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Pre-installation notes
The guide bellow is based on the previous guide

• Hardening guide for Apache 2.2.15 on RedHat 5.4 (64bit edition)

SSL implementation phase

1. Login to the server using Root account.
2. Create folder for the SSL certificate files:
   mkdir -p /usr/local/apache2/ssl
chmod 600 /usr/local/apache2/ssl
3. Run the command bellow to generate a key pair:
   /usr/bin/openssl genrsa -des3 -out /usr/local/apache2/ssl/server.key 1024Specify a complex pass phrase for the private key (and document it)
4. Run the command bellow to generate the CSR:
   /usr/bin/openssl req -new -newkey rsa:1024 -nodes -keyout /usr/local/apache2/ssl/server.key -out /tmp/apache.csr
Note: The command above should be written as one line.
5. Send the file /tmp/apache.csr to a Certificate Authority server.
6. As soon as you receive the signed public key from the CA server via email, copy all lines starting with “Begin” and ending with “End” (include those two lines), into notepad, and save the file as “server.crt“
7. Copy the file “server.crt” using SCP into /usr/local/apache2/ssl/
8. Follow the link on the email from the CA server, to create the Root CA chain, and save it as “ca-bundle.crt” (Note: The file must be PEM (base64) encoded).
9. Copy the file “ca-bundle.crt” using SCP into /usr/local/apache2/ssl/
10. Edit using VI the file /usr/local/apache2/conf/httpd.conf and add the following lines:
    Listen Server_FQDN:443
SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateKeyFile /usr/local/apache2/ssl/server.key
SSLCertificateFile /usr/local/apache2/ssl/server.crt
SSLCACertificateFile /usr/local/apache2/ssl/ca-bundle.crt
SSLCipherSuite ALL:-ADH:+HIGH:+MEDIUM:-LOW:-SSLv2:-EXP
Note: Replace Server_FQDN with the server DNS name (as written on the certificate).
11. Restart the Apache services:
    /usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl restart
12. Backup the file /usr/local/apache2/ssl/server.key

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