Windows - set up SSL/HTTPS reverse proxy using Apache HTTPD; Wrap HTTP traffic in SSL tunnel layer on Windows

Our main goal is to secure traffic that would normally go in an unsecured HTTP channel with SSL tunnel. To do that you need to buy an SSL certificate - you need to have private as well as public key for that certificate.

To have a working reverse proxy you need to enable the following modules in Apache's http.config file.

mod_ssl - this module enables HTTPS connections, encrypting traffic between the Internet and the proxy server using SSL
mod_proxy - this module enables Apache to act as a forward or reverse proxy server
mod_proxy_http - this module enables HTTP connections between the proxy server and the RequisiteWeb server
mod_vhost - controls virtual hosts in Apache

Download Apache HTTPD (version with ssl_mod already built in): here


Modify httpd.config in the following manner:

#Listen 80 - disable :80 listening port - it's not needed for 

#reverse proxy

Listen 443

#=== MODULES IMPORTANT FOR SSL REVERSE PROXY ===

LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so

LoadModule proxy_module modules/mod_proxy.so

LoadModule proxy_connect_module modules/mod_proxy_connect.so

LoadModule proxy_http_module modules/mod_proxy_http.so

LoadModule vhost_alias_module modules/mod_vhost_alias.so

<VirtualHost *:443>

  ServerName *.forcom.com.pl

  ProxyRequests On

  <Proxy *>

    Order allow,deny

    Allow from all

 </Proxy>

  SSLProxyEngine On

  ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:890/

  ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:890/

  LogLevel info

  ErrorLog "c:/ApacheLogs/ssl-proxy.log"

  CustomLog "c:/ApacheLogs/ssl-proxy.log" combined

  SSLEngine on

  SSLProxyEngine On

  SSLProtocol all

  SSLCertificateFile "C:/cert/ssl/fcompany.pem"

  SSLCertificateKeyFile "C:/cert/ssl/fcompanypriv.key"

</VirtualHost>

Apache HTTPD config file along with sample certificates can be downloaded from here.