cant get the SSL to work

[kustomjs]

Hi Guys
I can not get ssl to work on my ubuntu server 8.04 and I am trying to get startssl to work and this is what error I get under firefox.

Secure Connection Failed
An error occurred during a connection to cbcperformance.net.
SSL received a record that exceeded the maximum permissible length.
(Error code: ssl_error_rx_record_too_long)

[windependence]

Can you give us a bit more information? What site are you trying to access? Is it your own site? From inside the network? Are you running Apache and if so, what is in your configuration file?

-Tim

[kustomjs]

its the sites on my server and cant access from the outside or inside of the network and yes I am using apache

#
# Based upon the NCSA server configuration files originally by Rob McCool.
#
# This is the main Apache server configuration file. It contains the
# configuration directives that give the server its instructions.
# See http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/ for detailed information about
# the directives.
#
# Do NOT simply read the instructions in here without understanding
# what they do. They're here only as hints or reminders. If you are unsure
# consult the online docs. You have been warned.
#
# The configuration directives are grouped into three basic sections:
# 1. Directives that control the operation of the Apache server process as a
# whole (the 'global environment').
# 2. Directives that define the parameters of the 'main' or 'default' server,
# which responds to requests that aren't handled by a virtual host.
# These directives also provide default values for the settings
# of all virtual hosts.
# 3. Settings for virtual hosts, which allow Web requests to be sent to
# different IP addresses or hostnames and have them handled by the
# same Apache server process.
#
# Configuration and logfile names: If the filenames you specify for many
# of the server's control files begin with "/" (or "drive:/" for Win32), the
# server will use that explicit path. If the filenames do *not* begin
# with "/", the value of ServerRoot is prepended -- so "/var/log/apache2/foo.log"
# with ServerRoot set to "" will be interpreted by the
# server as "//var/log/apache2/foo.log".
#

### Section 1: Global Environment
#
# The directives in this section affect the overall operation of Apache,
# such as the number of concurrent requests it can handle or where it
# can find its configuration files.
#

#
# ServerRoot: The top of the directory tree under which the server's
# configuration, error, and log files are kept.
#
# NOTE! If you intend to place this on an NFS (or otherwise network)
# mounted filesystem then please read the LockFile documentation (available
# at <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.1/mod/mpm_common.html#lockfile>);
# you will save yourself a lot of trouble.
#
# Do NOT add a slash at the end of the directory path.
#
ServerRoot "/etc/apache2"
ServerName "192.168.1.5"

#
# The accept serialization lock file MUST BE STORED ON A LOCAL DISK.
#
#<IfModule !mpm_winnt.c>
#<IfModule !mpm_netware.c>
LockFile /var/lock/apache2/accept.lock
#</IfModule>
#</IfModule>

#
# PidFile: The file in which the server should record its process
# identification number when it starts.
# This needs to be set in /etc/apache2/envvars
#
PidFile ${APACHE_PID_FILE}

#
# Timeout: The number of seconds before receives and sends time out.
#
Timeout 300

#
# KeepAlive: Whether or not to allow persistent connections (more than
# one request per connection). Set to "Off" to deactivate.
#
KeepAlive On

#
# MaxKeepAliveRequests: The maximum number of requests to allow
# during a persistent connection. Set to 0 to allow an unlimited amount.
# We recommend you leave this number high, for maximum performance.
#
MaxKeepAliveRequests 100

#
# KeepAliveTimeout: Number of seconds to wait for the next request from the
# same client on the same connection.
#
KeepAliveTimeout 15

##
## Server-Pool Size Regulation (MPM specific)
##

# prefork MPM
# StartServers: number of server processes to start
# MinSpareServers: minimum number of server processes which are kept spare
# MaxSpareServers: maximum number of server processes which are kept spare
# MaxClients: maximum number of server processes allowed to start
# MaxRequestsPerChild: maximum number of requests a server process serves
<IfModule mpm_prefork_module>
StartServers 5
MinSpareServers 5
MaxSpareServers 10
MaxClients 150
MaxRequestsPerChild 0
</IfModule>

