README.md



Greenlock v3 on its way (Nov 1st, 2019)

Greenlock v3 is in private beta (for backers) and will be available publicly by Nov 1st.

You can keep an eye for updates on the campaign page and,
if this has been a useful project that's saved you time, please contribute.


Greenlock™ for node.js | a Root project

Greenlock provides Free SSL, Free Wildcard SSL, and Fully Automated HTTPS 

certificates issued by Let's Encrypt v2 via ACME


Greenlock works
in the Commandline (cli),
as a Web Server,
in Web Browsers (WebCrypto),
and with node.js (npm).


Features


 Actively Maintained and Commercially Supported


 VanillaJS

 Limited Dependencies

 MPL-2.0 licensed (great for hobbyists and DIYers)

 Contact us for Business Support Plans and Commercial LTS Licensing (great for IoT, On-Prem, Web Hosting, etc)


 Automatic HTTPS


 Free SSL

 Free Wildcard SSL

 Multiple domain support (up to 100 altnames per SAN)

 Dynamic Virtual Hosting (vhost)

 Automatical renewal (10 to 14 days before expiration)


 Great ACME support via acme.js


 "dry run" with self-diagnostics

 ACME draft 12

 Let's Encrypt v2

 ~Let's Encrypt v1~ (deprecated)


 Commandline (cli) Utilities


 Works with bash, fish, zsh, cmd.exe, PowerShell, and more


 Browser Support

 Full node.js support, with modules for


 http/https, Express.js, hapi, Koa, rill, spdy, etc


 Great for securing your Raspberry Pi and IoT projects

 Extensible Plugin Support


 AWS S3, AWS Route53, Azure, CloudFlare, Consul, Digital Ocean, etcd, Redis


Greenlock.js for Middleware

Documentation for using Greenlock with
http/https,
Express.js,
hapi,
Koa,
rill.


Table of Contents


  Install
  QuickStart

  Simple Examples
  Example with ALL OPTIONS
  API
  Developer API
  Change History
  License


Install

npm install --save greenlock@2.x


Optional for more efficient RSA key generation you must use node v10.12+
(important for those on ARM devices like Raspberry Pi)


Production vs Staging

If at first you don't succeed, stop and switch to staging.

I've implemented a "dry run" loopback test with self diagnostics
so it's pretty safe to start off with the production URLs
and be far less likely to hit the bad request rate limits.

However, if your first attempt to get a certificate fails
I'd recommend switching to the staging acme server to debug -
unless you're very clear on what the failure was and how to fix it.

{ server: 'https://acme-staging-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory' }


QuickStart Screencast

Watch the QuickStart demonstration: https://youtu.be/e8vaR4CEZ5s


  0:00 - Intro
  2:22 - Demonstrating QuickStart Example
  6:37 - Troubleshooting / Gotchas


Production Configuration (Part 2)


  1:00 - Bringing Greenlock into an Existing Express Project
  2:26 - The approveDomains callback


Security Concerns (Part 3)


  0:00 - Potential Attacks, and Mitigation


Easy as 1, 2, 3... 4

Greenlock is built to incredibly easy to use, without sacrificing customization or extensibility.

The following examples range from just a few lines of code for getting started,
to more robust examples that you might start with for an enterprise-grade use of the ACME api.


  Automatic HTTPS (for single sites)
  Fully Automatic HTTPS (for multi-domain vhosts)
  Manual HTTPS (for API integration)


Automatic HTTPS

Note: For (fully) automatic HTTPS you may prefer
the Express.js module

This works for most people, but it's not as fun as some of the other examples.

