Enable https on Node-Express App on AWS EC2

Question

I have a node Express app running on an AWS EC2 Instance. I am able to run the server and connect to the express app using http://ec2-xx-xxx-xxx-242.us-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com

But when I use https instead of http, it doesn't work, despite having port 443 open on my instance.

Could some one please suggest how I could enable https on my express app.

var express = require('express');
var path = require('path');
var favicon = require('serve-favicon');
var logger = require('morgan');
var cookieParser = require('cookie-parser');
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
//var httpsRedirect = require('express-https-redirect');

var index = require('./routes/index');
var users = require('./routes/users');

var app = express();

// view engine setup
app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, 'views'));
app.set('view engine', 'jade');

// uncomment after placing your favicon in /public
//app.use(favicon(path.join(__dirname, 'public', 'favicon.ico')));
app.use(logger('dev'));
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: false }));
app.use(cookieParser());
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));

app.use('/', index);
app.use('/users', users);

app.get('/hello', (req, res) => res.sendStatus(200));
app.get('/health-check', (req, res) => res.sendStatus(200));

// catch 404 and forward to error handler
app.use(function(req, res, next) {
  var err = new Error('Not Found');
  err.status = 404;
  next(err);
});

// error handler
app.use(function(err, req, res, next) {
  // set locals, only providing error in development
  res.locals.message = err.message;
  res.locals.error = req.app.get('env') === 'development' ? err : {};

  // render the error page
  res.status(err.status || 500);
  res.render('error');
});

// *** HERE I am setting my App to listen on port 443

//app.listen(8080);
app.listen(8443);

module.exports = app;

Here are the rules on my EC2 Instance, where the port 443 is open for all traffic.

I enabled I forwarding from port 443 to 8443 on my AWS EC2 Linux Instance:

sudo iptables -A PREROUTING -t nat -i eth0 -p tcp --dport 443 -j REDIRECT --to-port 8443

Opened the Linux firewall to allow connections on port 443:

sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --sport 443 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT

Answer 1

This is quite easy but require some time for understanding how it usually works. This should be great place to start: https://www.sitepoint.com/configuring-nginx-ssl-node-js/

In few words:

1. stay your express app as is
2. generate certificates
3. install and configure reverse proxy which will handle https. Nginx is great choice.