Easy SSL Certificate Generation for Local Testing: A Complete Guide with mkcert

In this tutorial, we'll learn how to create an SSL certificate using mkcert, a simple tool developed by Filippo Valsorda. Mkcert allows us to quickly generate trusted development certificates for local testing purposes.

Prerequisites

• Go to the mkcert repository on GitHub and follow the installation instructions for your operating system.
• Make sure you have Go installed on your machine.

Step 1: Install mkcert

To install mkcert, follow the instructions provided in the repository's README. Once installed, you should have the mkcert command available in your terminal.

Next, run the following command to install the root CA (Certificate Authority) certificate into the system's trust store:

mkcert -install

This step is required to ensure that the certificates generated by mkcert are recognized as trusted by your operating system and web browsers.

Step 2: Generate a Local SSL Certificate

Open your terminal and navigate to the directory where you want to generate the certificate. Run the following command to generate a local SSL certificate:

mkcert -key-file key.pem -cert-file cert.pem example.com *.example.com

This command will generate an SSL certificate and private key for the domain "example.com" and all its subdomains. The private key will be saved as "key.pem", and the SSL certificate will be saved as "cert.pem".

Step 3: Use the SSL Certificate

To use the generated SSL certificate in your local development environment, you need to configure your application or web server to use these files. The exact steps depend on the framework or server you are using, so consult their documentation to enable SSL and provide the certificate and key files you generated.

With mkcert, generating SSL certificates for local development has become incredibly easy. You can now secure your local applications with HTTPS, making it easier to test and develop secure features.