# worker MPM
# StartServers: initial number of server processes to start
# MaxClients: maximum number of simultaneous client connections
# MinSpareThreads: minimum number of worker threads which are kept spare
# MaxSpareThreads: maximum number of worker threads which are kept spare
# ThreadsPerChild: constant number of worker threads in each server process
# MaxRequestsPerChild: maximum number of requests a server process serves
<IfModule mpm_worker_module>
StartServers 2
MaxClients 150
MinSpareThreads 25
MaxSpareThreads 75
ThreadsPerChild 25
MaxRequestsPerChild 0
</IfModule>

# These need to be set in /etc/apache2/envvars
User ${APACHE_RUN_USER}
Group ${APACHE_RUN_GROUP}

#
# AccessFileName: The name of the file to look for in each directory
# for additional configuration directives. See also the AllowOverride
# directive.
#

AccessFileName .htaccess

#
# The following lines prevent .htaccess and .htpasswd files from being
# viewed by Web clients.
#
<Files ~ "^\.ht">
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
</Files>

#
# DefaultType is the default MIME type the server will use for a document
# if it cannot otherwise determine one, such as from filename extensions.
# If your server contains mostly text or HTML documents, "text/plain" is
# a good value. If most of your content is binary, such as applications
# or images, you may want to use "application/octet-stream" instead to
# keep browsers from trying to display binary files as though they are
# text.
#
DefaultType text/plain


#
# HostnameLookups: Log the names of clients or just their IP addresses
# e.g., www.apache.org (on) or 204.62.129.132 (off).
# The default is off because it'd be overall better for the net if people
# had to knowingly turn this feature on, since enabling it means that
# each client request will result in AT LEAST one lookup request to the
# nameserver.
#
HostnameLookups Off

# ErrorLog: The location of the error log file.
# If you do not specify an ErrorLog directive within a <VirtualHost>
# container, error messages relating to that virtual host will be
# logged here. If you *do* define an error logfile for a <VirtualHost>
# container, that host's errors will be logged there and not here.
#
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/error.log

#
# LogLevel: Control the number of messages logged to the error_log.
# Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit,
# alert, emerg.
#
LogLevel warn

# Include module configuration:
Include /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/*.load
Include /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/*.conf

# Include all the user configurations:
Include /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

# Include ports listing
Include /etc/apache2/ports.conf

#
# The following directives define some format nicknames for use with
# a CustomLog directive (see below).
# If you are behind a reverse proxy, you might want to change %h into %{X-Forwarded-For}i
#
LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %b \"%{Referer}i\" \"%{User-Agent}i\"" combined
LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %b" common
LogFormat "%{Referer}i -> %U" referer
LogFormat "%{User-agent}i" agent

#
# ServerTokens
# This directive configures what you return as the Server HTTP response
# Header. The default is 'Full' which sends information about the OS-Type
# and compiled in modules.
# Set to one of: Full | OS | Minor | Minimal | Major | Prod
# where Full conveys the most information, and Prod the least.
#
ServerTokens Full

#
# Optionally add a line containing the server version and virtual host
# name to server-generated pages (internal error documents, FTP directory
# listings, mod_status and mod_info output etc., but not CGI generated
# documents or custom error documents).
# Set to "EMail" to also include a mailto: link to the ServerAdmin.
# Set to one of: On | Off | EMail
#
ServerSignature On



#
# Customizable error responses come in three flavors:
# 1) plain text 2) local redirects 3) external redirects
#
# Some examples:
#ErrorDocument 500 "The server made a boo boo."
#ErrorDocument 404 /missing.html
#ErrorDocument 404 "/cgi-bin/missing_handler.pl"
#ErrorDocument 402 http://www.example.com/subscription_info.html
#

#
# Putting this all together, we can internationalize error responses.
#
# We use Alias to redirect any /error/HTTP_<error>.html.var response to
# our collection of by-error message multi-language collections. We use
# includes to substitute the appropriate text.
#
# You can modify the messages' appearance without changing any of the
# default HTTP_<error>.html.var files by adding the line:
#
# Alias /error/include/ "/your/include/path/"
#
# which allows you to create your own set of files by starting with the
# /usr/share/apache2/error/include/ files and copying them to /your/include/path/,
# even on a per-VirtualHost basis. The default include files will display
# your Apache version number and your ServerAdmin email address regardless
# of the setting of ServerSignature.
#
# The internationalized error documents require mod_alias, mod_include
# and mod_negotiation. To activate them, uncomment the following 30 lines.