Great when


 You only need a limited number of certificates

 You want to use the bare node http and https modules without fluff


////////////////////
// INIT GREENLOCK //
////////////////////

var greenlock = require('greenlock').create({
    email: 'user@example.com', // IMPORTANT: Change email and domains
    agreeTos: true, // Accept Let's Encrypt v2 Agreement
    configDir: '~/.config/acme', // A writable folder (a non-fs plugin)

    communityMember: true, // Get (rare) non-mandatory updates about cool greenlock-related stuff (default false)
    securityUpdates: true // Important and mandatory notices related to security or breaking API changes (default true)
});


////////////////////
// CREATE SERVERS //
////////////////////

var redir = require('redirect-https')();
require('http')
    .createServer(greenlock.middleware(redir))
    .listen(80);

require('spdy')
    .createServer(greenlock.tlsOptions, function(req, res) {
        res.end('Hello, Secure World!');
    })
    .listen(443);


Fully Automatic HTTPS

Note: For (fully) automatic HTTPS you may prefer
the Express.js module

Great when


 You have a growing number of domains

 You're integrating into your own hosting solution

 Customize ACME http-01 or dns-01 challenge


////////////////////
// INIT GREENLOCK //
////////////////////

var path = require('path');
var os = require('os');
var Greenlock = require('greenlock');

var greenlock = Greenlock.create({
    version: 'draft-12',
    server: 'https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory',

    // Use the approveDomains callback to set per-domain config
    // (default: approve any domain that passes self-test of built-in challenges)
    approveDomains: approveDomains,

    // the default servername to use when the client doesn't specify
    servername: 'example.com',

    // If you wish to replace the default account and domain key storage plugin
    store: require('le-store-fs').create({
        configDir: path.join(os.homedir(), 'acme/etc'),
        webrootPath: '/tmp/acme-challenges'
    })
});

/////////////////////
// APPROVE DOMAINS //
/////////////////////

var http01 = require('le-challenge-fs').create({
    webrootPath: '/tmp/acme-challenges'
});
function approveDomains(opts, certs, cb) {
    // This is where you check your database and associated
    // email addresses with domains and agreements and such

    // Opt-in to submit stats and get important updates
    opts.communityMember = true;

    // If you wish to replace the default challenge plugin, you may do so here
    opts.challenges = { 'http-01': http01 };

    // The domains being approved for the first time are listed in opts.domains
    // Certs being renewed are listed in certs.altnames
    // certs.domains;
    // certs.altnames;
    opts.email = 'john.doe@example.com';
    opts.agreeTos = true;

    // NOTE: you can also change other options such as `challengeType` and `challenge`
    // opts.challengeType = 'http-01';
    // opts.challenge = require('le-challenge-fs').create({});

    cb(null, { options: opts, certs: certs });
}

////////////////////
// CREATE SERVERS //
////////////////////

var redir = require('redirect-https')();
require('http')
    .createServer(greenlock.middleware(redir))
    .listen(80);

require('https')
    .createServer(greenlock.tlsOptions, function(req, res) {
        res.end('Hello, Secure World!');
    })
    .listen(443);


Manual HTTPS

Here's a taste of the API that you might use if building a commandline tool or API integration
that doesn't use node's SNICallback.


/////////////////////
// SET USER PARAMS //
/////////////////////

var opts = {
  domains: [ 'example.com'        // CHANGE EMAIL AND DOMAINS
           , 'www.example.com' ]
, email: 'user@example.com'
, agreeTos: true                  // Accept Let's Encrypt v2 Agreement
, communityMember: true           // Help make Greenlock better by submitting
                                  // stats and getting updates
};


////////////////////
// INIT GREENLOCK //
////////////////////

var greenlock = require('greenlock').create({
  version: 'draft-12'
, server: 'https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory'
, configDir: '/tmp/acme/etc'
});


///////////////////
// GET TLS CERTS //
///////////////////

greenlock.register(opts).then(function (certs) {
  console.log(certs);
  // privkey, cert, chain, expiresAt, issuedAt, subject, altnames
}, function (err) {
  console.error(err);
});


The domain key and ssl certificates you get back can be used in a webserver like this:

var tlsOptions = {
    key: certs.privkey,
    cert: certs.cert + '\r\n' + certs.chain
};
require('https')
    .createServer(tlsOptions, function(req, res) {
        res.end('Hello, Secure World!');
    })
    .listen(443);


