In this article, you will learn how to generate a localhost SSL Certificate with letsencrypt.

Prerequisites

The following prerequisites will be required to complete this tutorial:

• Git for windows installed. If you don't have Git for windows installed, download Git for windows for free before you begin.

Generate a localhost SSL Certificate with letsencrypt

1. Create a folder named certificates.

2. Add a file named req.cnf into the certificates folder with the following contents. Replace {YourLocation}, and {YourOrganisation} with your own values.

   [req]
   distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
   x509_extensions = v3_req
   prompt = no
   [req_distinguished_name]
   C = GB
   ST = {YourLocation}
   L = {YourLocation}
   O = {YourOrganisation}
   CN = localhost
   [v3_req]
   keyUsage = critical, digitalSignature, keyAgreement
   extendedKeyUsage = serverAuth
   subjectAltName = @alt_names
   [alt_names]
   DNS.1 = localhost
   

3. Right click in the certificates folder, and select Git Bash Here.

   

4. Run the following command to generate an SSL certificate and key in the certificates folder.

   openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout localhost.key -out localhost.key -out localhost.crt -config req.cnf -sha256