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# 6. Native SSL Support

CouchDB 1.3 supports SSL natively. All your secure connection needs can now be served without needing to setup and maintain a separate proxy server that handles SSL.

SSL setup can be tricky, but the configuration in CouchDB was designed to be as easy as possible. All you need is two files; a certificate and a private key. If you bought an official SSL certificate from a certificate authority, both should be in your possession already.

If you just want to try this out and don’t want to pay anything upfront, you can create a self-signed certificate. Everything will work the same, but clients will get a warning about an insecure certificate.

You will need the OpenSSL command line tool installed. It probably already is.

    shell> mkdir cert && cd cert
    shell> openssl genrsa > privkey.pem
    shell> openssl req -new -x509 -key privkey.pem -out mycert.pem -days 1095
    shell> ls
    mycert.pem privkey.pem

Now, you need to edit CouchDB’s configuration, either by editing your `local.ini` file or using the `/_config` API calls or the configuration screen in Futon. Here is what you need to do in `local.ini`, you can infer what needs doing in the other places.

Be sure to make these edits. Under `[daemons]` you should see:

    ; enable SSL support by uncommenting the following line and supply the PEM's below.
    ; the default ssl port CouchDB listens on is 6984
    ;httpsd = {couch_httpd, start_link, [https]}

Here uncomment the last line:

    httpsd = {couch_httpd, start_link, [https]}

Next, under `[ssl]` you will see:

    ;cert_file = /full/path/to/server_cert.pem
    ;key_file = /full/path/to/server_key.pem

Uncomment and adjust the paths so it matches your system’s paths:

    cert_file = /home/jan/cert/mycert.pem
    key_file = /home/jan/cert/privkey.pem

For more information please read http://www.openssl.org/docs/HOWTO/certificates.txt.

Now start (or restart) CouchDB. You should be able to connect to it using HTTPS on port 6984:

    shell> curl https://127.0.0.1:6984/
    curl: (60) SSL certificate problem, verify that the CA cert is OK. Details:
    error:14090086:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_SERVER_CERTIFICATE:certificate verify failed
    More details here: http://curl.haxx.se/docs/sslcerts.html

    curl performs SSL certificate verification by default, using a "bundle"
    of Certificate Authority (CA) public keys (CA certs). If the default
    bundle file isn't adequate, you can specify an alternate file
    using the --cacert option.
    If this HTTPS server uses a certificate signed by a CA represented in
    the bundle, the certificate verification probably failed due to a
    problem with the certificate (it might be expired, or the name might
    not match the domain name in the URL).
    If you'd like to turn off curl's verification of the certificate, use
    the -k (or --insecure) option.

Oh no what happened?! — Remember, clients will notify their users that your certificate is self signed. `curl` is the client in this case and it notifies you. Luckily you trust yourself (don’t you?) and you can specify the `-k` option as the message reads:

    shell> curl -k https://127.0.0.1:6984/
    {"couchdb":"Welcome","version":"|version|"}

All done.

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