I'm currently running a low-end AWS EC2 instance that only supports HTTP, and I've been struggling to configure HTTPS. Despite spending hours searching the web for guidance and trying different solutions, I find many of the instructions outdated or not suited for my version of the AWS interface. I'm seeking a straightforward way to secure my site with HTTPS. Any tips or step-by-step advice would be greatly appreciated!
5 Answers
One of the easiest ways to add HTTPS to your EC2 is by using Cloudflare. It's free, fast, and optimized for what you need. Another good option is to set up an Application Load Balancer (ALB) with AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) to get a free, auto-renewing certificate. Have you looked into configuring NGINX on your EC2 to handle HTTPS? That’s also a solid workaround!
CloudFront is also a great choice if you're looking to serve dynamic content. Just make sure to check their VPC origins support!
What software are you running? Setting up HTTPS can be done through various means like NGINX or directly through your application if it supports TLS. For example, you could use Let's Encrypt to obtain a free SSL certificate and configure it on your web server. Make sure to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS to keep everything secure!
Make sure to replace the default cert with the one you get from Let's Encrypt or a paid provider if that suits your needs better.
Yeah, I just set up HTTPS, but I'm still seeing a warning due to the default cert. Any tips to get a proper certificate?
To set up HTTPS, you'll need a TLS certificate. Using ALB with ACM is a reliable method. After getting your certificate, set up the ALB and configure the listener rules to forward traffic to your EC2 instance. This way, your users connect securely to the ALB, and you can keep your instance setup simple!
If Apache is your go-to web server, check out the Amazon Linux 2 tutorial for setting up SSL—it’s really straightforward. You should update your security group to allow requests on port 443. If you're using Let's Encrypt, remember to configure Certbot properly for automatic certificate renewal!
You can put an Application Load Balancer in front of your instance. It works well to handle HTTPS traffic. Alternatively, configuring NGINX as a reverse proxy can also get you HTTPS running smoothly.
If you don't need an ALB, just use CloudFront; it's perfect with VPC origins now.
Totally agree with this! Cloudflare is definitely the way to go for quick setup.