Reverse Proxy for HTTPS

TIP

Given MCSManager's distrbuted architecture, it is complex to configure HTTPS, and it requries some level of professional network knowledge. It is STRONGLY advised for general users to NOT configure HTTPS.

Make sure you FULLY understand the Network Architecture before continue.
The following steps will assume the reader has basic network knowledge (e.g. SSL certificate).

Generate SSL Certificate

The following websites provide free 90-days SSL certificate for your domain. You can also choose other providers.

https://www.cersign.com/free-ssl-certificate.html
https://www.mianfeissl.com/

If you don't have a domain, and want to use HTTPS with IP address, a certificate can be obtained here:

https://zerossl.com/

You can also choose to get a certificate from Let's Encrypt, Other CA, or Self-Signed Certificate. Note, that a self-signed certificate is not trusted by OS and browser by default, it has to be added to the certificate store manually.

#Generate a Self-Signed Certificate using OpenSSL
openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem -sha256 -days 365

Locate the Config Location

We use Nginx as an example, as it is the most prevalent reverse proxy on the field. For Apache or Caddy, feel free to come up with your own configuration.

By default, Nginx stores configurations in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf. For different Linux distributions, the location might be slightly different.

Prepare the Certificate Chain

Ignore this step if a self-signed certificate is being used.

Prepare the following files:

1. Issued certificate, e.g. domain.crt。
2. Certificate of CA, can be downloaded from their website. e.g. ca.crt.
3. Private key of issued certificate, e.g. domain.key。

We will use domain.crt, ca.crt, domain.key as examples in this tutorial.

If you are using Nginx as the reverse proxy, open domain.crt and ca.crt with any editor, and copy the content of ca.crt to the bottom of domain.crt.

Prepare the Reverse Proxy

Please ensure that the following files and configurations are ready before starting. You may adjust them according to your need.

1. Configured cert chain and path: /etc/nginx/ssl/domain.crt.
2. Private key of the cert and path: /etc/nginx/ssl/domain.key.
3. Nginx main config location: /etc/nginx/nginx.conf.
4. Current (non-SSL) local address and port for the daemon: 127.0.0.1:24444.
5. Current (non-SSL) local address and port for the panel: 127.0.0.1:23333.
6. HTTPS port for the daemon: 12444.
7. HTTPS port for the panel: 12333.
8. [If use domain] Domain correctly resolved to the public IP.
9. Firewall allowed or port forwarded 12444 and 12333.

Reverse Proxy for the Daemon

Below is a sample configuration, you can change the port or adjust the settings according to your actual situation.
Save as daemon_https.conf and put it in the /etc/nginx/sites-enableddirectory
You can also place the configuration directly at the end of the nginx.conf file (before the last curly brace).
In case of multiple daemons, simple add the following configuration repeatedly with different ports and addresses.

# Sample HTTPS reverse proxy for MCSManager Daemon
server
    {
		# Public HTTPS port for the daemon (use multiple `listen` directive for multiple ports)
		listen 12444 ssl http2; #IPV4
		listen [::]:12444 ssl http2; #IPv6

		# Enable HSTS. Once enabled, it will enforce the use of HTTPS to connect to daemons and will continue for a year after this policy is cancelled, unless manually cleared in the browser.
		# Disable by default, uncomment to enable.
		#add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=63072000; includeSubdomains; preload";

		# DNS resolver, only required when the traffic will be forwarded to a remote daemon connected via a domain.
		resolver 8.8.8.8;

		# Automatically redirect HTTP to HTTPS
		error_page 497 https://$host:$server_port$request_uri;

		proxy_hide_header Upgrade;
		location / {
				# Request Headers. No need to change in general
				proxy_set_header Host $host;
				proxy_set_header X-Real-Ip $remote_addr;
				proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $remote_addr;
				proxy_set_header REMOTE-HOST $remote_addr;

				# Target daemon address and port. Support domain and HTTPS.
				proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:24444;

				# Support WebSocket
				proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
				proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";

				# Max size for a single file being transferred. 0 for unlimited.
				client_max_body_size 0;

				# Disable cache
				proxy_request_buffering off;
				proxy_buffering off;
				  }
		# Path to HTTPS certificate and key
		ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/domain.crt;
		ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/domain.key;

		# Enable gzip by default
		gzip on;

		# File that will be compressed during transfer
		gzip_types text/plain text/css application/javascript application/xml application/json;

