Install an SSL certificate on GlassFish (Linux)

Step 1: Download the SSL certificate

1. Go to the SSL Certificate Management page, find the certificate that you want to deploy, and confirm the following information:

   1. Certificate Status: The status must be Issued. If the status is Pending Expiration or Expired, you must renew the SSL certificate.

   2. Bound Domains: This setting must match all the domain names that you want to protect. Otherwise, a security warning appears when an unmatched domain name is accessed over HTTPS. To add or modify domain names, see Append and replace domain names.

      Check whether the certificate matches the target domain name

      The Bound Domains of a certificate can include multiple exact-match and wildcard domain names. The matching rules for each type of domain name are as follows:

      • Exact-match domain name: Applies only to the specified domain name.

        • example.com applies only to example.com.

        • www.example.com applies only to www.example.com.

      • Wildcard domain name: Applies only to its first-level subdomains.

        • *.example.com applies to first-level subdomains such as www.example.com and a.example.com.

        • *.example.com does not apply to the root domain example.com or multi-level subdomains such as a.b.example.com.

      Note

      To match multi-level subdomains, the Bound Domains field must contain the exact domain name, such as a.b.example.com, or a corresponding wildcard domain name, such as *.b.example.com.

2. In the Actions column for the certificate, click More. On the certificate details page, go to the Download tab and download the certificate for the Server Type Other.

3. Unzip the downloaded certificate package:

   • If the package contains a certificate file (.pem) and a private key file (.key), save both files. You will need them for deployment.

   • If the package contains only a certificate file (.pem) and not a private key file (.key), you must deploy the certificate with the private key file that you saved locally.

     Note

     If you used a tool such as OpenSSL or Keytool to generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) file when applying for a certificate, the private key file was saved only on your local machine. The downloaded certificate package does not include the private key. If the private key is lost, the certificate is unusable. You must purchase a commercial certificate again and generate a new CSR and private key.

Step 2: Install the certificate on GlassFish

1. Log on to your Linux server.

   Alibaba Cloud server

   The following steps use Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service (ECS) as an example. For other types of servers, see the corresponding product documentation.

   1. Log on to the ECS console. In the upper-left corner, select the region where the target ECS instance is located.

   2. In the left navigation pane, select Instances & Images > Instances. On the Instances page, find the target ECS instance and click Connect in the Actions column.

   3. In the dialog box that appears, select Workbench and click Sign in now.

   4. Select Terminal as the connection method, enter the required authentication information, and follow the on-screen prompts to log on to the server terminal. For more information, see Log on to an ECS instance using Workbench.

      Note

      If a note to add security group rules appears, click Add Now.

   Servers from other cloud providers

   Use the remote connection feature provided by the cloud provider to log on to the server terminal.

   Non-cloud servers (such as physical servers or IDC-hosted servers)

   Use an SSH tool to log on to the server terminal from your local computer.

   • Windows: In Command Prompt (cmd) or PowerShell, run: ssh username@serverIP. If the ssh command is not supported, you can use third-party software such as PuTTY or WinSCP to connect.

   • macOS/Linux: In the built-in Terminal, run: ssh username@serverIP.

   Some of the following commands vary based on the operating system. Choose the commands that apply to your server's operating system.

   • RHEL/CentOS series: Includes Alibaba Cloud Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, Anolis OS, and their derivatives.

   • Debian/Ubuntu series: Includes Debian, Ubuntu, and their derivatives.

   How to identify the operating system series

   Run cat /etc/os-release in the server terminal and check the values of ID_LIKE and ID in the output:

   • If ID_LIKE or ID contains rhel or centos, the operating system belongs to the RHEL/CentOS series.

   • If ID_LIKE or ID contains debian or ubuntu, the operating system belongs to the Debian/Ubuntu series.

2. Open port 443 in the security group and firewall.

   1. Run the following command in the server terminal to check whether port 443 is open:

      RHEL/CentOS

      command -v nc > /dev/null 2>&1 || sudo yum install -y nc
      # Replace <your_server_public_ip> with the public IP address of your server.
      sudo ss -tlnp | grep -q ':443 ' || sudo nc -l 443 & sleep 1; nc -w 3 -vz <your_server_public_ip> 443

      If the output is Ncat: Connected to <your_server_public_ip>:443, port 443 is open. Otherwise, open port 443 in the security group and firewall.

