SSL setup

[_d1ZZy_]

Hi i am a complete n00b. Can someone give me a n00bs guide to ssl and encrypting ??? My hosting (WESH.co.uk) allows me to create CRTs, CSR and private keys. Where do i have to place the keys if i have my shop in /putblic_html/zen/

Also, what do i have to comfigure? These only;

/zen/includes/configure.php

/zen/admin/includes/configure.php

When i turned on SSL for the admin area i get 404 errors and it does not display. Also, i have the shop set to SSL 'true' but it doesnt seem to have security according to the browser (firefox) - it must be the location of the keys. Can someone maybe post their configuration files for me to compare?

thanks

[kobra]

Yes, the configure.php file needs to have the correct path to your servers:

If you are using a shared SSL Certificate as it sounds that you are:
you need to get the correct server path and enter it in you configure.php file.
It will be something like https://saturn.host.com/~username/page.html

If you have your own SSl cert, get with your host as to where these are required to be to function correctly as ZenCart only needs the correct server path and not the SSL cert location etc.

* URLs for your site will be built via: 
* HTTP_SERVER plus DIR_WS_ADMIN or 
* HTTPS_SERVER plus DIR_WS_HTTPS_ADMIN or
* HTTP_SERVER plus DIR_WS_CATALOG or
* HTTPS_SERVER plus DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG
* ...depending on your system configuration settings
          */
define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://yoursite.com');
define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://yoursite.com');
define('HTTP_CATALOG_SERVER', 'http://yoursite.com');
define('HTTPS_CATALOG_SERVER', 'https://yoursite.com');

I hope this points you in the right direction

You can also search this site for this subject.

[_d1ZZy_]

Thankyou for your help.

I have been informed i have to purchase my own certificate. I have seen some cheap COMODO ones and am still deciding

[kobra]

Thanks for updating this thread...

Let us know how you get on

[skia]

Dr. Byte said the following in the archived thread http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29487

Virtual HTTPS path = this is similar to the physical path for the regular webserver. If you have a dedicated certificate, it's the same path. If you're using a shared certificate BUT still on the SAME webserver AND running from the SAME set of files as the main HTTP webserver URL does, then it's also the same path as the regular webserver above.
HOWEVER, if your SSL certificate runs from another set of folders (and you have to have 2 copies of your files in 2 different subdirectories on your hosting account), then this path must be set to the SSL copy of the files.
ie: /home/www/yoursite/httpsdocs

(This confusion wouldn't exist if some hosts didn't have some very weird and old-school ideas for setting up SSL support.)

I have a Zen Cart store http://www.arcpoetry.ca/stand/ that was working fine on a previous host with shared SSL. I've moved to a new host and their shared SSL is on a different server than the main site. Hosting support says I need to re-ftp the installation files to the shared SSL site.

Am I getting this right? Given the shared SSL setup of my new host, do I have to maintain two complete sets of the Zen Cart installation and any of my overrides in two locations ie. on two different servers?

Or will it work with one installation on the shared SSL site?

I'm sure there must be instructions somewhere on installing to a second server for shared SSL but I've been unable to find them through searches of the faqs and forums. I keep coming across references to broken links. If someone could repost relevant links (that are not broken), I'm sure others would find this active thread useful.

[skia]

It seems like I have everything working now with my shared SSL that happens to be on a separate server from my non SSL space.

I am using Monster host, a Canadian host, mentioned in this forum in a thread started by homilux http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24560

It is not ideal having two complete installations that you have to maintain in two separate places, but it does work. The two configure files in the shared SSL space seemd to require slightly different configurations than the two configure files in the non-ssl space, ie. for the configure files in the shared SSL space, you'll need to ask the host for the 'path' to the shared SSL space and for the ip of the db_server since the mysql database is probably not on the 'localhost' of the shared SSL space.

In talking with the host, I would not have this problem of needing two installations if I purchased a SSL (non-shared) certificate specifically for my domain. This I will do once I have the latest version of ZenCart working to my liking.

Another alternative I imagine would be to just run off the installation in the shared SSL space, but that is like running ZenCart on a site separate from the rest of my site.

There seem to be a number of archived threads related to problems with shared SSL on a separate server. A reason to consider Zen Cart certified hosts.

In this archived thread http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29219 from February 2006 started by heavenlynights regarding another two server conundrum, grayson http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...9&postcount=28 suggested another solution:

you might also ask your hosting provider if they can just point your SSL site to your non-SSL site, instead of having two separate directories. This way, you only need one set of files, and you won't have to make sure you copy changes over to the SSL directory when you update your pages or images.

Has anyone been able to do this successfully with their shared SSL space on a separate server from their non-SSL space?

[kobra]

This does seem to be an issue that varies from how one host sets up their shared SSL to another.

There are hosts that are setup so that you just have to point to the SSL server and others like yours where you must install in the shared SSL space.

Most will not consider a change just for a single user as this is what they are comfortable with.