How to Configure Amazon's ELB with HTTPS/SSL for Web Sockets: A Guide

Web sockets provide a persistent connection between a client and a server, enabling real-time, bidirectional communication. This powerful technology is essential for applications demanding real-time updates. But, integrating web sockets with HTTPS/SSL on Amazon’s Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) can be tricky. This blog post will guide you through it.

By Saturn Cloud | Tuesday, August 08, 2023 | Miscellaneous

How to Configure Amazon’s ELB with HTTPS/SSL for Web Sockets: A Guide

What is Amazon’s Elastic Load Balancer (ELB)?

Amazon’s ELB is a scalable, fully-managed load balancing service that automatically distributes incoming traffic across multiple Amazon EC2 instances. It provides enhanced scalability and reliability for any application, making it a go-to choice for many data scientists and software engineers.

Why Use SSL with ELB and Web Sockets?

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), now technically referred to as Transport Layer Security (TLS), is a protocol for securing the connection between a client and the server. When you’re dealing with sensitive data, it’s vital to implement HTTPS (HTTP with SSL/TLS). In the context of web sockets, it’s equally important to ensure these persistent connections are secure.

How to Configure ELB with HTTPS/SSL for Web Sockets

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you set up ELB with HTTPS/SSL for Web Sockets:

Step 1: Set Up an SSL Certificate

To use HTTPS with your ELB, you’ll need to first set up an SSL certificate. Amazon provides a service called AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) that lets you easily provision, manage, and deploy public and private SSL/TLS certificates.

aws acm request-certificate \
    --domain-name www.mydomain.com \
    --validation-method EMAIL

Step 2: Configure ELB to Use HTTPS

Next, ensure that your load balancer is set up for HTTPS by adding an HTTPS listener.

aws elbv2 create-listener \
    --load-balancer-arn arn:aws:elasticloadbalancing:region:account-id:loadbalancer/app/my-load-balancer/50dc6c495c0c9188 \
    --protocol HTTPS \
    --port 443 \
    --ssl-policy ELBSecurityPolicy-2016-08 \
    --certificates CertificateArn=arn:aws:acm:region:account-id:certificate/certificate-id \
    --default-actions Type=forward,TargetGroupArn=arn:aws:elasticloadbalancing:region:account-id:targetgroup/my-targets/73e2d6bc24d8a067

Step 3: Enable Sticky Sessions

Sticky sessions bind a user’s session to a specific instance, which is crucial for maintaining the connection required by web sockets.

aws elbv2 modify-target-group-attributes \
    --target-group-arn arn:aws:elasticloadbalancing:region:account-id:targetgroup/my-targets/73e2d6bc24d8a067 \
    --attributes Key=stickiness.enabled,Value=true

Step 4: Configure Security Groups

Security groups act as a virtual firewall for your instances. You need to ensure that your security group allows inbound traffic on the HTTPS port (443) and the WebSocket port (typically 80 or 8080).

Step 5: Update Your Web Socket Code

Ensure your WebSocket code is using “wss” (WebSocket Secure) for connections instead of “ws”.

var ws = new WebSocket("wss://www.mydomain.com/ws");

Final Thoughts

Configuring Amazon’s ELB with HTTPS/SSL for web sockets involves several steps, but the added security and scalability benefits are well worth the effort. By following this guide, you can ensure that your real-time applications are both secure and scalable.

Remember, the world of technology is always evolving. Stay curious, keep learning, and don’t hesitate to experiment with new techniques and tools. Your goal as a data scientist or software engineer should always be to build secure, efficient, and future-proof solutions.

About Saturn Cloud

Saturn Cloud is your all-in-one solution for data science & ML development, deployment, and data pipelines in the cloud. Spin up a notebook with 4TB of RAM, add a GPU, connect to a distributed cluster of workers, and more. Join today and get 150 hours of free compute per month.

Try Saturn Cloud Now