Terminating HTTPS on EC2 instances running Ruby - AWS Elastic Beanstalk
Configure HTTPS for Ruby with PumaConfigure HTTPS for Ruby with Passenger

Terminating HTTPS on EC2 instances running Ruby

For Ruby container types, the way you enable HTTPS depends on the type of application server used.

Configure HTTPS for Ruby with Puma

For Ruby container types that use Puma as the application server, you use a configuration file to enable HTTPS.

Add the following snippet to your configuration file, replacing the certificate and private key material as instructed, and save it in your source bundle's .ebextensions directory. The configuration file performs the following tasks:

  • The files key creates the following files on the instance:

    /etc/nginx/conf.d/https.conf

    Configures the nginx server. This file is loaded when the nginx service starts.

    /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.crt

    Creates the certificate file on the instance. Replace certificate file contents with the contents of your certificate.

    Note

    YAML relies on consistent indentation. Match the indentation level when replacing content in an example configuration file and ensure that your text editor uses spaces, not tab characters, to indent.

    If you have intermediate certificates, include them in server.crt after your site certificate.

          -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
  certificate file contents
  -----END CERTIFICATE-----
  -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
  first intermediate certificate
  -----END CERTIFICATE-----
  -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
  second intermediate certificate
  -----END CERTIFICATE-----
    /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.key

    Creates the private key file on the instance. Replace private key contents with the contents of the private key used to create the certificate request or self-signed certificate.

  • The container_commands key restarts the nginx server after everything is configured so that the server uses the new https.conf file.

Example .ebextensions/https-instance.config
files:
  /etc/nginx/conf.d/https.conf:
    content: |
      # HTTPS server

      server {
          listen       443;
          server_name  localhost;
          
          ssl                  on;
          ssl_certificate      /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.crt;
          ssl_certificate_key  /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.key;
          
          ssl_session_timeout  5m;
          
          ssl_protocols  TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2;
          ssl_prefer_server_ciphers   on;
          
          location / {
              proxy_pass  http://my_app;
              proxy_set_header        Host            $host;
              proxy_set_header        X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
              proxy_set_header        X-Forwarded-Proto https;
          }

          location /assets {
            alias /var/app/current/public/assets;
            gzip_static on;
            gzip on;
            expires max;
            add_header Cache-Control public;
          }

          location /public {
            alias /var/app/current/public;
            gzip_static on;
            gzip on;
            expires max;
            add_header Cache-Control public;
          }
      }

  /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.crt:
    content: |
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      certificate file contents
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      
  /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.key:
    content: |      
      -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
      private key contents # See note below.
      -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

container_commands:
  01restart_nginx:
    command: "service nginx restart"
Note

Avoid committing a configuration file that contains your private key to source control. After you have tested the configuration and confirmed that it works, store your private key in Amazon S3 and modify the configuration to download it during deployment. For instructions, see Storing private keys securely in Amazon S3.

In a single instance environment, you must also modify the instance's security group to allow traffic on port 443. The following configuration file retrieves the security group's ID using an AWS CloudFormation function and adds a rule to it.

Example .ebextensions/https-instance-single.config
Resources:
  sslSecurityGroupIngress: 
    Type: AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress
    Properties:
      GroupId: {"Fn::GetAtt" : ["AWSEBSecurityGroup", "GroupId"]}
      IpProtocol: tcp
      ToPort: 443
      FromPort: 443
      CidrIp: 0.0.0.0/0

For a load-balanced environment, you configure the load balancer to either pass secure traffic through untouched, or decrypt and re-encrypt for end-to-end encryption.

Configure HTTPS for Ruby with Passenger

For Ruby container types that use Passenger as the application server, you use both a configuration file and a JSON file to enable HTTPS.

To configure HTTPS for Ruby with Passenger

  1. Add the following snippet to your configuration file, replacing the certificate and private key material as instructed, and save it in your source bundle's .ebextensions directory. The configuration file performs the following tasks:

    • The files key creates the following files on the instance:

      /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.crt

      Creates the certificate file on the instance. Replace certificate file contents with the contents of your certificate.

      Note

      YAML relies on consistent indentation. Match the indentation level when replacing content in an example configuration file and ensure that your text editor uses spaces, not tab characters, to indent.

      If you have intermediate certificates, include them in server.crt after your site certificate.

            -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
  certificate file contents
  -----END CERTIFICATE-----
  -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
  first intermediate certificate
  -----END CERTIFICATE-----
  -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
  second intermediate certificate
  -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.key

      Creates the private key file on the instance. Replace private key contents with the contents of the private key used to create the certificate request or self-signed certificate.

    Example .Ebextensions snippet for configuring HTTPS for Ruby with Passenger
    files:
  /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.crt:
    content: |
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      certificate file contents
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      
  /etc/pki/tls/certs/server.key:
    content: |      
      -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
      private key contents # See note below.
      -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
    Note

    Avoid committing a configuration file that contains your private key to source control. After you have tested the configuration and confirmed that it works, store your private key in Amazon S3 and modify the configuration to download it during deployment. For instructions, see Storing private keys securely in Amazon S3.

  2. Create a text file and add the following JSON to the file. Save it in your source bundle's root directory with the name passenger-standalone.json. This JSON file configures Passenger to use HTTPS.

    Important

    This JSON file must not contain a byte order mark (BOM). If it does, the Passenger JSON library will not read the file correctly and the Passenger service will not start.

    Example passenger-standalone.json
    {
  "ssl" : true,
  "ssl_port" : 443,
  "ssl_certificate" : "/etc/pki/tls/certs/server.crt",
  "ssl_certificate_key" : "/etc/pki/tls/certs/server.key"
}

In a single instance environment, you must also modify the instance's security group to allow traffic on port 443. The following configuration file retrieves the security group's ID using an AWS CloudFormation function and adds a rule to it.

Example .ebextensions/https-instance-single.config
Resources:
  sslSecurityGroupIngress: 
    Type: AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress
    Properties:
      GroupId: {"Fn::GetAtt" : ["AWSEBSecurityGroup", "GroupId"]}
      IpProtocol: tcp
      ToPort: 443
      FromPort: 443
      CidrIp: 0.0.0.0/0

For a load-balanced environment, you configure the load balancer to either pass secure traffic through untouched, or decrypt and re-encrypt for end-to-end encryption.