Apache, a freeware product from the Apache Software Foundation, is popular worldwide as an HTTP server. Basically designed for UNIX, it is now used enthusiastically by Windows and other operating systems. “Apache” is named so because of the word “patchy”, used by the developers of Apache for their earlier versions of the software.

Step 3: SSL Configuration file (HTTPD.CNF) modification. Perform these steps for Apache Server SSL Configuration on.conf file and Virtual Host file. Open the cnf file using any text editor (E.G Notepad). In the virtual host section add the following lines to add information about the domain which you wish to secure using SSL certificate.

Installation: Using FTP, sftp, etc, copy SSL certificate, intermediate certificate file (if any), and private key file (generated during CSR file generation step above) on Linux machine running Apache webserver. It is advisable to copy these files within the Apache installation directory and furthermore in separate directories if you want to.
Steps for Installing SSL in Apache and modSSL: – 1. Download Intermediate Certificate. Purchase an SSL certificate from trusted certificate provider – SSL2BUY. Now copy the content of the intermediate certificate in notepad or in any text file under the name “intermediate.crt”.
Bonus Read: How to Generate CSR for SSL Certificate. Get SSL Certificate. Next, get the SSL/TLS certificate bundle from your certificate authority such as Namecheap, RapidSSL, Comodo, GoDadddy, Let’s Encrypt, etc. You can also use a free SSL provider like SSLForFree. You will get 3 files from certificate authority.
. SSLCertificateChainFile is the TrustCor intermediate certificate file (e.g., dv-ssl-chain.pem) Note: As of Apache 2.4.8, the SSLCertificateChainFile directive was deprecated and SSLCertificateFile was extended to support intermediate certificates. Adding the intermediate certificate to the end of your certificate will create a chain file.

Apache Server containing an extra module for SSL is known as Apache and mod_SSL.

Steps for Installing SSL in Apache and mod_SSL: –

1. Download Intermediate Certificate.

Purchase an SSL certificate from trusted certificate provider – SSL2BUY.
Now copy the content of the intermediate certificate in notepad or in any text file under the name “intermediate.crt”. Save this file in the same directory where the SSL certificate resides for e.g.:/usr/local/ssl/crt.

2. Next, Installing the SSL certificate.

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You will receive your certificate through e-mail. You may receive the certificate as an attachment or as a plain text in the body part of the e-mail. If it is an attachment download it and use it directly and if it is as a text form then copy and paste it in Notepad or any other text file. But do not use Microsoft Office’s Microsoft Word as it may add extra characters to the file. Remove all the spaces and extra lines from the file.

Below is the sample view of the text file.

The five dashes after and before “Begin Certificate” & “End Certificate” are compulsory. There should be no white spaces, line breaks and additional certificates.

As per the naming convention defined in Apache, rename the certificate with the .crt extension.
Now move the certificates into the directory which will be holding the certificates for e.g.: /usr/local/ssl/crt.

3. Server Configuration.

To use the pair of the keys (public key and private key), you will need to update httpd.conf file. There must be following 3 directives present in the Virtual Host section of the httpd.conf file: –

If any of these directives are missing, then please add them.

Note: Some versions of Apache will not allow the SSLCertificateChainFile directive so try to use SSLCACertificateFile instead.

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As, for example: –

SSLCertificateFile/usr/local/ssl/crt/public.crt directive guides the Apache server where and how to find the Certificate File.
SSLCertificateKeyFile/usr/local/ssl/private/private.key directive guides for the location of the private key.
SSLCertificateChainFile/usr/local/ssl/crt/intermediate.crt directive lines the location of the intermediate certificate.

You definitely must be using different locations and certificate file names than those mentioned in the example given above. So, you will have to change the path and file names as per the convenience of your server.

Kindly note that many versions of Apache include both an httpd.conf and ssl.conf file. In such case avoid entering both the files as it will create a hazardous situation and will prevent Apache from being started. Just enter or modify the httpd.conf or the ssl.conf with the directives mentioned above.

Start Apache again after saving the httpd.conf or the ssl.conf file. For doing this you require apachectl script:-

Now, you are ready to use the SSL certificate with your Apache-SSL server.

In case you want to verify that whether your certificate is installed correctly or not; just use SSL Installation Checker.

Helpful Link:

You should visit official Apache Support website to get more information.

Download and unzip your certificate files

Download and unzip your SSL certificate files by clicking on the download link in your fulfillment email or from your GeoCerts SSL Manager account. There will be two .crt files.

your_domain_com.crt
CA_Bundle.crt

Copy these files, along with the private key file you created when generating the CSR, to the Apache server directory in which you plan to store your certificates. The location depends on your Linux distro.

SSL directory on Ubuntu/Debian/Gentoo

The correct directory place to store your_domain_com.crt and CA_Bundle.crt is /etc/ssl/certs
Save your private keys to /etc/ssl/private

SSL directory on CentOS

The correct directory place to store your_domain_com.crt and CA_Bundle.crt is /etc/pki/tls/certs
Save your private keys to /etc/pki/tls/private

Note: for added security make these files readable by root only.

Locate your Apache VHost configuration file

The location of your Apache config files will vary depending on your Linux distribution's default layout. For Ubuntu with Apache2 the main VHost config file is typically located in /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/your_site_name.

Having trouble locating your server's VHost config file? Try one of these commands to point you in the right direction.

Edit your Apache `<VirtualHost>` config file

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Open the Apache config file for editing. Locate the <VirtualHost> container. Below is ano-frills example of a virtual host with three directives in bold that must be configured for SSL.

Adjust file names to match names of your cert files.

SSLCertificateFile is your SSL domain server certificate file: your_domain_com.crt
SSLCertificateKeyFile is the private key you created when you generated the CSR: private.key
SSLCertificateChainFile is the CA intermediate(s) bundle file: CA_Bundle.crt

Note: Some versions of Apache will not accept theSSLCACertificateFiledirective. Try usingSSLCertificateChainFileinstead.

Test your Apache SSL configuration