      Debian/Ubuntu

      command -v nc > /dev/null 2>&1 || sudo apt-get install -y netcat
      # Replace <your_server_public_ip> with the public IP address of your server.
      sudo ss -tlnp | grep -q ':443 ' || sudo nc -l -p 443 & sleep 1; nc -w 3 -vz <your_server_public_ip> 443

      If the output is Connection to <your_server_public_ip> port [tcp/https] succeeded! or [<your_server_public_ip>] 443 (https) open, port 443 is open. Otherwise, open port 443 in the security group and firewall.

   2. Open port 443 in your security group configuration.

      Important

      If your server is deployed on a cloud platform, make sure that its security group allows inbound traffic on TCP port 443. Otherwise, the service will be inaccessible. The following steps use Alibaba Cloud ECS as an example. For other cloud platforms, refer to their official documentation.

      Go to the Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances page and click the target instance name to go to the instance details page. For more information, see Add a security group rule to add a rule in the Security Group Details section with Action set to Allow, Protocol to Custom TCP, Destination (Current Instance) to HTTPS (443), and Source to 0.0.0.0/0 (anywhere).

   3. Open port 443 in your firewall.

      Run the following command to identify the active firewall service on your system:

      if command -v systemctl >/dev/null 2>&1 && systemctl is-active --quiet firewalld; then
          echo "firewalld"
      elif command -v ufw >/dev/null 2>&1 && sudo ufw status | grep -qw active; then
          echo "ufw"
      elif command -v nft >/dev/null 2>&1 && sudo nft list ruleset 2>/dev/null | grep -q 'table'; then
          echo "nftables"
      elif command -v systemctl >/dev/null 2>&1 && systemctl is-active --quiet iptables; then
          echo "iptables"
      elif command -v iptables >/dev/null 2>&1 && sudo iptables -L 2>/dev/null | grep -qE 'REJECT|DROP|ACCEPT'; then
          echo "iptables"
      else
          echo "none"
      fi

      If the output is none, no further action is required. Otherwise, run the corresponding command below based on the output (firewalld, ufw, nftables, or iptables) to open port 443:

      firewalld

      sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=443/tcp && sudo firewall-cmd --reload

      ufw

      sudo ufw allow 443/tcp

      nftables

      sudo nft add table inet filter 2>/dev/null
      sudo nft add chain inet filter input '{ type filter hook input priority 0; }' 2>/dev/null
      sudo nft add rule inet filter input tcp dport 443 counter accept 2>/dev/null

      iptables

      sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT

      To make sure that the iptables rules persist after a system reboot, run the following commands:

      RHEL/CentOS

      sudo yum install -y iptables-services
      sudo service iptables save

      Debian/Ubuntu

      sudo apt-get install -y iptables-persistent
      sudo iptables-save | sudo tee /etc/iptables/rules.v4 >/dev/null

3. Create a directory to store the certificate.

   Go to the GlassFish installation directory (for example, /home/glassfish4), create a directory named cert, and then enter the directory.

   cd /home/glassfish4
   mkdir cert
   cd cert

4. Upload the certificate and private key files to the cert directory.

   Note

   You can use the local file upload feature of a remote logon tool to upload files. Examples of such tools include PuTTY, Xshell, or WinSCP. If you use an Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service instance, see Upload or download files for more information.

5. Convert the certificate format from PEM to PKCS12.

   Because GlassFish uses the JKS keystore format, you must first convert the certificate from PEM to PKCS12 format. In the cert directory, run the following command to generate a file named mycert.p12 and set the alias to s1as.

   openssl pkcs12 -export -in domain_name.pem -inkey domain_name.key -out mycert.p12 -name s1as

   Note

   • Replace domain_name.pem and domain_name.key with the actual paths to your certificate file and private key file.

   • When you run the command, you are prompted to set an export password. We recommend that you set the password to the default password for the GlassFish keystore (keystore.jks), which is changeit by default, to avoid subsequent configuration issues. If you set a different password, you will need to synchronize the key entry password later.

