XAMPP: Apache Vhosts with SSL

Submitted by tomo on July 18, 2011 - 6:21pm

I needed to test out ssl on my Macbook as a web server with XAMPP.  It took more effort than it should have because I was using virtual hosts as well.

1. I already had vhosts setup - make sure to uncomment the line in your httpd.conf with extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

2. You may need to enable ssl - /Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/xampp enablessl, then restart apache.  XAMPP comes with a certificate already setup, although your browser will complain.  This is just for testing.
3. Your httpd.conf should have some directives like <IfModule ssl_module> and <IfDefine SSL> which will include the default ssl Apache configuration file, if you are calling "LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so". If not, try uncommenting the line - Include /Applications/XAMPP/etc/extra/httpd-ssl.conf
4. Now check your error_log. I was seeing stuff like "VirtualHost _default_:443 -- mixing * ports and non-* ports with a NameVirtualHost address is not supported, proceeding with undefined results" and "(48)Address already in use: make_sock: could not bind to address [::]:443".  I could see that port 443 wasn't in use.
5. It turned out that in my vhosts.conf I was being too lax.  Since I'm not specifying *:443 virtual hosts in my ssl.conf, I need to be port 80 specific in my vhosts.conf.  That is "NameVirtualHost *:80", and then "<VirtualHost *:80>" for each virtual host section.
6. Now we need the 443 specific virtual hosts.  Add these lines:
NameVirtualHost *:443
7. Now it's just a matter of copying your <VirtualHost *:80> groups with <VirtualHost *:443> instead, but you also need 'SSLEngine on' and the 'SSLCertificateFile' and 'SSLCertificateKeyFile' directives.
You should be able to check that https is running by netcat'ing to port 443 and you can see that https with vhosts is working with your browser.
Read the rest of this article...
February 2, 2012 - 2:50am
#2
tomo

If you want your SSL site to appear without any warning in any users browsers then you'll need a certificate signed by a root CA (certificate authority).

According to this site (http://www.fixyourip.com/library/openssl/rootcas.php) the trusted root CAs are:

Addrrust
AOL
Entrust
CertPlus
Certum
Chambersign
Comodo
Digicert
Digital Signature Trust Company
Equifax
Entrust
Geotrust
GlobalSign
IPSCA
Netlock
Quovadis
StartCom
Swisscom
SwissSign
Thawte
Trustis
Usertrust
Valicert
Verizon Business
Verisign
Visa
Wells Fargo

For older browsers you might use this much smaller list updated in 2007: http://www.math.ucla.edu/~jimc/documents/certauth.html

Google checkout has a much longer list: http://support.google.com/checkout/sell/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=57856

Top
© 2010-2014 Saigonist.

About the author

Asian-American expat living in Vietnam over 3 years. I am involved in tech startups and do Drupal consulting. I choose to live in Saigon and Vietnam and I want to see the city and its people reach their true potential.

Where is Saigon?

It's not wrong to wonder where in the world Saigon is.

Saigon is the name of the city now officially known as Ho Chi Minh City. But most people who call Saigon home call their home Saigon and it's mostly tourists who I hear refer to it as Ho Chi Minh City (or Ho Chi Minh Ville for the French).

After the Vietnam/American War ended in 1975, many place names ceased to exist such as Saigon, South Vietnam, and plenty of street names.

Tu Do is now Dong Khoi, Thong Nhat is Le Duan. And Tan Son Nhut Airport is now Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Rue Paul Blanchy has been Hai Ba Trung since the 1950s.

Those who haven't seen Vietnam for decades will be confused not just by the geographical changes but the incredible amount of development and modernization that has since taken place.

Latest Technical Posts

I also post a lot of technical material unrelated to Vietnam that doesn't hit the home page. Starting from November 2015 I am only posting technical articles on my new sub-blog: TECH.saigonist.com

  • Definition of Startup: What isn't a startup? : What is a startup? We're in the middle of a tech boom and it's become fashionable to either work for a startup or to be a startup. But what is a startup? How do you know that company offering you a...
  • My Startup Experiences : I've been involved in start ups for over a decade now. During that time I've worked for companies in varying stage of development. Not all of them were startups. But how can you tell if it is or not...
  • Code Retreat 2012 - Ho Chi Minh City : $(document).ready(function(){ $('.geshifilter').hover(function(){console.log(this);console.log($(this));$(this).css('position', 'relative').css('width', '800px').css('z-index', 1000);}, function...
  • Internet Censorship in Southeast Asian Countries (Myanmar, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam) : Vietnam has been labeled an "enemy of the Internet" by Reporters Without Borders. There have been a lot of cases of bloggers being targeted, harrassed, and arrested. But RSF (Reporters Sans...
  • Using 3G Internet in Cambodia : On my most recent trip to Cambodia I bought a Cambodian SIM card so that I could both make calls and use the Internet on my smartphone. At the Moc Bai/Bavet border are a number of Khmer people (who...
  • MailChimp vs poMMo, Mailman, Phplist - Self-Host or Outsource Your Mailing List? : Use your own mail server or outsource it? Let's say you have a rather large mailing list of a few thousand email addresses and, well, sending it out with GMail is no longer cutting it. What are your...
  • Internet in Vietnam - Good, Bad, Ugly : If you ask Vietnamese officials, you'll hear such hyperbole as "the Internet service development in Vietnam is in no way inferior to developed countries in the world" (Mai Liem Truc, former Deputy...
  • poMMo proBLEMs : poMMo is free open source mailing list management software. It's written in PHP and pretty basic but does give a decent management interface. However, it's no longer maintained. There is a GitHub...
  • Preventing Repetitive Stress Injuries for Programmers and Writers : My situation I'm a career programmer who has suffered from pain in my hands and arms for several years. Like carpal tunnel syndrome, this pain is from damage to tissue (including tendons) caused by...
  • Calling the US for free from foreign countries : Calling US numbers from the US is pretty trivial and nearly free. But calling from another country means either: - paying for long distance from your telephone company - using a phone card to call...

Recent activity in the expat forum...