Setting up SSL for your Node(s)

Communicating with Aspera Node(s) over HTTPS

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The Aspera Node API provides an HTTPS interface for encrypted communication between node machines (on Port 9092, by default). For example, if you are running the Faspex Web UI or the Shares Web UI on Machine A, you can encrypt the connection (using SSL) with your transfer server or file-storage node on Machine B. Enterprise Server nodes are pre-configured to use Aspera's default, self-signed certificate (aspera_server_cert.pem), located in the following directory: 

/usr/local/aspera/etc/
/Library/Aspera/etc/ 
/opt/aspera/etc/
To generate a new certificate, follow the instructions below.

ABOUT PEM FILES: The PEM certificate format is commonly issued by Certificate Authorities. PEM certificates have extensions that include .pem, .crt, .cer, and .key, and are Base-64 encoded ASCII files containing "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----" and "-----END CERTIFICATE-----" statements. Server certificates, intermediate certificates, and private keys can all be put into the PEM format.

  1. Create a working directory

    In a Command Prompt window (Start menu > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt), create a new working directory as follows:

    > cd c:\
> mkdir ssl
> cd c:\ssl
  2. Copy openssl.cnf to your working directory

    Enter the following commands in your Command Prompt window:

    OS Version Commands
    32-bit Windows 
    > copy "c:\Program Files\Common Files\Aspera\common\apache\conf\openssl.cnf" "c:\ssl\"
> cd c:\ssl
    64-bit Windows 
    > copy "c:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Aspera\common\apache\conf\openssl.cnf" "c:\ssl\"
> cd c:\ssl
  3. Enter the OpenSSL command to generate your Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

    In this step, you will generate an RSA Private Key and CSR using OpenSSL. In a TerminalCommand Prompt window, enter the following command (where my_key_name.key is the name of the unique key that you are creating and my_csr_name.csr is the name of your CSR):

    $ openssl req -new -nodes -keyout my_key_name.key -out my_csr_name.csr
    > openssl req -config "c:\ssl\openssl.cnf" -new -nodes -keyout my_key_name.key -out my_csr_name.csr

    Note that in the example above, the .key and .csr files will be written to the c:\ssl\ directory.

  4. Enter your X.509 certificate attributes

    After entering the command in the previous step, you will be prompted to input several pieces of information, which are the certificate's X.509 attributes.

    IMPORTANT NOTE: The common name field must be filled in with the fully qualified domain name of the server to be protected by SSL. If you are generating a certificate for an organization outside of the US, please refer to the link http://www.iso.org/iso/english_country_names_and_code_elements for a list of 2-letter, ISO country codes.

    Generating a 1024 bit RSA private key
....................++++++
................++++++
writing new private key to 'my_key_name.key'
-----
You are about to be asked to enter information that will be incorporated
into your certificate request.
What you are about to enter is what is called a Distinguished Name or a DN.
There are quite a few fields but you can leave some blank
For some fields there will be a default value,
If you enter '.', the field will be left blank.
-----
Country Name (2 letter code) [US]:Your_2_letter_ISO_country_code
State or Province Name (full name) [Some-State]:Your_State_Province_or_County
Locality Name (eg, city) []:Your_City
Organization Name (eg, company) [Internet Widgits Pty Ltd]:Your_Company
Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []:Your_Department
Common Name (i.e., your server's hostname) []:secure.yourwebsite.com
Email Address []:johndoe@yourwebsite.com

    You will also be prompted to input "extra" attributes, including an optional challenge password. Please note that manually entering a challenge password when starting the server can be problematic in some situations (e.g., when starting the server from the system boot scripts). You can skip inputting a challenge password by hitting the "enter" button.

    ...
Please enter the following 'extra' attributes
to be sent with your certificate request
A challenge password []:
An optional company name []:

    After finalizing the attributes, the private key and CSR will be saved to your root directory.

    IMPORTANT NOTE: If you make a mistake when running the OpenSSL command, you may discard the generated files and run the command again. After successfully generating your key and Certificate Signing Request, be sure to guard your private key, as it cannot be re-generated.

  5. Send CSR to your signing authority

    You now need to send your unsigned CSR to a Certifying Authority (CA). Once completed, you will have valid, signed certificate.

    IMPORTANT NOTE: Some Certificate Authorities provide a Certificate Signing Request generation tool on their Website. Please check with your CA for additional information.

  6. (Optional) Generate a Self-Signed Certificate.

    At this point, you may need to generate a self-signed certificate because:

    • You don't plan on having your certificate signed by a CA
    • Or you wish to test your new SSL implementation while the CA is signing your certificate

    You may also generate a self-signed certificate through OpenSSL. To generate a temporary certificate (which is good for 365 days), issue the following command:

    openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in my_csr_name.csr -signkey my_key_name.key -out my_cert_name.crt
  7. Create the PEM file.

    After generating a new certificate, you must create a pem file that contains both the private key and the certificate. To do so, copy and paste the entire body of the key and cert files into a single text file and save the file as aspera_server_cert.pem (before overwriting, be sure to back-up the existing pem file as aspera_server_cert.old), in the following directory:

    • (Windows 32-bit) C:\Program Files\Aspera\Enterprise Server\etc
    • (Windows 64-bit) C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Enterprise Server\etc
    • (Windows 32-bit) C:\Program Files\Aspera\Point-to-Point\etc
    • (Windows 64-bit) C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Point-to-Point\\etc
    /opt/aspera/etc/
    /Library/Aspera/etc
    /usr/local/aspera/etc/
  8. Restart the node service.

    You must restart (not reload) the Aspera node service after generating a new certificate. To do so, run the following command(s):

    # /etc/init.d/asperanoded restart 
    # isi_for_array -s -q /etc/rc.d/asperanoded restart
    $ sudo launchctl stop com.aspera.asperanoded
$ sudo launchctl start com.aspera.asperanoded

    Windows 32-bit

    C:\Program Files\Aspera\Enterprise Server\bin> sc stop asperanoded
C:\Program Files\Aspera\Enterprise Server\bin> sc start asperanoded
    C:\Program Files\Aspera\Point-to-Point\bin> sc stop asperanoded
C:\Program Files\Aspera\Point-to-Point\bin> sc start asperanoded

    Windows 64-bit

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Enterprise Server\bin> sc stop asperanoded
C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Enterprise Server\bin> sc start asperanoded
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Point-to-Point\bin> sc stop asperanoded
C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Point-to-Point\bin> sc start asperanoded