From lowly HTTP to master HTTPS

Why not just do this at web server level?

You can redirect to HTTPS or HTTP, here's an example: https://bashy.im/blog/nginx-redirect-to-https-with-without-www-subdomain

Hi bashy,

I'm on the verge of solving it - however, do you know if forge uses openssl?

Forge isn't a server, it's a tool to manage the sites on your server. If you want openssl, install it. Otherwise you can check with

openssl version

It's worth getting intimately familiar with SSL certificates if you're running your own server. You can buy a real certificate from ssls.com for a few dollars. Also be sure to use https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/ to run tests against your site to make sure it's not vulnerable to particular security holes.

If you want to be secure, use CloudFlare. They provide FREE wildcard SSL certificates for your domains.

Can do a test on https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest

I used CloudFlare for a while and ditched it for some reason, I cannot recall exactly why at this minute. I believe there was an issue of an HTTP redirect loop that I did not have the time nor patience to figure out - may return to it later.

When I added my SSL via Forge, Digital Ocean droplet, I believe the site redirected to HTTPS by default on its own. As @opb suggested, SSLS.com is a great resource for purchasing certificates. Great deals and their customer support is outstanding, extremely patient with me when I was a complete SSL noob.

@opheliadesign Redirect loop was probably because it wasn't listening for the right request. I had a script once that didn't have the right params for reading if it was HTTPS or not and CloudFlare doesn't pass the same request as a normal visitor so that could be why.

Hi, thanks for the help bashy, however I get a ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED (I think my server isn't listening at port 443). My nginx config:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourstudynotes.com;
    return 301 https://yourstudynotes.com$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name yourstudynotes.com;
    root /home/forge/yourstudynotes.com/public;

    # FORGE SSL (DO NOT REMOVE!)
    ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/yourstudynotes.com/8099/server.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/yourstudynotes.com/8099/server.key;

    ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2;

    index index.html index.htm index.php;

    charset utf-8;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
    location = /robots.txt  { access_log off; log_not_found off; }

    access_log off;
    error_log  /var/log/nginx/yourstudynotes.com-error.log error;

    error_page 404 /index.php;

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+\.php)(/.+)$;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php5-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }

    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }
}

Connection refused means there's no service listening on that port. You can check on the server with

netstat -lpn | grep "443"

Forge opens port 443 by default. Look on the network tab on the server under Active Firewall Rules.

Thanks Bashy, turns out my server's key was installed incorrectly. Works perfectly second time round.