In this tutorial you will learn how enable TLSv1.3 on NGINX. What does it mean TLSv 1.3, what does it help and why you need on the webserver as TLS can be activated. For servers with management system VestaCP (CentOS or Ubuntu) is a bit more difficult to activate TLS 1.3 than on a cPanel server, but it's not impossible.
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Why is it better TLS 1.3 than TLS 1.2?
TLS (Transport Layer Security) is a cryptographic protocol which ensures connection security between the computer and a network of which it is a part. TLS it is used in applications such as: Email, messaging, voice and video calls (VoIP), but especially at HTTPS. Ensuring secure communication between the user's computer or smartphone and the web server of the accessed page.
TLS 1.3 offers a higher speed of connecting client – server and a Moreover security by eliminating some algorithms. The differences between TLSv1.2 and TLSv1.3.
About HTTPS, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) I also said in other articles:
- How to install certificate SSL (HTTPS Connection) for a website hosted on an NGINX server without cPanel or VestaCP
- Recompile OpenSSL 1.1 & NGINX 1.25 for TLS 1.3 (CentOS 7)
- How to move a blog or website WordPress from HTTP on HTTPS (Nginx)
- Delete old domains Certbot certificates (Let's Encrypt Certificate)
How to enable TLS 1.3 on NGINX server with VestaCP management on CentOS
Before you see how you activate TLSv1.3 on NGINX, you need to consider some minimum requirements for TLS 1.3.
- NGINX 1.13.x or later
- A certificate TLS valid
- Active domain name with properly configured DNS – be accessible on the Internet
- A certificate TLS / SSL valid. It can also be Let’s Encrypt.
Pe VestaCP installed a long time ago, we only have the protocol available TLS 1.2. I have seen in many tutorials that it is enough as in nginx.conf let's add the following line for ca TLS 1.3 to be activated:
server {
listen 443 ssl http2;
listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
server_name example.com;
root /var/www/example.com/public;
ssl_certificate /path/to/your/certificate.crt;
ssl_certificate_key /path/to/your/private.key;
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
Fake. If On a server CentOS with management VestaCP, NGINX has not been compiled with the minimum version OpenSSL 1.1.1.1, ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3; în nginx.conf .. it doesn't help at all.
[root@north ~]# nginx -V
nginx version: nginx/1.22.0
built by gcc 4.8.5 20150623 (Red Hat 4.8.5-44) (GCC)
built with OpenSSL 1.0.2k-fips 26 Jan 2017
TLS SNI support enabledSo in the above example Nginx 1.22.0 is compatible version TLS 1.3, but the library does not help us OpenSSL 1.0.2k-fips.
To activate TLSv1.3 on Nginx, you need to install the child libraries and development packages first. Development Tools. It runs in CentOS 7 command lines:
yum install gcc gcc-c++ pcre-devel zlib-devel make unzip gd-devel perl-ExtUtils-Embed libxslt-devel openssl-devel perl-Test-Simple
yum groupinstall 'Development Tools'1. Install the latest version OpenSSL
At this time the latest version is OpenSSL 1.1.1p, but as far as I've noticed there is already and OpenSSL 3. You can find the sources on OpenSSL.org.
cd /usr/src
wget https://www.openssl.org/source/openssl-1.1.1p.tar.gz
tar xvf openssl-1.1.1p.tar.gz
mv openssl-1.1.1p openssl
cd openssl
./config --prefix=/usr/local/openssl --openssldir=/usr/local/openssl --libdir=/lib64 shared zlib-dynamic
make -j4
make test
make install Very important to run make test before installing the library. If the test has errors, do not run make install until the errors are corrected.
In the next step we make a backup of the current binary file openssl and we add symlink to the new one.
mv /usr/bin/openssl /usr/bin/openssl-backup
ln -s /usr/local/openssl/bin/openssl /usr/bin/opensslIn /usr/local/openssl/bin execute ldd to check dependencies openssl. We can possibly also check the version of openssl. Command openssl version.