		# Enable compression with reverse proxy
		gzip_proxied any;

		# Compression level during transmission; the higher the level, the more CPU is used for compression.
		# The maximum level is 9, but usually, level 5 is sufficient
		gzip_comp_level 5;

		# Only compress when the size during transmission reaches 1k, as compressing smaller content is pointless.
		gzip_min_length 1k;

		# Supported protocols, algorithms, and timeout settings, etc. Generally, there's no need to change these.
		ssl_session_timeout 5m;
		ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
		ssl_ciphers ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5:!RC4:!DHE;
		ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
    }

Reverse Proxy for the Panel

Below is a sample configuration, you can change the port or adjust the settings according to your actual situation.
Save as web_https.conf and put it in the /etc/nginx/sites-enableddirectory
You can also place the configuration directly at the end of the nginx.conf file (before the last curly brace).

# Sample HTTPS reverse proxy for MCSManager Web Panel
server
    {
		# Public HTTPS port for the panel (use multiple `listen` directive for multiple ports)
		listen 12333 ssl http2; #IPV4
		listen [::]:12333 ssl http2; #IPv6

		# Enable HSTS. Once enabled, it will enforce the use of HTTPS to connect to the panel and will continue for a year after this policy is cancelled, unless manually cleared in the browser.
		# Disable by default, uncomment to enable.
		#add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=63072000; includeSubdomains; preload";

		# DNS resolver, only required when the traffic will be forwarded to a remote panel connected via a domain.
		resolver 8.8.8.8;

		# Automatically redirect HTTP to HTTPS
		error_page 497 https://$host:$server_port$request_uri;

		proxy_hide_header Upgrade;
		location / {
				# Request Headers. No need to change in general
				proxy_set_header Host $host;
				proxy_set_header X-Real-Ip $remote_addr;
				proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $remote_addr;
				proxy_set_header REMOTE-HOST $remote_addr;

				# Target daemon address and port. Support domain and HTTPS.
				proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:23333;

				# Support WebSocket
				proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
				proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";

				# Max size for a single file being transferred. 0 for unlimited.
				client_max_body_size 0;

				# Disable cache
				proxy_request_buffering off;
				proxy_buffering off;
				  }

		# Path to HTTPS certificate and key
		ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/domain.crt;
		ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/domain.key;

		# Enable gzip by default
		gzip on;

		# File that will be compressed during transfer
		gzip_types text/plain text/css application/javascript application/xml application/json;

		# Enable compression with reverse proxy
		gzip_proxied any;

		# Compression level during transmission; the higher the level, the more CPU is used for compression.
		# The maximum level is 9, but usually, level 5 is sufficient
		gzip_comp_level 5;

		# Only compress when the size during transmission reaches 1k, as compressing smaller content is pointless.
		gzip_min_length 1k;

		# Supported protocols, algorithms, and timeout settings, etc. Generally, there's no need to change these.
		ssl_session_timeout 5m;
		ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
		ssl_ciphers ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5:!RC4:!DHE;
		ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
    }

Verify Nginx Configuration

Once the configuration is ready, use sudo nginx -t to tset the configuration.

nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful

Once succeeded, use sudo nginx -s reload to reload Nginx.

2024/01/27 22:57:17 [notice] 4826#4826: signal process started

Suppose the domain being used is domain.com , and the HTTPS port is 12333 (for daemon) and 12444 (for panel), we can then access the following URL using any browser:

Panel: https://domain.com:12333/
Daemon: https://domain.com:12444/

For the daemon, if the following content is displayed, the HTTPS reverse proxy is successfully configured!

[MCSManager Daemon] Status: OK | reference: https://mcsmanager.com/

For the web, if the login page is displayed correctly, the HTTPS reverse proxy is successfully configured!

Connect via HTTPS

At this point, if you acess the web panel, you'll find that you can log in without problem.

However

If you enter any instance console to upload or download files, etc., you will find that it still doesn't work properly. This is because MCSManager requires the browser to connect directly to remote daemon. Since you've upgraded to HTTPS, the browser refuses to use the Websocket+HTTP protocol to connect to remote daemon!

Why does the browser need to connect directly to the remote daemons?

Go to the Daemons tab, you might find connections to remote daemons using localhost, 123.x.x.x, or other domains. A reverse proxy for each remote daemon must be configured separately, so that they all use HTTPS to connect.

Once configured, replace the original localhost, 123.x.x.x, or domain.com with wss://localhost, wss://123.x.x.x, or wss://domain.com respectively.

Congratulations, you have now successfully enabled HTTPS for your panel 😃