Redirect From HTTP To HTTPS Using Node.js/Express

Is there any way I can change my web app to listen on HTTPS instead of HTTP. I'm using node.js/express. I need it to listen on HTTPS because I'm using geolocation, which Chrome no

Solution 1:

Yes, there is a way. First off, generate a self-signed certificate:

openssl req -nodes -new -x509 -keyout server.key -out server.cert

Then, serve over HTTPS thanks to Node's HTTPS lib:

// imports
const express = require('express');
var fs = require('fs');
const http = require('http');
const https = require('https');
const app = require('./path/to/your/express/app');

// HTTPS server
const httpsServer = https.createServer({
    key: fs.readFileSync('server.key'),
    cert: fs.readFileSync('server.cert')
}, app);
httpsServer.listen(443, () => console.log(`HTTPS server listening: https://localhost`));

Finally, use a minimal HTTP server to listen requests to the same domain and redirects them:

// redirect HTTP server
const httpApp = express();
httpApp.all('*', (req, res) => res.redirect(300, 'https://localhost'));
const httpServer = http.createServer(httpApp);
httpServer.listen(80, () => console.log(`HTTP server listening: http://localhost`));

This is, of course, the minimal setup. For production, you'll use different certificates, and replace localhost by a dynamic domain name that you'll generate from req, and you might not want to use the ports 80 and 443, etc.

Related reads:

• Express + HTTPS
• Express::res.redirect()
• Redirecting to HTTPS in Express
• HTTPS when deploying with Heroku