[root@north bin]# ldd openssl
linux-vdso.so.1 => (0x00007ffd20bd7000)
libssl.so.1.1 => /lib64/libssl.so.1.1 (0x00007fab09b62000)
libcrypto.so.1.1 => /lib64/libcrypto.so.1.1 (0x00007fab09675000)
libdl.so.2 => /lib64/libdl.so.2 (0x00007fab09471000)
libpthread.so.0 => /lib64/libpthread.so.0 (0x00007fab09255000)
libc.so.6 => /lib64/libc.so.6 (0x00007fab08e87000)
/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007fab09df5000)
[root@north bin]# openssl version
OpenSSL 1.1.1p 21 Jun 2022We currently have the latest version installed OpenSSL which endures TLSv1.3. We can check the versions TLS / SSL supported by bookstores OpenSSL by order:
[root@north bin]# openssl ciphers -v | awk '{print $2}' | sort | uniq
SSLv3
TLSv1
TLSv1.2
TLSv1.3
[root@north bin]# This does not mean that websites hosted with the help of the manager VestaCP they will have immediately TLS 1.3.
Although we have installed OpenSSL 1.1.1p, Nginx is compiled with the old version OpenSSL 1.0.2k-fips.
[root@north bin]# nginx -V
nginx version: nginx/1.22.0
built by gcc 4.8.5 20150623 (Red Hat 4.8.5-44) (GCC)
built with OpenSSL 1.0.2k-fips 26 Jan 2017
TLS SNI support enabled
configure arguments: --prefix=/etc/nginx --sbin-path=/usr/sbin/nginx --modules-path=/usr/lib64/nginx/modules --conf-path=/etc/nginx/nginx.conf --error-log-path=/var/log/nginx/error.log --http-log-path=/var/log/nginx/access.log --pid-path=/var/run/nginx.pid --lock-path=/var/run/nginx.lock --http-client-body-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/client_temp --http-proxy-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/proxy_temp --http-fastcgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/fastcgi_temp --http-uwsgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/uwsgi_temp --http-scgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/scgi_temp --user=nginx --group=nginx --with-compat --with-file-aio --with-threads --with-http_addition_module --with-http_auth_request_module --with-http_dav_module --with-http_flv_module --with-http_gunzip_module --with-http_gzip_static_module --with-http_mp4_module --with-http_random_index_module --with-http_realip_module --with-http_secure_link_module --with-http_slice_module --with-http_ssl_module --with-http_stub_status_module --with-http_sub_module --with-http_v2_module --with-mail --with-mail_ssl_module --with-stream --with-stream_realip_module --with-stream_ssl_module --with-stream_ssl_preread_module --with-cc-opt='-O2 -g -pipe -Wall -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -fexceptions -fstack-protector-strong --param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -grecord-gcc-switches -m64 -mtune=generic -fPIC' --with-ld-opt='-Wl,-z,relro -Wl,-z,now -pie'
[root@north bin]# openssl version
OpenSSL 1.1.1p 21 Jun 2022
[root@north bin]# 2. Recompile Nginx for the system VestaCP
In this step we need to recompile for OpenSSL version of Nginx already installed on the system CentOS / VestaCP. As I said above, in my case it is about nginx/1.22.0. Since we are talking about a webserver that has VestaCP administration system, before we start recompiling it is good to make a backup of the nginx config files.
Backup Nginx current on the system VestaCP
Archive and keep somewhere on the server the directories "/etc/nginx" and "/usr/local/vesta/nginx".
RUN nginx -V and save existing modules to a file.
configure arguments: --prefix=/etc/nginx --sbin-path=/usr/sbin/nginx --modules-path=/usr/lib64/nginx/modules --conf-path=/etc/nginx/nginx.conf --error-log-path=/var/log/nginx/error.log --http-log-path=/var/log/nginx/access.log --pid-path=/var/run/nginx.pid --lock-path=/var/run/nginx.lock --http-client-body-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/client_temp --http-proxy-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/proxy_temp --http-fastcgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/fastcgi_temp --http-uwsgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/uwsgi_temp --http-scgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/scgi_temp --user=nginx --group=nginx --with-compat --with-file-aio --with-threads --with-http_addition_module --with-http_auth_request_module --with-http_dav_module --with-http_flv_module --with-http_gunzip_module --with-http_gzip_static_module --with-http_mp4_module --with-http_random_index_module --with-http_realip_module --with-http_secure_link_module --with-http_slice_module --with-http_ssl_module --with-http_stub_status_module --with-http_sub_module --with-http_v2_module --with-mail --with-mail_ssl_module --with-stream --with-stream_realip_module --with-stream_ssl_module --with-stream_ssl_preread_module --with-cc-opt='-O2 -g -pipe -Wall -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -fexceptions -fstack-protector-strong --param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -grecord-gcc-switches -m64 -mtune=generic -fPIC' --with-ld-opt='-Wl,-z,relro -Wl,-z,now -pie'
How to recompile Nginx for upgrage OpenSSL / CentOS 7
I repeat. If you have VestaCP, download the version of Nginx you already have installed. You can find all archives with Nginx versions on nginx.org.
