Enabling SSL for Apache

The mod_ssl module allows you to enable SSL support on your Apache web server and is needed to enable Apache for SSL requests (HTTPS).

For more information on the mod_ssl module, see the mod_ssl user manual at http://www.modssl.org/docs/2.8.

Zend Server includes support for the ssl_module, but this needs to be loaded in order to activate it. To load the mod_ssl module, you need to provide an SSL certificate and key file (keypair). These files can be acquired from an official SSL certificate provider or be self-signed.

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To enable SSL for Apache on Windows:

  1. Open your httpd.conf file. By default, this is located in:
    <install_path>\apache24\conf\httpd.conf
  2. Un-comment the following line by removing the "#". 
    Include conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf

    This calls the SSL configuration file.

  3. In the httpd-ssl.conf file, locate the 'SSLCertificateFile' and 'SSLCertificateKeyFile' directives and define the file paths to the key and certificate files.
  4. Define the runtime directory by replacing @exp_runtimedir@ with a valid location that does not include parentheses.
  5. Locate SSLMutex and replace with SSLMutex default.editions
  6. Define the logs directory by replacing @exp_logfiledir@ with C:\Program Files (x86)\Zend\Apache24/logs/.
  7. Restart the Apache server for the changes to take effect.

The mod_ssl module is loaded.

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To learn how to enable SSL on Linux, we recommend referring to the relevant distribution documentation:

Refer to IBM's Digital Certificate Manager documentation for information on how to create an SSL certificate in IBM Apache at: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v7r1m0/topic/rzahu/rzahu.pdf.

Once the SSL certificate is created, add the following lines to the Zend Server Apache configuration file (located in '/www/zendphp74/conf/httpd/conf'):

## SSL start
Listen *:443
SSLEngine On
SSLAppName <SSL Application created by the SSL wizard>
SetEnv HTTPS_PORT 443
## SSL end

Your next step is to create a new SSL-enabled virtual host. For information on working with virtual hosts in Zend Server, see Working with Virtual Hosts.

When adding a new SSL virtual host, make sure the port you are using is not already assigned.