https-secure-server

• Exploring the use of the HTTPS server core node module to create and run a secure server and generating your private key and public certificate and use them to configure the Node HTTPS server.
  • Configure a secure server in Node using the core HTTPS module
  • Generate the private key and public certificate and configure the HTTPS server
  • Redirect traffic from the insecure HTTP server to a secure HTTPS server.

Updating the bin/www File

• Open the www file in the bin directory and update its contents as follows:

#!/usr/bin/env node
/**
 * Module dependencies.
 */

var app = require('../app');
var debug = require('debug')('rest-server:server');
var http = require('http');
var https = require('https');
var fs = require('fs');

/**
 * Get port from environment and store in Express.
 */

var port = normalizePort(process.env.PORT || '3000');

app.set('port', port);
app.set('secPort',port+443);

/**
 * Create HTTP server.
 */

var server = http.createServer(app);

/**
 * Listen on provided port, on all network interfaces.
 */

server.listen(port, function() {
   console.log('Server listening on port ',port);
});
server.on('error', onError);
server.on('listening', onListening);

/**
 * Create HTTPS server.
 */ var options = {
  key: fs.readFileSync(__dirname+'/private.key'),
  cert: fs.readFileSync(__dirname+'/certificate.pem')
};

var secureServer = https.createServer(options,app);

/**
 * Listen on provided port, on all network interfaces.
 */

secureServer.listen(app.get('secPort'), function() {
   console.log('Server listening on port ',app.get('secPort'));
});
secureServer.on('error', onError);
secureServer.on('listening', onListening);

/**
 * Normalize a port into a number, string, or false.
 */

function normalizePort(val) {
  var port = parseInt(val, 10);
  if (isNaN(port)) {
    // named pipe
    return val;
  }
  if (port >= 0) {
    // port number
    return port;
  }
  return false;
}

/**
 * Event listener for HTTP server "error" event.
 */

function onError(error) {
  if (error.syscall !== 'listen') {
    throw error;
  }
  var bind = typeof port === 'string'
    ? 'Pipe ' + port
    : 'Port ' + port;

  // handle specific listen errors with friendly messages
  switch (error.code) {
    case 'EACCES':
      console.error(bind + ' requires elevated privileges');
      process.exit(1);
      break;

    case 'EADDRINUSE':
      console.error(bind + ' is already in use');
      process.exit(1);
      break;

    default:
      throw error;
  }
}

/**
 * Event listener for HTTP server "listening" event.
 */

function onListening() {
  var addr = server.address();
  var bind = typeof addr === 'string'
    ? 'pipe ' + addr
    : 'port ' + addr.port;
  debug('Listening on ' + bind);
}

• Updating app.js
• Open app.js and add the following code to the file:

// Secure traffic only
app.all('*', function(req, res, next){
    console.log('req start: ',req.secure, req.hostname, req.url, app.get('port'
      ));
  if (req.secure) {
    return next();
  };

 res.redirect('https://'+req.hostname+':'+app.get('secPort')+req.url);
});

Generating Private Key and Certificate

• Go to the bin folder and then create the private key and certificate by typing the following at the prompt:

openssl genrsa 1024 > private.key
openssl req -new -key private.key -out cert.csr
openssl x509 -req -in cert.csr -signkey private.key -out certificate.pem

Run the server and test.