cd /usr/src
wget https://nginx.org/download/nginx-1.22.0.tar.gz
tar xvf nginx-1.22.0.tar.gz
cd nginx-1.22.0We recompile the nginx modules:
./configure --prefix=/etc/nginx \
--sbin-path=/usr/sbin/nginx \
--modules-path=/usr/lib64/nginx/modules \
--conf-path=/etc/nginx/nginx.conf \
--error-log-path=/var/log/nginx/error.log \
--http-log-path=/var/log/nginx/access.log \
--pid-path=/var/run/nginx.pid \
--lock-path=/var/run/nginx.lock \
--http-client-body-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/client_temp \
--http-proxy-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/proxy_temp \
--http-fastcgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/fastcgi_temp \
--http-uwsgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/uwsgi_temp \
--http-scgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/scgi_temp \
--user=nginx \
--group=nginx \
--with-compat \
--with-file-aio \
--with-threads \
--with-http_addition_module \
--with-http_auth_request_module \
--with-http_dav_module \
--with-http_flv_module \
--with-http_gunzip_module \
--with-http_gzip_static_module \
--with-http_mp4_module \
--with-http_random_index_module \
--with-http_realip_module \
--with-http_secure_link_module \
--with-http_slice_module \
--with-http_ssl_module \
--with-http_stub_status_module \
--with-http_sub_module \
--with-http_v2_module \
--with-mail \
--with-mail_ssl_module \
--with-stream \
--with-stream_realip_module \
--with-stream_ssl_module \
--with-stream_ssl_preread_module \
--with-openssl=/usr/src/openssl \
--with-cc-opt='-O2 -g -pipe -Wall -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -fexceptions -fstack-protector-strong \
--param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -grecord-gcc-switches -m64 -mtune=generic -fPIC' \
--with-ld-opt='-Wl,-z,relro -Wl,-z,now -pie'make -j4
make installWe now have Nginx installed and compiled with the latest version of OpenSSL able to withstand TLSv1.3.
[root@north bin]# nginx -V
nginx version: nginx/1.22.0
built by gcc 4.8.5 20150623 (Red Hat 4.8.5-44) (GCC)
built with OpenSSL 1.1.1p 21 Jun 2022
TLS SNI support enabled*if nginx was already installed on the server, you will need to uninstall it. Compile not working on nginx upgrade.
How enable TLSv1.3 for domains on VestaCP
In the file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf we add the following lines:
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256';At domain level, I changed something in the templates VestaCP and to enable HTTP/2. So when adding a new domain (example.com) with Let's Encrypt enabled, I have the following configuration file for the SSL:
cat /home/vestacpuser/conf/web/example.com.nginx.ssl.conf
server {
listen IP.IP.IP.IP:443 ssl http2;
server_name example.com www.example.com;
root /home/vestacpuser/web/example.com/public_html;
index index.php index.html index.htm;
access_log /var/log/nginx/domains/example.com.log combined;
access_log /var/log/nginx/domains/example.com.bytes bytes;
error_log /var/log/nginx/domains/example.com.error.log error;
ssl_certificate /home/vestacpuser/conf/web/ssl.example.com.pem;
ssl_certificate_key /home/vestacpuser/conf/web/ssl.example.com.key;
....
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256';Before restarting nginx, it is good to test its configuration first.
[root@north web]# nginx -t
nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
[root@north web]# systemctl restart nginxI hope you find this tutorial helpful and if you're stuck with something, leave the problem details in the comments.
