Let's Encrypt Intranet

Sun, 03 Sep 2017 14:33:24 +0000

Let’s Encrypt (LE) has been a popular choice to get certs for public websites. Because it’s free and automated. But how to get certs for private websites, which are common in company’s intranet?

Problem

There’s a web app in your company’s intranet.
The web app has a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), e.g. foo.example.com, not an internal one like foo.internal.
It only resolves to a private IP behind VPN. Therefore, it’s inaccessible without a valid VPN.
You want to add an extra layer of security by enabling HTTPS.

How to get a cert for it? And how to automate it and get it for free?

Let's Encrypt Nginx

Sun, 31 Jan 2016 08:41:00 +0000

Update [2017 Aug 5]: Certbot has been developed by EFF and others as an easy-to-use automatic client that fetches and deploys SSL/TLS certificates. I would recommend using it.

Why

Since you are here, you probably know what Let’s Encrypt is and why it exists. If not, below is an executive summary (copied from here):

Anyone who has gone through the trouble of setting up a secure website knows what a hassle getting and maintaining a certificate can be. Let’s Encrypt automates away the pain and lets site operators turn on and manage HTTPS with simple commands.

Let's Encrypt on Random Musings

Let's Encrypt Intranet

Problem

Let's Encrypt Nginx

Why