Terminating HTTPS on EC2 instances running Docker

For Docker containers, you use a configuration file to enable HTTPS.

Add the following snippet to your configuration file, replacing the certificate and private key material as instructed, and save it in your source bundle's .ebextensions directory. The configuration file performs the following tasks:

• The files key creates the following files on the instance:

  /etc/nginx/conf.d/https.conf

  Configures the nginx server. This file is loaded when the nginx service starts.

  /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.crt

  Creates the certificate file on the instance. Replace certificate file contents with the contents of your certificate.

  Note

  YAML relies on consistent indentation. Match the indentation level when replacing content in an example configuration file and ensure that your text editor uses spaces, not tab characters, to indent.

  If you have intermediate certificates, include them in server.crt after your site certificate.

        -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
    certificate file contents
    -----END CERTIFICATE-----
    -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
    first intermediate certificate
    -----END CERTIFICATE-----
    -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
    second intermediate certificate
    -----END CERTIFICATE-----

  /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.key

  Creates the private key file on the instance. Replace private key contents with the contents of the private key used to create the certificate request or self-signed certificate.

Example .ebextensions/https-instance.config

files:
  /etc/nginx/conf.d/https.conf:
    mode: "000644"
    owner: root
    group: root
    content: |
      # HTTPS Server
      
      server {
        listen 443;
        server_name localhost;
        
        ssl on;
        ssl_certificate /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.crt;
        ssl_certificate_key /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.key;
        
        ssl_session_timeout 5m;
        
        ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2;
        ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
        
        location / {
          proxy_pass http://docker;
          proxy_http_version 1.1;
          
          proxy_set_header Connection "";
          proxy_set_header Host $host;
          proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
          proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
          proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto https;
        }
      }
      
  /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.crt:
    mode: "000400"
    owner: root
    group: root
    content: |
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      certificate file contents
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      
  /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.key:
    mode: "000400"
    owner: root
    group: root
    content: |
      -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
      private key contents # See note below.
      -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

Note

Avoid committing a configuration file that contains your private key to source control. After you have tested the configuration and confirmed that it works, store your private key in Amazon S3 and modify the configuration to download it during deployment. For instructions, see Storing private keys securely in Amazon S3.

In a single instance environment, you must also modify the instance's security group to allow traffic on port 443. The following configuration file retrieves the security group's ID using an AWS CloudFormation function and adds a rule to it.

Example .ebextensions/https-instance-single.config

Resources:
  sslSecurityGroupIngress: 
    Type: AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress
    Properties:
      GroupId: {"Fn::GetAtt" : ["AWSEBSecurityGroup", "GroupId"]}
      IpProtocol: tcp
      ToPort: 443
      FromPort: 443
      CidrIp: 0.0.0.0/0

For a load-balanced environment, you configure the load balancer to either pass secure traffic through untouched, or decrypt and re-encrypt for end-to-end encryption.