This guide will show you how to enable the latest Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3 protocol with it’s predecessor Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) with NGINX and OpenSSL for better website security on an Ubuntu 16.04 server

I have a number of guides on moving hasting away form CPanel, Setting up VM’s on AWS, Vultr or Digital Ocean along with installing and managing WordPress from the command line. Making sure your server is up to date and running the latest SSL software is important. I have updated Open SSL before and blogged about this here.  Do back up your server before changing settings and if you use  Cloudflare (if you don’t do it now) enable Development Mode (and disable caching until changes are made).

For the best performing VM host (UpCloud) read my guide on the awesome UpCloud VM hosts (get $25 free credit by signing up here).

TLS 1.3 is the latest SSL security protocol that can be used between clients and servers to encrypt connections on the web.

TLS 1.3 uptake is only 60% according to https://caniuse.com/#search=TLS%201.3

Read why TLS 1.3 is important and news on TLS 1.3 can be found here: https://www.openssl.org/blog/blog/2018/02/08/tlsv1.3/

The Good and Bad

Done be like this commercial site with very poor security (tested with SSL labs and asafaweb)

Here is what the top 1 million sites do

Here it is!! Alexa Top 1 Million Analysis – February 2018 https://t.co/TjBHNX7zTi

— Scott Helme (@Scott_Helme) February 26, 2018

Installing Open SSL on Ubuntu

Connect to your Ubuntu 16.04 server via SSH (I connected to my Vultr server)

Check what version of OpenSSL you have? My OpenSSL is out of date.

# openssl version
OpenSSL 1.1.0g  2 Nov 2017

Tip: What Ciphers does your Open SSL Support?

openssl ciphers -s -v
ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH     Au=ECDSA Enc=AESGCM(256) Mac=AEAD
ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH     Au=RSA  Enc=AESGCM(256) Mac=AEAD
DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 TLSv1.2 Kx=DH       Au=RSA  Enc=AESGCM(256) Mac=AEAD
ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH     Au=ECDSA Enc=CHACHA20/POLY1305(256) Mac=AEAD
ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH     Au=RSA  Enc=CHACHA20/POLY1305(256) Mac=AEAD
DHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305 TLSv1.2 Kx=DH       Au=RSA  Enc=CHACHA20/POLY1305(256) Mac=AEAD
ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH     Au=ECDSA Enc=AESGCM(128) Mac=AEAD
ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH     Au=RSA  Enc=AESGCM(128) Mac=AEAD
DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=DH       Au=RSA  Enc=AESGCM(128) Mac=AEAD
ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH     Au=ECDSA Enc=AES(256)  Mac=SHA384
ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH     Au=RSA  Enc=AES(256)  Mac=SHA384
DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256   TLSv1.2 Kx=DH       Au=RSA  Enc=AES(256)  Mac=SHA256
ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH     Au=ECDSA Enc=AES(128)  Mac=SHA256
ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH     Au=RSA  Enc=AES(128)  Mac=SHA256
DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256   TLSv1.2 Kx=DH       Au=RSA  Enc=AES(128)  Mac=SHA256
ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA  TLSv1 Kx=ECDH     Au=ECDSA Enc=AES(256)  Mac=SHA1
ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA    TLSv1 Kx=ECDH     Au=RSA  Enc=AES(256)  Mac=SHA1
DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA      SSLv3 Kx=DH       Au=RSA  Enc=AES(256)  Mac=SHA1
ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA  TLSv1 Kx=ECDH     Au=ECDSA Enc=AES(128)  Mac=SHA1
ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA    TLSv1 Kx=ECDH     Au=RSA  Enc=AES(128)  Mac=SHA1
DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA      SSLv3 Kx=DH       Au=RSA  Enc=AES(128)  Mac=SHA1
AES256-GCM-SHA384       TLSv1.2 Kx=RSA      Au=RSA  Enc=AESGCM(256) Mac=AEAD
AES128-GCM-SHA256       TLSv1.2 Kx=RSA      Au=RSA  Enc=AESGCM(128) Mac=AEAD
AES256-SHA256           TLSv1.2 Kx=RSA      Au=RSA  Enc=AES(256)  Mac=SHA256
AES128-SHA256           TLSv1.2 Kx=RSA      Au=RSA  Enc=AES(128)  Mac=SHA256
AES256-SHA              SSLv3 Kx=RSA      Au=RSA  Enc=AES(256)  Mac=SHA1
AES128-SHA              SSLv3 Kx=RSA      Au=RSA  Enc=AES(128)  Mac=SHA1