6. Stop the GlassFish service.

   Stop the service before modifying the keystore and configuration:

   /home/glassfish4/glassfish/bin/asadmin stop-domain domain1

7. Back up the keystore and configuration files.

   To prevent startup failures caused by configuration errors, back up the default GlassFish keystore file keystore.jks.

   cp /home/glassfish4/glassfish/domains/domain1/config/keystore.jks /home/glassfish4/glassfish/domains/domain1/config/keystore.jks.bak
   cp /home/glassfish4/glassfish/domains/domain1/config/domain.xml /home/glassfish4/glassfish/domains/domain1/config/domain.xml.bak

8. Remove the default certificate alias.

   By default, GlassFish uses the alias s1as for SSL communication. You must first delete this default entry from the keystore to replace it.

   keytool -delete -alias s1as -keystore /home/glassfish4/glassfish/domains/domain1/config/keystore.jks

   When you run the command, enter the password for the keystore file keystore.jks. The default password is changeit.

9. Import the new certificate into the keystore.

   Import mycert.p12 into the system keystore keystore.jks, and set the alias to s1as.

   keytool -importkeystore \
     -srckeystore mycert.p12 -srcstoretype PKCS12 \
     -destkeystore /home/glassfish4/glassfish/domains/domain1/config/keystore.jks \
     -deststoretype JKS \
     -alias s1as

   When you run the command, you will be prompted for the following passwords:

   • Destination keystore password: Enter the password for keystore.jks (default: changeit).

   • Source keystore password: Enter the export password you set for mycert.p12 in Step 5.

     If the export password for mycert.p12 is different from the password for keystore.jks, run the following command to synchronize the key entry password:

     keytool -keypasswd -alias s1as \
       -keystore /home/glassfish4/glassfish/domains/domain1/config/keystore.jks \
       -storepass <keystore.jks_password> \
       -keypass <mycert.p12_export_password> \
       -new <keystore.jks_password>

10. Modify the port configuration.

    Edit the /home/glassfish4/glassfish/domains/domain1/config/domain.xml file. Locate the <network-listeners> tag and change the HTTP and HTTPS ports to 80 and 443, respectively, as shown below:

    <network-listeners>
      <network-listener protocol="http-listener-1" port="80" name="http-listener-1" thread-pool="http-thread-pool" transport="tcp"></network-listener>
      <network-listener protocol="http-listener-2" port="443" name="http-listener-2" thread-pool="http-thread-pool" transport="tcp"></network-listener>
      <network-listener protocol="admin-listener" port="4848" name="admin-listener" thread-pool="admin-thread-pool" transport="tcp"></network-listener>
     </network-listeners>

11. Start the GlassFish service.

    cd /home/glassfish4/glassfish/bin
    sudo ./asadmin start-domain domain1

Step 3: Verify the installation

What to do next (Optional)

Why is my certificate not working or HTTPS inaccessible after installation or update?

Common causes include:

• The domain has not completed ICP filing. See How to check DNS records and ICP filing information.

• Port 443 is not open in the server's security group or firewall. See Open port 443 in the security group and firewall.

• The certificate's Bound Domains does not include the domain being accessed. See Verify that the certificate matches the target domains.

• The GlassFish service was not restarted after modifying the configuration file. For restart instructions, see Start the GlassFish service.

• The certificate files were not replaced correctly, or the certificate path is incorrect in the GlassFish configuration. Verify that the certificate configuration and files are up-to-date and valid.

• Missing certificate on other services: If your domain uses services such as a Content Delivery Network (CDN), Server Load Balancer (SLB), or Web Application Firewall (WAF), the certificate must also be installed on those services. See Certificate deployment locations when traffic passes through multiple Alibaba Cloud services to complete the setup.

• Incomplete deployment on multiple servers: If your domain's DNS resolves to multiple servers, the certificate must be installed on all of them.

Update an installed SSL certificate

First, back up the original certificate files (.pem and .key) on your server. Then, log on to the Certificate Management Service console, download the new certificate files, and upload them to the server to overwrite the original files, ensuring the path and filenames are the same. Finally, restart the GlassFish service to activate the new certificate.