# Alias /error/ "/usr/share/apache2/error/"
#
# <Directory "/usr/share/apache2/error">
# AllowOverride None
# Options IncludesNoExec
# AddOutputFilter Includes html
# AddHandler type-map var
# Order allow,deny
# Allow from all
# LanguagePriority en cs de es fr it nl sv pt-br ro
# ForceLanguagePriority Prefer Fallback
# </Directory>
#
# ErrorDocument 400 /error/HTTP_BAD_REQUEST.html.var
# ErrorDocument 401 /error/HTTP_UNAUTHORIZED.html.var
# ErrorDocument 403 /error/HTTP_FORBIDDEN.html.var
# ErrorDocument 404 /error/HTTP_NOT_FOUND.html.var
# ErrorDocument 405 /error/HTTP_METHOD_NOT_ALLOWED.html.var
# ErrorDocument 408 /error/HTTP_REQUEST_TIME_OUT.html.var
# ErrorDocument 410 /error/HTTP_GONE.html.var
# ErrorDocument 411 /error/HTTP_LENGTH_REQUIRED.html.var
# ErrorDocument 412 /error/HTTP_PRECONDITION_FAILED.html.var
# ErrorDocument 413 /error/HTTP_REQUEST_ENTITY_TOO_LARGE.html.var
# ErrorDocument 414 /error/HTTP_REQUEST_URI_TOO_LARGE.html.var
# ErrorDocument 415 /error/HTTP_UNSUPPORTED_MEDIA_TYPE.html.var
# ErrorDocument 500 /error/HTTP_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR.html.var
# ErrorDocument 501 /error/HTTP_NOT_IMPLEMENTED.html.var
# ErrorDocument 502 /error/HTTP_BAD_GATEWAY.html.var
# ErrorDocument 503 /error/HTTP_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE.html.var
# ErrorDocument 506 /error/HTTP_VARIANT_ALSO_VARIES.html.var



# Include of directories ignores editors' and dpkg's backup files,
# see README.Debian for details.

# Include generic snippets of statements
Include /etc/apache2/conf.d/

# Include the virtual host configurations:
Include /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/[^.#]*

[windependence]

Your server name should probably not be the IP address.

Do a:

sudo hostname

And that is what the server name should most likely be.

-Tim

[kustomjs]

its cbcperformance.net but it should be server1 so how can i fix this?

[windependence]

What do you get when you do the hostname command?

-Tim

[kustomjs]

its cbcperformance.net

[windependence]

Can you post the output of

sudo cat /etc/hostname

-Tim

[kustomjs]

this is what i get when I do hostname?

Linux server1 2.6.24-16-server #1 SMP Thu Apr 10 13:58:00 UTC 2008 i686

The programs included with the Ubuntu system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Ubuntu comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by
applicable law.

To access official Ubuntu documentation, please visit:
http://help.ubuntu.com/
Last login: Mon Jul 14 00:24:05 2008 from 192.168.1.8
tim@cbcperformance:~$ sudo cat /etc/hostname
[sudo] password for tim:
server1
tim@cbcperformance:~$
tim@cbcperformance:~$

[windependence]

To set the hostname:

sudo echo server1.cbcperformance.net > /etc/hostname

sudo /bin/hostname -F /etc/hostname

sudo echo xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx cbcperformance.net > /etc/hosts

Replace the xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with the IP address of your server. If you don't add the line to the hosts file, you could get a nasty sudo error on reboot.

