HTTPS Local Development Setup

This guide explains how to use HTTPS for local development with your generated SSL certificates.

Prerequisites

✅ SSL certificates are already generated and located in login/certs/:

• auth.localdev.com-key.pem (private key)
• auth.localdev.com.pem (certificate)

✅ Domain auth.localdev.com is configured in /etc/hosts to point to 127.0.0.1

Available HTTPS Servers

Backend (Login System)

• Development: login/https-dev-server.js (Port 3001)
• Production: login/https-server.js (Port 3001)

Frontend (Main Site)

• HTTPS Server: frontend-https-server.js (Port 3444)

Quick Start

Option 1: Start Both Servers Together

npm run dev:https

This will start both the backend and frontend HTTPS servers simultaneously.

Option 2: Start Servers Individually

Backend Only (Login System)

cd login
npm run dev:https

Frontend Only (Main Site)

npm run serve:https

Access URLs

Backend (Authentication System)

• Main URL: https://auth.localdev.com:3001/
• Admin Panel: https://auth.localdev.com:3001/admin
• Password Reset: https://auth.localdev.com:3001/reset-password
• Config Manager: https://auth.localdev.com:3001/config-manager
• Health Check: https://auth.localdev.com:3001/health

Frontend (Main Site)

• Main URL: https://localhost:3444/
• Health Check: https://localhost:3444/health

Certificate Details

• Domain: auth.localdev.com
• Certificate Type: Self-signed (for local development)
• Key Size: 2048-bit RSA
• Valid For: Local development only

Browser Security Notice

Since these are self-signed certificates, your browser will show a security warning. To proceed:

1. Click “Advanced” or “Show Details”
2. Click “Proceed to auth.localdev.com (unsafe)” or similar
3. The site will work normally after accepting the certificate

Development Workflow

1. Start HTTPS servers: npm run dev:https
2. Access backend: https://auth.localdev.com:3001/
3. Access frontend: https://localhost:3444/
4. Stop servers: Press Ctrl+C in the terminal

Troubleshooting

Certificate Errors

If you get certificate errors:

1. Verify certificates exist: ls -la login/certs/
2. Check file permissions: certificates should be readable
3. Ensure domain is in hosts file: grep auth.localdev.com /etc/hosts

Port Conflicts

If ports are already in use:

1. Check what’s using the ports: lsof -i :3001 or lsof -i :3444
2. Kill the processes or change ports in the server files

CORS Issues

If you encounter CORS errors:

1. Check the allowedOrigins configuration in login/utils/cors-config.js
2. Ensure your frontend is accessing the correct backend URL

Environment Variables

You can customize the HTTPS port by setting:

export HTTPS_PORT=3001  # For backend

Security Notes

• These certificates are for local development only
• Never use self-signed certificates in production
• The private key should remain secure and not be committed to version control
• Certificate files are already in .gitignore

Next Steps

For production deployment:

1. Obtain proper SSL certificates from a trusted CA
2. Configure your production server with the real certificates
3. Update CORS origins to include your production domain
4. Ensure proper security headers are set