Setting up HTTPS
Creating a single HTTPS web site on Windows 2008
Install selfssl.exe from Microsoft site (iis60rkt.exe available in neosys Win3 download folder) only the SSL utility is needed. selfssl.exe is already installed and available on NEOSYS hosted servers.
There might be an alternative way to generate certificates using makecert.exe that doesnt have the bug like selfssl which requires a workaround and extra steps to export and import the certificate to avoid the certificate being deinstalled on the next run of selfssl.
Execute selfssl.exe with the following parameters.
C:\Program Files\IIS Resources\SelfSSL>selfssl.exe /N:CN=NEOSYS-SERVER /K:2048 /V:9999 /S:8 /P:4430 Microsoft (R) SelfSSL Version 1.0 Copyright (C) 2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Do you want to replace the SSL settings for site 1 (Y/N)?y Error opening metabase: 0x80040154 C:\Program Files\IIS Resources\SelfSSL>
- /n:CN=hostname indicates the full domain name of the site and depends on what you want to use (eg. clientname.hosts.neosys.com if the site is hosted on Win3/Win4 or clientname.support.neosys.com (if fixed IP) / clientname.redirectme.net (if dynamic IP) IF the site is hosted on the client server.
- /K:Key size. Use 2048 (not the default of 1024 which is no longer considered highly secure)
- /V:9999 means valid for 9999 days
- /S:8 is the site number in this case (site number is shown in IIS management screen)
- /P:4430 is the non-standard port number NEOSYS uses by convention for SSL/HTTPS instead of the standard 443. 4430 can be replaced with custom port numbers in case the installation is on a NEOSYS server. See Creating a site in IIS on NEOSYS hosted server
Ignore the Error opening metabase: 0x80040154
Next go to the IIS Manager and make sure the certificate was created and stored. Note that creating a certificate does not make it automatically bind to the website.
Client Server: Click on Sites > Default Website and in the right pane select Bindings
WIN3: Click on Sites > Client Folder > Bindings
In the Bindings section - click on Add and select https, All Unassigned IP addresses, port 4430 and select the certificate from the drop down and press click on OK:
Then test the site from explorer to make sure it works.
Creating a single HTTPS web site on Windows 2003
Install selfssl.exe from Microsoft site (iis60rkt.exe available in neosys Win3 download folder) only the ssl utility is needed.
then
C:\Program Files\IIS Resources\SelfSSL>selfssl /v:9999 /s:866651215 /p:4430 /n:CN=hostname Microsoft (R) SelfSSL Version 1.0 Copyright (C) 2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Do you want to replace the SSL settings for site 866651215 (Y/N)?y The self signed certificate was successfully assigned to site 866651215.
/v:9999 means valid for 9999 days /s:866651215 is the site number in this case (site number is shown in IIS management screen) /p:4430 is the non-standard port number neosys uses by convention for ssl/https instead of the standard 443 /n:CN=hostname indicates the full domain name of the site and depends on what you want to use (eg. clientname.hosts.neosys.com if the site is hosted on Win3/Win4 or clientname.support.neosys.com (if fixed IP) / clientname.redirectme.net (if dynamic IP) IF the site is hosted on the client server.
You probably made a mistake in the site number if you get the following message.
Error opening site metabase key: 0x80070003
Creating multiple HTTPS web sites on NEOSYS hosted server
Creating a site in IIS
All clients hosted on NEOSYS servers use the same IP address, but different unique HTTPS port numbers starting from 4431 onwards. Similarly HTTP ports are configured with unique port numbers starting from 8123 onwards. The unique port number should be one greater than the highest port number available on the server under IIS manager -> NEOSYS ->Sites.
Creating a site in IIS in Windows 2008
A port binding for HTTP is already created while configuring IIS.
Follow the procedures as explained in Creating a Site in Win 2008 and add a port binding for HTTPS.
Creating a site in IIS in Windows 2003
The https options are only available after running selfssl (see below).
Testing access to the new HTTPS web site.
Make a subdomain clientname.hosts.neosys.com
Open "https://clientname.hosts.neosys.com:44XX/neosys" in IE where 44XX is the designated port number
If you get certificate error:
- check that the selfsll /n:CN=clientname.hosts.neosys.com matches the domain name used in IE
- install the certificate into the client computer (double click the padlock, view certificates etc)
Closing all internet explorer versions and restarting is necessary for installed certificates to become effective.
Export, Remove and Import Certificates
This step applies to both Windows 2003 and Windows 2008.
The EXPORT/REMOVE/IMPORT stage is necessary where there are multiple https sites on one server since any subsequent SELFCERT seems to destroy all other sites done with SELFCERT that have not been exported/REMOVED/imported.
Exporting and Importing certificates in Windows 2008 is just one part of the step to add certificates to sites and you need to follow the usual instructions to "bind" the certificate to a particular site.
Certificates must be saved in d:\hosts\certificates preferably by name for easy reference otherwise by site number. If this is not done then if certificates need to be regenerated then you have the pain of supporting re-import of certificates by all users.
- Export the certificate to a pfx file from IIS Manager > Click on Server Certificate > Export (to d:\hosts\certificates - password to be set is in a text file in the same folder)
- Remove the certificate from IIS Manager
- Import pfx certificate back to IIS Manager
- Use PASSWORD found in certificates folder
- Make sure you select the "mark certificate as exportable" option
Setting up HTTPS for installations with more than 1 database
In cases where there are multiple databases within the same installation, the website can be made accessible via different URLs, one for each database, like database1.hosts.neosys.com and database2.hosts.neosys.com, though they will finally be pointing to the same website. In order to assign multiple URLs to the same website, simply repeat the steps for Creating a Single website in Windows 2003 or Windows 2008 for each HTTPS URL that is required.
Troubleshooting setup of multiple HTTPS websites
SelfSSL allows only one website to have SSL at a time in Windows 2003. However to avoid any issues in the future the solutions below have been provided for both Windows 2003 and 2008.
Re-installing Certificates
Sometimes due to an unknown issue, site/s stop working and hence there is a need to re-install the site certificate.
Re-installing Certificates from saved PFX files
- Unbind the certificate from the site
- Remove and import the certificate as explained in Export, Remove and Import Certificates
- Rebind the certificate
Re-installing Certificates from selfssl
In case there is no saved PFX file available to import(probably because the export/remove/import certificate step was not done during installation), then a new certificate must be created using selfSSL.
If users have installed certificates in their browsers then they will have to reinstall them again to avoid the usual "certificate not trusted/matching" type problems.
Steps
- Unbind the certificate from the site
- Remove the certificate from IIS Manager
- Create a new certificate as shown in Creating a single HTTPS website in Windows 2008
- Bind the new certificate to the website
- Do the export/remove/import step to have a working PFX file and avoid problems in the future. See Export,Remove and Import
