Ubuntu 26.04

How to Configure SSL for Nginx on Ubuntu 26.04

To configure SSL for Nginx on Ubuntu 26.04 with a self-signed certificate (lab/test) for example.com, follow these steps.

Step 1 : Update.

sudo apt update

Step 2 : Install OpenSSL.

sudo apt install openssl

Step 3 : Generate a key and cert.

sudo openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 \
  -keyout /etc/ssl/private/example.com.key \
  -out /etc/ssl/certs/example.com.crt \
  -subj "/C=US/ST=State/L=City/O=Org/CN=example.com"

Step 4 : Create the SSL server block.

sudo tee /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com-ssl <<'EOF'
server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    listen [::]:443 ssl;
    server_name example.com;
    root /var/www/example.com;
    index index.html;
    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/example.com.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/example.com.key;
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}
EOF

Step 5 : Enable the site.

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com-ssl /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Step 6 : Test and restart.

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 7 : Open HTTPS and skip the browser warning (self-signed).

https://example.com

You have configured SSL for Nginx on Ubuntu 26.04.