How to implement http2 without ssl in Apache 2.4.18 Server

Question

I have made a website with HTTP/2 Protocol which is running on Apache 2.4.18 HTTP Server. Currently I have made the website is SSL Enabled because I read somewhere that HTTP/2 by default requires SSL. I may not require to make my website secure, so I don't want to spend money in buying a SSL Certificate.

Is there a way to implement HTTP2 Protocol without using SSL Configurations ? If yes, what configuration settings should I write in httpd.conf file ? Do I need to change any properties/settings of my Browser - Chrome/Firefox etc ?

Answer 1

As far I know, the most web browsers will not use HTTP2 Protocol if you would connect to the web site via HTTP instead of HTTPS.

There are many places where you can get SSL certificate for free, for example, StartSSL, Universal SSL, Let’s Encrypt (see here) and other. The certificate could be not for the long time period and don't have some additional properties like Time-Stamping (like here), but it could be still used. You can still use the certificate for free.

You can read here, for example, the instruction of configuring of HTTP2 in Apache HTTP Server. The most important would be to use the latest version of OpenSSL and the latest version of Apache Server. I'd recommend you to read the article about HTTP2, look the video and the corresponding slides here about making TLS faster and to go through the checklist.