Example with ALL OPTIONS

The configuration consists of 3 components:


  Storage Backend (search npm for projects starting with 'le-store-')
  ACME Challenge Handlers (search npm for projects starting with 'le-challenge-')
  Letsencryt Config (this is all you)


'use strict';

var Greenlock = require('greenlock');
var greenlock;


// Storage Backend
var leStore = require('greenlock-store-fs').create({
  configDir: '~/acme/etc'                                 // or /etc/letsencrypt or wherever
, debug: false
});


// ACME Challenge Handlers
var leHttpChallenge = require('le-challenge-fs').create({
  webrootPath: '~/acme/var/'                              // or template string such as
, debug: false                                            // '/srv/www/:hostname/.well-known/acme-challenge'
});


function leAgree(opts, agreeCb) {
  // opts = { email, domains, tosUrl }
  agreeCb(null, opts.tosUrl);
}

greenlock = Greenlock.create({
  version: 'draft-12'                                     // 'draft-12' or 'v01'
                                                          // 'draft-12' is for Let's Encrypt v2 otherwise known as ACME draft 12
                                                          // 'v02' is an alias for 'draft-12'
                                                          // 'v01' is for the pre-spec Let's Encrypt v1
  //
  // staging API
  //server: 'https://acme-staging-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory'

  //
  // production API
  server: 'https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory'

, store: leStore                                          // handles saving of config, accounts, and certificates
, challenges: {
    'http-01': leHttpChallenge                            // handles /.well-known/acme-challege keys and tokens
  }
, challengeType: 'http-01'                                // default to this challenge type
, agreeToTerms: leAgree                                   // hook to allow user to view and accept LE TOS
//, sni: require('le-sni-auto').create({})                // handles sni callback

                                                          // renewals happen at a random time within this window
, renewWithin: 14 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000                   // certificate renewal may begin at this time
, renewBy:     10 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000                   // certificate renewal should happen by this time

, debug: false
//, log: function (debug) {console.log.apply(console, args);} // handles debug outputs
});


// If using express you should use the middleware
// app.use('/', greenlock.middleware());
//
// Otherwise you should see the test file for usage of this:
// greenlock.challenges['http-01'].get(opts.domain, key, val, done)


// Check in-memory cache of certificates for the named domain
greenlock.check({ domains: [ 'example.com' ] }).then(function (results) {
  if (results) {
    // we already have certificates
    return;
  }


  // Register Certificate manually
  greenlock.register({

    domains: ['example.com']                                // CHANGE TO YOUR DOMAIN (list for SANS)
  , email: 'user@email.com'                                 // CHANGE TO YOUR EMAIL
  , agreeTos: ''                                            // set to tosUrl string (or true) to pre-approve (and skip agreeToTerms)
  , rsaKeySize: 2048                                        // 2048 or higher
  , challengeType: 'http-01'                                // http-01, tls-sni-01, or dns-01

  }).then(function (results) {

    console.log('success');

  }, function (err) {

    // Note: you must either use greenlock.middleware() with express,
    // manually use greenlock.challenges['http-01'].get(opts, domain, key, val, done)
    // or have a webserver running and responding
    // to /.well-known/acme-challenge at `webrootPath`
    console.error('[Error]: node-greenlock/examples/standalone');
    console.error(err.stack);

  });

});


Here's what results looks like:

{ privkey: ''     // PEM encoded private key
, cert: ''        // PEM encoded cert
, chain: ''       // PEM encoded intermediate cert
, issuedAt: 0     // notBefore date (in ms) parsed from cert
, expiresAt: 0    // notAfter date (in ms) parsed from cert
, subject: ''     // example.com
, altnames: []    // example.com,www.example.com
}


API

The full end-user API is exposed in the example above and includes all relevant options.

greenlock.register(opts)
greenlock.check(opts)


Helper Functions

We do expose a few helper functions:


