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Adding SSL via NGINX

This section will guide you through setting up SSL via NGINX so you can query the SuperTokens Core with a secure connection.

important
  • This guide assumes you have already installed NGINX on your server.
  • For the example given below we will be running the SuperTokens core on domain localhost and port 3567

1. Reverse Proxy the SuperTokens Core with NGINX#

The SuperTokens core does not support SSL so we need to use NGINX as a reverse proxy to setup a secure connection.

We can start by opening the default NGINX site config file in a code editor. This file can be found at :

  • Linux: /etc/nginx/sites-available/default.
  • Mac: /usr/local/etc/nginx/sites-available/default.
  • Windows: C:\nginx\conf\nginx.conf.

In the config you want to scroll down to the server directive.

  • By default it should look like this:

    /etc/nginx/sites-available/default
    server {
      listen       80;
      server_name  localhost;
      ...
    }

  • We can now configure the server directive by adding the location directive with the following values:

    /etc/nginx/sites-available/default
    server {
      listen       80;
      server_name  localhost;
      location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3567;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
      }
    }

The location directive tells NGINX what to do with the incoming request, proxy_pass will point the redirect to localhost:3567

  • You can now test and apply the changes to the NGINX by running the following command:

    nginx -t && service nginx restart

We can use the /hello api of the SuperTokens core to test the connection.

Navigate to http://localhost/hello and check if it gives a valid response from the core.

2. Setting up SSL#

We now need to obtain a digital certificate to enable a secure connection with a users browser.

We are going to be using a self signed certificates since we are developing locally, but, you can also use a certificate autorities like Let's Encrypt to generate valid certificates.

  • Run the following command to generate a self signed certificate using OpenSSL:

    openssl req -x509 -nodes newkey rsa:2048 -keyout /etc/nginx/ssl/server.key -out /etc/nginx/ssl/server.crt

  • You can set the values ssl_certificate and ssl_certificate_key in the NGINX config to specify the locations of the newly generated certificates.

    /etc/nginx/sites-available/default
    server {
      listen       80;
      listen       443 ssl;
      server_name  localhost;
      ssl_certificate  /etc/nginx/ssl/server.crt;
      ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/server.key;
      location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
      }
    }

  • Run the test and resetart commands to test and apply your changes:

    nginx -t && service nginx restart
Which frontend SDK do you use?
supertokens-web-js / mobile
supertokens-auth-react