-Tim

[kustomjs]

i tried them first 2 commands and I get this:


tim@cbcperformance:~$ sudo echo server1.cbcperformance.net > /etc/hostname
-bash: /etc/hostname: Permission denied
tim@cbcperformance:~$ sudo echo server1.cbcperformance.net
[sudo] password for tim:
server1.cbcperformance.net
tim@cbcperformance:~$ sudo /etc/hostname
sudo: /etc/hostname: command not found
tim@cbcperformance:~$
tim@cbcperformance:~$ sudo /etc/host
sudo: /etc/host: command not found
tim@cbcperformance:~$ sudo /bin/hostname -F /etc/hostname
tim@cbcperformance:~$ sudo echo 192.168.1.5 cbcperformance.net
192.168.1.5 cbcperformance.net
tim@cbcperformance:~$ sudo /etc/hosts
sudo: /etc/hosts: command not found

[tdcdodger]

I made a very simply HOWTO to set up SSL with apache.

I just followed the guide while installing it on my webserver, so I know it works.

Check it out:

Set up SSL on an apache web-server (https) (http://bubble.gritto.net/db/query.php?id=51&ty=HOWTO)

[kustomjs]

well sorry tdcdodger i wasn't able get my ssl to work so

I get this:
xxx@xxxxx1:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload
Syntax error on line 6 of /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/ssl:
SSLCertificateFile: file '/etc/apache2/ssl/apache.pem' does not exist or is empty
...fail!

[windependence]

Also keep in mind you can have only one SSL virtual host if you are using name based virtual hosts.

Why can't I use SSL with name-based/non-IP-based virtual hosts?

The reason is very technical, and a somewhat "chicken and egg" problem. The SSL protocol layer stays below the HTTP protocol layer and encapsulates HTTP. When an SSL connection (HTTPS) is established Apache/mod_ssl has to negotiate the SSL protocol parameters with the client. For this, mod_ssl has to consult the configuration of the virtual server (for instance it has to look for the cipher suite, the server certificate, etc.). But in order to go to the correct virtual server Apache has to know the Host HTTP header field. To do this, the HTTP request header has to be read. This cannot be done before the SSL handshake is finished, but the information is needed in order to complete the SSL handshake phase. Bingo!

Why is it not possible to use Name-Based Virtual Hosting to identify different SSL virtual hosts?

Name-Based Virtual Hosting is a very popular method of identifying different virtual hosts. It allows you to use the same IP address and the same port number for many different sites. When people move on to SSL, it seems natural to assume that the same method can be used to have lots of different SSL virtual hosts on the same server.

It comes as rather a shock to learn that it is impossible.

The reason is that the SSL protocol is a separate layer which encapsulates the HTTP protocol. So the SSL session is a separate transaction, that takes place before the HTTP session has begun. The server receives an SSL request on IP address X and port Y (usually 443). Since the SSL request does not contain any Host: field, the server has no way to decide which SSL virtual host to use. Usually, it will just use the first one it finds, which matches the port and IP address specified.

You can, of course, use Name-Based Virtual Hosting to identify many non-SSL virtual hosts (all on port 80, for example) and then have a single SSL virtual host (on port 443). But if you do this, you must make sure to put the non-SSL port number on the NameVirtualHost directive, e.g.

NameVirtualHost 192.168.1.1:80

Other workaround solutions include:

Using separate IP addresses for different SSL hosts. Using different port numbers for different SSL hosts.

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/ssl/ssl_faq.html

-Tim

[windependence]

well sorry tdcdodger i wasn't able get my ssl to work so

I get this:
xxx@xxxxx1:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload
Syntax error on line 6 of /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/ssl:
SSLCertificateFile: file '/etc/apache2/ssl/apache.pem' does not exist or is empty
...fail!

You probably need to generate your SSL certificate.

Create a Certificate

sudo apt-get install ssl-cert
sudo mkdir /etc/apache2/ssl

Hardcoding cert lifetime based on this patch: http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=293821#22

sudo make-ssl-cert /usr/share/ssl-cert/ssleay.cnf /etc/apache2/ssl/apache.pem

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/forum/server/apache2/SSL

https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/serverguide/C/httpd.html#https-configuration

https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/serverguide/C/certificates-and-security.html


-Tim