Enabling SSL on Centos Apache/HTTPD

1.  Enable Module
yum install mod_ssl openssl
Yum will either tell you they are installed or will install them for you.
2. Generate a self-signed certificate or procure a certificate
# Copy the files to the correct locations
cp ca.crt /etc/pki/tls/certs
cp ca.key /etc/pki/tls/private/ca.key
cp ca.csr /etc/pki/tls/private/ca.csr
WARNING: Make sure that you copy the files and do not move them if you use SELinux. Apache will complain about missing certificate files otherwise, as it cannot read them because the certificate files do not have the right SELinux context.
If you have moved the files and not copied them, you can use the following command to correct the SELinux contexts on those files, as the correct context definitions for /etc/pki/* come with the bundled SELinux policy.
restorecon -RvF /etc/pki
Then we need to update the Apache SSL configuration file
vi +/SSLCertificateFile /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf
Change the paths to match where the Key file is stored. If you’ve used the method above it will be
SSLCertificateFile /etc/pki/tls/certs/ca.crt
Then set the correct path for the Certificate Key File a few lines below. If you’ve followed the instructions above it is:
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/pki/tls/private/ca.key
Quit and save the file and then restart Apache
/etc/init.d/httpd restart
All being well you should now be able to connect over https to your server.
3. Setting up the virtual hosts
Just as you set VirtualHosts for http on port 80 so you do for https on port 443. A typical VirtualHost for a site on port 80 looks like this
<VirtualHost *:80>
<Directory /var/www/html>
AllowOverride All
</Directory>
DocumentRoot /var/www/html
ServerName yoursite.com
</VirtualHost>
To add a sister site on port 443 you need to add the following at the top of your file
NameVirtualHost *:443
and then a VirtualHost record something like this:
<VirtualHost *:443>
SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /etc/pki/tls/certs/ca.crt
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/pki/tls/private/ca.key
<Directory /var/www/html>
AllowOverride All
</Directory>
DocumentRoot /var/www/html
ServerName yoursite.com
</VirtualHost>
Restart Apache again using
/etc/init.d/httpd restart
Enabling SSL on Centos Apache/HTTPD