How to enable TLS 1.3 in Nginx service of Ubuntu & Debian Cloud Servers (with Cipher Suites included)

Transportation Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol and it provides the security for the delivery of data over the internet. TLS 1.3 is faster than TLS 1.2 because the handshake for TLS 1.3 is reduced to just one round-trip.

This can easily be enabled in a Linux-based server. This guide outlines the basic steps involved in Ubuntu & Debian servers (provided Nginx service is already installed in the server).

Requirements:

1. Server running on Ubuntu/Debian.

2. A valid domain name and properly configured A/AAAA/CNAME DNS records.

3. A valid TLS certificate. Here using from Let’s encrypt.

4. Nginx version 1.13.0 or greater.

5. OpenSSL version 1.1.1 or greater.

Before the beginning,

1. Check the Debian version by using the below command.

   # lsb_release -ds
   

   

2. By using the below command ensure that the server is up to date.

   # apt update && sudo apt upgrade
   

   

3. Install the needed packages by using the below command.

   # apt install git unzip curl sudo socat build-essential
   

   

Step A. Install the acme.sh client and obtain a TLS certificate from Let's Encrypt.

acme.sh is used to install, renew and remove SSL certificates and it is written purely in Shell (Unix shell) language, compatible with bash, dash, and sh shells.

1. Install acme.sh with the below commands.

   # git clone https://github.com/acmesh-official/acme.sh
   
   # cd acme.sh
   
   # ./acme.sh --install –accountemail [email protected]
   
   # cd ~
   
   # source ~/.bashrc
   

   

   

   NOTE: Replace the mail account with your mail account name.

2. Check the version of acme.sh.

   # acme.sh --version
   

   

3. Obtain RSA and ECDSA certificates for the domain.

   # RSA
   acme.sh --issue --standalone -d example.com --keylength 2048
   
   # ECC/ECDSA
   acme.sh --issue --standalone -d example.com --keylength ec-256
   

   

   

4. Create directories to store your certs and keys in then, install and copy certificates to /etc/letsencrypt.

   # mkdir -p /etc/letsencrypt/testlayerstack.com
   
   # mkdir -p /etc/letsencrypt/testlayerstack.com_ecc
   

   

   
   

   # acme.sh --install-cert -d testlayerstack.com --cert-file /etc/letsencrypt/testlayerstack.com/cert.pem --key-file /etc/letsencrypt/testlayerstack.com/private.key --fullchain-file /etc/letsencrypt/testlayerstack.com/fullchain.pem
   
   # acme.sh --install-cert -d testlayerstack.com --ecc --cert-file etc/letsencrypt/testlayerstack.com_ecc/cert.pem --key-file /etc/letsencrypt/testlayerstack.com_ecc/private.key --fullchain-file /etc/letsencrypt/testlayerstack.com_ecc/fullchain.pem
   

   

   

5. After running the above commands, your certificates and keys will be in the below-mentioned locations:

   RSA: /etc/letsencrypt/testlayerstack.com
   
   ECC/ECDSA: /etc/letsencrypt/testlayerstack.com_ecc
   

Step B. Configure Nginx for TLS 1.3

1. Install the latest version of Nginx.

   # apt install nginx
   

   

2. Check the Nginx version then, start and enable using the below commands.

   # nginx -v
   
   # systemctl start nginx.service
   
   # systemctl enable nginx.service
   

   

3. Run the below command and add the following basic configurations in that file.

   # vim /etc/nginx/conf.d/testlayerstack.com.conf
   
   server {
   
   listen 443 ssl http2;
   listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
   
   # RSA
   ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/testlayerstack.com/fullchain.cer;
   ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/testlayerstack.com/testlayerstack.com.key;
   
   # ECDSA
   ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/testlayerstack.com_ecc/fullchain.cer;
   ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/_ecc/testlayerstack.com.key;
   
   ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
   ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256';
   ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
   

   

4. Then Save and Exit the file.

   NOTE: Replace testlayerstack.com in commands with your valid domain name.

5. Reload the Nginx to activate the new configuration.

6. Now you can verify TLS 1.3 by using any browser dev tools or SSL Labs service such as given below.

   https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/
   

Related Tutorials

• How to enable TLS 1.3 in Nginx service of CentOS Cloud Servers (with Cipher Suites included)

• How to enable TLS 1.3 in Nginx service of Linux Cloud Servers (without Cipher Suites included)

• How to enable TLS 1.3 in Apache service of Linux Cloud Servers

• How to install Nginx web server on CentOS, Debian & Ubuntu Cloud Servers

• How to add HTTP2 support to Nginx on Linux Cloud Servers