Time to update Open SSL

OpenSSL 1.1.1 beta is available and supports TLS 1.3  but it is n BETA form.  OpenSSL code is available here.

I did the following to download and build the latest version of OpenSSL.

mkdir /openssltemp
cd /openssltemp
sudo git clone git://git.openssl.org/openssl.git
cd openssl/
./config --prefix=/usr/local/ssl --openssldir=/usr/local/ssl -Wl,-rpath,/usr/local/ssl/lib
make
sudo make install

I tried to check the open SSL version but had an error?

openssl version 
openssl: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libssl.so.1.1: version `OPENSSL_1_1_1' not found (required by openssl)
openssl: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcrypto.so.1.1: version `OPENSSL_1_1_1' not found (required by openssl)

A quick GitHub ticket revealed I needed to set a path variable.

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib
echo "export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/bin/openssl" >> ~/.bashrc

Open SSL now reports it’s version.

openssl version
OpenSSL 1.1.1-pre3 (beta) 20 Mar 2018

What version NGINX do you have (1.13 supports TLS 1.3) read here

# nginx -v
nginx version: nginx/1.13.9

Backup your NGINX

Do backup your server files and take a snapshot if need be.  I am not responsible;e for a broken server,

sudo cp -R /etc/nginx/ /nginx-backup-26thMar-2018

Edit NGINX Configuration

Update NGINX configuration: /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

ssl_ciphers ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256;
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_ecdh_curve secp384r1;

tip: Review other NGINX hardening settings here.  Also remove TLSv1.0

I tested my NGINX config loaded them and restarted NGINX

nginx -t
nginx -s reload
/etc/init.d/nginx restart

Check the status of NGINX

# /etc/init.d/nginx status

[ ok ] Restarting nginx (via systemctl): nginx.service.
● nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) 
     Docs: man:nginx(8)
  Process: 15154 ExecStop=/sbin/start-stop-daemon --quiet --stop --retry QUIT/5 --pidfile /run/nginx.pid (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
  Process: 15162 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master_process on; (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
  Process: 15159 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/nginx -t -q -g daemon on; master_process on; (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
 Main PID: 15166 (nginx)
    Tasks: 4
   Memory: 2.3M
      CPU: 27ms
   CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
           ├─15166 nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master_process on;
           ├─15170 nginx: worker process
           ├─15171 nginx: cache manager process
           └─15172 nginx: cache loader process

If you have configured Cloudflare then log in and enable TLS support.

Enable TLS 1.3 in Chrome by visiting chrome://flags/#tls13-variant This should be automatic in later versions of Chrome and other browsers.

Verify TLS

I used the developer tools in Chrome to confirm the page was verified in TLS 1.3.

Updated to 1.1.1-pre6-dev

mkdir /temp
cd /temp
sudo git clone https://github.com/openssl/openssl.git
cd openssl/
./config --prefix=/usr/local --openssldir=/usr/local -Wl,-rpath,/usr/local
make
sudo make install
openssl
OpenSSL> version
OpenSSL 1.1.1-pre6-dev  xx XXX xxxx
OpenSSL> exit

Don’t forget to test your SSL strength with https://dev.ssllabs.com/ssltest/

I hope this guide helps someone.

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Revision History

v1.4 fixed typo

v1.3 added bad ssl cert.

v1.2 ssl test v1.1 updated to 1.1.1-pre6-dev

v1.0 Initial post