SNI for multiple SSL certificates in Nginx - Mini Project: Build & Apply

SNI for Multiple SSL Certificates in Nginx

📖 Scenario: You are managing a web server that hosts two different websites on the same IP address. Each website needs its own SSL certificate to keep user data safe. To do this, you will use Server Name Indication (SNI) in Nginx, which allows the server to present the correct SSL certificate based on the website the user wants to visit.

🎯 Goal: Set up Nginx to serve two websites with different SSL certificates using SNI. You will create the basic server blocks, add SSL certificate paths, and configure Nginx to use the correct certificate for each domain.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create two server blocks for domains example1.com and example2.com

Add SSL certificate and key file paths for each domain

Configure Nginx to use SNI to serve the correct certificate based on the requested domain

Test the configuration by printing the server names and SSL certificate paths

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Web hosting providers and system administrators use SNI to host multiple secure websites on a single server IP address, saving resources and costs.

💼 Career

Knowing how to configure SNI in Nginx is essential for DevOps engineers and system administrators managing secure web servers.

1

Create basic server blocks for two domains

Create two server blocks in Nginx configuration for example1.com and example2.com listening on port 443 with SSL enabled. Use server_name example1.com; for the first and server_name example2.com; for the second.

Nginx

# Your code here to create two server blocks for example1.com and example2.com listening on port 443 with SSL enabled

Need a hint?

Use server { ... } blocks with listen 443 ssl; and server_name directives for each domain.

2

Add SSL certificate and key paths for each server block

Inside each server block, add the SSL certificate and key file paths. For example1.com, use ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/example1.crt; and ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/example1.key;. For example2.com, use ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/example2.crt; and ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/example2.key;.

Nginx

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name example1.com;
    # Add ssl_certificate and ssl_certificate_key for example1.com
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name example2.com;
    # Add ssl_certificate and ssl_certificate_key for example2.com
}

Need a hint?

Add ssl_certificate and ssl_certificate_key directives inside each server block with the exact file paths.

3

Add a location block to serve a simple message

Inside each server block, add a location / block that returns a plain text message. For example1.com, return Welcome to example1.com. For example2.com, return Welcome to example2.com. Use return 200 'message'; syntax.

Nginx

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name example1.com;
    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/example1.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/example1.key;
    # Add location block to return welcome message for example1.com
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name example2.com;
    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/example2.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/example2.key;
    # Add location block to return welcome message for example2.com
}

Need a hint?

Use location / { return 200 'message'; } inside each server block to send a simple text response.

4

Print the server names and SSL certificate paths

Print the server names and their SSL certificate paths exactly as shown below to verify your configuration: example1.com uses /etc/ssl/example1.crt example2.com uses /etc/ssl/example2.crt

Nginx

# Print the server names and SSL certificate paths below
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use two print statements with the exact text to show the server names and certificate paths.