 
						|
        modssl-users@modssl.org</a><br />
 | 
						|
        This is the preferred way of submitting your problem report, because this way,
 | 
						|
	others can see the problem, and learn from any answers. You must subscribe to 
 | 
						|
        the list first, but you can then easily discuss your problem with both the 
 | 
						|
	author and the whole mod_ssl user community.
 | 
						|
        </li>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <li><em>Send a Problem Report to the Apache httpd Users Support Mailing List</em><br />
 | 
						|
        <a href="mailto:users@httpd.apache.org">
 | 
						|
        users@httpd.apache.org</a><br />
 | 
						|
        This is the second way of submitting your problem report. Again, you must
 | 
						|
        subscribe to the list first, but you can then easily discuss your problem
 | 
						|
        with the whole Apache httpd user community.
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <li><em>Write a Problem Report in the Bug Database</em><br />
 | 
						|
	<a href="http://httpd.apache.org/bug_report.html">
 | 
						|
	http://httpd.apache.org/bug_report.html</a><br />
 | 
						|
        This is the last way of submitting your problem report. You should only
 | 
						|
	do this if you've already posted to the mailing lists, and had no success.
 | 
						|
	Please follow the instructions on the above page <em>carefully</em>.
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
    </ol>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="reportdetails" id="reportdetails">What information should I
 | 
						|
provide when writing a bug report?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>You should always provide at least the following information:</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <dl>
 | 
						|
    <dt>Apache and OpenSSL version information</dt>
 | 
						|
    <dd>The Apache version can be determined
 | 
						|
        by running <code>httpd -v</code>. The OpenSSL version can be
 | 
						|
        determined by running <code>openssl version</code>. Alternatively, if
 | 
						|
        you have Lynx installed, you can run the command <code>lynx -mime_header
 | 
						|
        http://localhost/ | grep Server</code> to gather this information in a
 | 
						|
        single step.
 | 
						|
    </dd>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <dt>The details on how you built and installed Apache+mod_ssl+OpenSSL</dt>
 | 
						|
    <dd>For this you can provide a logfile of your terminal session which shows
 | 
						|
    the configuration and install steps. If this is not possible, you 
 | 
						|
    should at least provide the <code class="program"><a href="../programs/configure.html">configure</a></code> command line you used.
 | 
						|
    </dd>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <dt>In case of core dumps please include a Backtrace</dt>
 | 
						|
    <dd>If your Apache+mod_ssl+OpenSSL dumps its core, please attach
 | 
						|
    a stack-frame ``backtrace'' (see <a href="#backtrace">below</a> 
 | 
						|
    for information on how to get this). This information is required
 | 
						|
    in order to find a reason for your core dump.
 | 
						|
    </dd>
 | 
						|
    
 | 
						|
    <dt>A detailed description of your problem</dt>
 | 
						|
    <dd>Don't laugh, we really mean it! Many problem reports don't 
 | 
						|
    include a description of what the actual problem is. Without this,
 | 
						|
    it's very difficult for anyone to help you. So, it's in your own 
 | 
						|
    interest (you want the problem be solved, don't you?) to include as 
 | 
						|
    much detail as possible, please. Of course, you should still include
 | 
						|
    all the essentials above too.
 | 
						|
    </dd>
 | 
						|
    </dl>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="coredumphelp" id="coredumphelp">I had a core dump, can you help me?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>In general no, at least not unless you provide more details about the code
 | 
						|
    location where Apache dumped core. What is usually always required in
 | 
						|
    order to help you is a backtrace (see next question). Without this
 | 
						|
    information it is mostly impossible to find the problem and help you in
 | 
						|
    fixing it.</p>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<h3><a name="backtrace" id="backtrace">How do I get a backtrace, to help find 
 | 
						|
the reason for my core dump?</a></h3>
 | 
						|
<p>Following are the steps you will need to complete, to get a backtrace:</p>
 | 
						|
    <ol>
 | 
						|
    <li>Make sure you have debugging symbols available, at least
 | 
						|
        in Apache. On platforms where you use GCC/GDB, you will have to build
 | 
						|
        Apache+mod_ssl with ``<code>OPTIM="-g -ggdb3"</code>'' to get this. On
 | 
						|
        other platforms at least ``<code>OPTIM="-g"</code>'' is needed.
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <li>Start the server and try to reproduce the core-dump. For this you may
 | 
						|
        want to use a directive like ``<code>CoreDumpDirectory /tmp</code>'' to
 | 
						|
	make sure that the core-dump file can be written. This should result
 | 
						|
	in a <code>/tmp/core</code> or <code>/tmp/httpd.core</code> file. If you
 | 
						|
        don't get one of these, try running your server under a non-root UID. 
 | 
						|
        Many modern kernels do not allow a process to dump core after it has
 | 
						|
        done a <code>setuid()</code> (unless it does an <code>exec()</code>) for
 | 
						|
        security reasons (there can be privileged information left over in
 | 
						|
        memory). If necessary, you can run <code>/path/to/httpd -X</code>
 | 
						|
        manually to force Apache to not fork.
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <li>Analyze the core-dump. For this, run <code>gdb /path/to/httpd
 | 
						|
        /tmp/httpd.core</code> or a similar command. In GDB, all you 
 | 
						|
	have to do then is to enter <code>bt</code>, and voila, you get the
 | 
						|
        backtrace. For other debuggers consult your local debugger manual. 
 | 
						|
    </li>
 | 
						|
    </ol>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
</div></div>
 | 
						|
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