Using valid SSL virtual domains with XAMPP - tutorial

[TonyVier]

Using valid SSL virtual domains with XAMPP - tutorial

If you, like me, want to use working (SSL) virtual domains with XAMPP, you need to do the following:

(I am on Windows, but a similar approach will work on other operating systems)

(If you want it the easy way, you can generate a valid certificate at https://ssl.indexnl.com/ , it saves you installling and working with OpenSSL)

First, add the domain to your Windows Hosts file, like:

Code: Select all

127.0.0.1 www.testing.dom

Then, add the domain to your virtual host conf (\xampp\apache\conf\extra\httpd-vhosts.conf):

Code: Select all

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@www.testing.dom
    DocumentRoot "(your drive)\xampp\htdocs\www.testing.dom"
    ServerName testing.dom
    ServerAlias www.testing.dom
    ErrorLog "logs/www.testing.dom-error.log"
    CustomLog "logs/www.testing.dom-access.log" common
</VirtualHost>


Now the tricky part, getting SSL to work with that domain.

Fot this, you need to install OpenSSL for Windows.

Then, you first need to generate a root certificate.

Open OpenSSL command prompt (enter openssl, enter), and type:

Code: Select all

genrsa -out myrootca.key 4096

This will be your private key for the root certificate.

Then type:

Code: Select all

req -new -x509 -days 1826 -key myrootca.key -out myrootca.crt

You will be prompted with various details, just enter what it asks.

This will create your root certificate. (All files will be located in the bin directory)

You have to import this CA certificate. Double click it, click Install Certificate, and choose this location: Trusted Root Certificate Authorities Store

Now you have to generate a certificate and private key for your domain with OpenSSL and you have to sign this certificate with your new root certificate.

For the key type:

Code: Select all

genrsa -out www.testing.dom.key 2048

Now you need to create a CSR (certificate signing request), type:

Code: Select all

req -new -sha256 -key www.testing.dom.key -out www.testing.dom.csr -sha256

(Fill out all the fields, your FQDN must be testing.dom, dont use a password)

Now, create the certificate and sigh it with your root certificate

Code: Select all

x509 -req -days 360 -in www.testing.dom.csr -CA myrootca.crt -CAkey myrootca.key -CAcreateserial -out www.testing.dom.crt -sha256

Thats it, now you have a valid certificate for testing.dom. Copy the certificate and key to your XAMPP installation, in apache\conf, ssl.crt and ssl.key

Then, add the SSL virtualhost to the (your drive)\xampp\apache\conf\extra\httpd-ssl.conf like this: (remove the entires of example.com in that file, they cause an error!)

Code: Select all

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@www.testing.dom
    DocumentRoot "(your drive)\xampp\htdocs\www.testing.dom"
    ServerName testing.dom
    ServerAlias www.testing.dom
   SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile "(your drive)\xampp\apache\conf\ssl.crt\www.testing.dom.crt"
    SSLCertificateKeyFile "(your drive)\xampp\apache\conf\ssl.key\www.testing.dom.key"
    <FilesMatch "\.(cgi|shtml|phtml|php)$">
    SSLOptions +StdEnvVars
    </FilesMatch>
   ErrorLog "logs/www.testing.dom-error.log"
    CustomLog "logs/www.testing.dom-access.log" common
</VirtualHost>

Thats it!