  Greenlock.validDomain(hostname) // returns '' or the hostname string if it's a valid ascii or punycode domain name


TODO fetch domain tld list


Template Strings

The following variables will be tempalted in any strings passed to the options object:


  ~/ replaced with os.homedir() i.e. /Users/aj

  :hostname replaced with the first domain in the list i.e. example.com


Dangerous Options

By default SNI is made to lowercase and is automatically rejected if it contains invalid characters for a domain.
This behavior can be modified:


  __dns_allow_dangerous_names allow SNI names like "Robert'); DROP TABLE Students;"
  __dns_preserve_case passes SNI names such as "ExAMpLE.coM" without converting to lower case


Developer API

If you are developing an le-store-* or le-challenge-* plugin you need to be aware of
additional internal API expectations.

IMPORTANT:

Use v3.0.0 as your initial version - NOT v0.1.0 and NOT v1.0.0 and NOT v2.0.0.
This is to indicate that your module is compatible with v3 (v2.7+) of node-greenlock.

Since the public API for your module is defined by node-greenlock the major version
should be kept in sync.


store implementation

See greenlock-store-test
and greenlock-store-fs


  accounts.


  checkKeypair(opts)
  check(opts)
  setKeypair(opts)
  set(opts)


  certificates.


  checkKeypair(opts)
  check(opts)
  setKeypair(opts)
  set(opts)


challenge implementation

See greenlock-challenge-test,
acme-http-01-cli,
and acme-dns-01-cli


  .set(opts);

  .get(opts);

  .remove(opts);


Change History


  v2.7


  API: transitional for v3 API (Promies, async/await)
  Security: Zero external dependencies
  Plugins: greenlock-store-fs replaces le-store-certbot as the default storage plugin
  Features: Full wildcard support
  Licensing: Commercial licensing and support plans now available


  v2.6


  better defaults, fewer explicit options
  better pre-flight self-tests, explicit domains not required


  v2.5


  bugfix JWK (update rsa-compat)
  eliminate all external non-optional dependencies


  v2.4


  v2.4.3 - add security updates (default true) independent of community updates (default false)


  v2.2 - Let's Encrypt v2 Support


  v2.2.11 - documentation updates
  v2.2.10 - don't let SNICallback swallow approveDomains errors 6286883fc2a6ebfff711a540a2e4d92f3ac2907c
  v2.2.8 - communityMember option support
  v2.2.7 - bugfix for wildcard support
  v2.2.5 - node v6.x compat
  v2.2.4 - don't promisify all of dns

  v2.2.3 - renewWithin default to 14 days
  v2.2.2 - replace git dependency with npm
  v2.2.1 - April 2018 Let's Encrypt v2 support


  v2.1.17 - Nov 5th 2017 migrate back to personal repo
  v2.1.9 - Jan 18th 2017 renamed to greenlock
  v2.0.2 - Aug 9th 2016 update readme
  v2.0.1 - Aug 9th 2016


  major refactor
  simplified API
  modular plugins
  knock out bugs


  v1.5.0 now using letiny-core v2.0.0 and rsa-compat
  v1.4.x I can't remember... but it's better!
  v1.1.0 Added letiny-core, removed node-letsencrypt-python
  v1.0.2 Works with node-letsencrypt-python
  v1.0.0 Thar be dragons


Commercial Licensing

As the number of businesses using Greenlock commercially has increased, we've become more aware of the need for quick-turnaround support and licenses that allow for local private modifications. Currently we offer LTS support and commercial licensing models for IoT, On-Prem, and Web Hosting. Please contact us to learn more.

Our trademark policy is pretty much "attribute, but don't confuse". Your users should understand that your product uses Greenlock and not be confused to think that it is Greenlock.


Legal & Rules of the Road

Greenlock™ is a trademark of AJ ONeal

The rule of thumb is "attribute, but don't confuse". For example:


Built with Greenlock.js (a Root project).


Please contact us if you have any questions in regards to our trademark,
attribution, and/or visible source policies. We want to build great software and a great community.

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