This guide describes how to install HAProxy with Let’s Encrypt as ubuntu service. This is possible in case you are hosting ThingsBoard in the cloud and have a valid DNS name assigned to your instance.
- Prerequisites
- Step 1. Connect to your ThingsBoard instance over SSH
- Step 2. Install HAProxy Load Balancer package
- Step 3. Install Certbot package
- Step 4. Install default self-signed certificate
- Step 5. Configure HAProxy Load Balancer
- Step 6. Configure Edge TLS communication (Optional)
- Step 7. Configure Certbot with Let’s Encrypt
- Step 8. Install certificates auto renewal cron job
- Step 9. Restart HAProxy Load Balancer
- Step 10. Execute command to get generate certificate using Let’s Encrypt
- Step 11. Refresh HAProxy configuration
Prerequisites
Ubuntu 18.04 / Ubuntu 20.04 with valid DNS name assigned to the instance. Network settings should allow connections on Port 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS).
Step 1. Connect to your ThingsBoard instance over SSH
Below is example command for AWS as a reference:
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$ ssh -i <PRIVATE-KEY> ubuntu@<PUBLIC_DNS_NAME>
or consult your cloud vendor for different options.
Step 2. Install HAProxy Load Balancer package
Execute the following commands to install HAProxy package:
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sudo apt install --no-install-recommends software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:vbernat/haproxy-2.4 -y
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install haproxy=2.4.\* openssl
Step 3. Install Certbot package
Execute the following commands to install Certbot package:
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sudo apt-get install ca-certificates certbot
Step 4. Install default self-signed certificate
Execute the following commands to install default self-signed certificate:
(copy-paste full text of the command as-is)
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cat <<EOT | sudo tee /usr/bin/haproxy-default-cert
#!/bin/sh
set -e
HA_PROXY_DIR=/usr/share/tb-haproxy
CERTS_D_DIR=\${HA_PROXY_DIR}/certs.d
TEMP_DIR=/tmp
PASSWORD=\$(openssl rand -base64 32)
SUBJ="/C=US/ST=somewhere/L=someplace/O=haproxy/OU=haproxy/CN=haproxy.selfsigned.invalid"
KEY=\${TEMP_DIR}/haproxy_key.pem
CERT=\${TEMP_DIR}/haproxy_cert.pem
CSR=\${TEMP_DIR}/haproxy.csr
DEFAULT_PEM=\${HA_PROXY_DIR}/default.pem
if [ ! -e \${HA_PROXY_DIR} ]; then
mkdir -p \${HA_PROXY_DIR}
fi
if [ ! -e \${CERTS_D_DIR} ]; then
mkdir -p \${CERTS_D_DIR}
fi
# Check if default.pem has been created
if [ ! -e \${DEFAULT_PEM} ]; then
openssl genrsa -des3 -passout pass:\${PASSWORD} -out \${KEY} 2048 &> /dev/null
sleep 1
openssl req -new -key \${KEY} -passin pass:\${PASSWORD} -out \${CSR} -subj \${SUBJ} &> /dev/null
sleep 1
cp \${KEY} \${KEY}.org &> /dev/null
openssl rsa -in \${KEY}.org -passin pass:\${PASSWORD} -out \${KEY} &> /dev/null
sleep 1
openssl x509 -req -days 3650 -in \${CSR} -signkey \${KEY} -out \${CERT} &> /dev/null
sleep 1
cat \${CERT} \${KEY} > \${DEFAULT_PEM}
echo \${PASSWORD} > \${HA_PROXY_DIR}/password.txt
fi
EOT
Execute the following commands:
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sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/haproxy-default-cert
touch ~/.rnd
sudo haproxy-default-cert
Step 5. Configure HAProxy Load Balancer
Execute the following command to create HAProxy Load Balancer configuration file:
(copy-paste full text of the command as-is)
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cat <<EOT | sudo tee /etc/haproxy/haproxy.cfg
#HA Proxy Config
global
ulimit-n 500000
maxconn 99999
maxpipes 99999
tune.maxaccept 500
log 127.0.0.1 local0
log 127.0.0.1 local1 notice
ca-base /etc/ssl/certs
crt-base /etc/ssl/private
ssl-default-bind-ciphers ECDH+AESGCM:DH+AESGCM:ECDH+AES256:DH+AES256:ECDH+AES128:DH+AES:ECDH+3DES:DH+3DES:RSA+AESGCM:RSA+AES:RSA+3DES:!aNULL:!MD5:!DSS
ssl-default-bind-options no-sslv3
defaults
log global
mode http
timeout connect 5000ms
timeout client 50000ms
timeout server 50000ms
timeout tunnel 1h # timeout to use with WebSocket and CONNECT
default-server init-addr none
listen stats
bind *:9999
stats enable
stats hide-version
stats uri /stats
stats auth admin:admin@123
frontend http-in
bind *:80 alpn h2,http/1.1
option forwardfor
http-request add-header "X-Forwarded-Proto" "http"
acl letsencrypt_http_acl path_beg /.well-known/acme-challenge/
redirect scheme https if !letsencrypt_http_acl { env(FORCE_HTTPS_REDIRECT) -m str true }
use_backend letsencrypt_http if letsencrypt_http_acl
default_backend tb-backend
frontend https_in
bind *:443 ssl crt /usr/share/tb-haproxy/default.pem crt /usr/share/tb-haproxy/certs.d/ ciphers ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:RC4-SHA:RC4:HIGH:!MD5:!aNULL:!EDH:!AESGCM alpn h2,http/1.1
option forwardfor
http-request add-header "X-Forwarded-Proto" "https"
default_backend tb-backend
backend letsencrypt_http
server letsencrypt_http_srv 127.0.0.1:8090
backend tb-backend
balance leastconn
option tcp-check
option log-health-checks
server tb1 127.0.0.1:8080 check inter 5s
http-request set-header X-Forwarded-Port %[dst_port]
EOT
Step 6. Configure Edge TLS communication (Optional)
ThingsBoard supports securing the connection between the platform and edge instances by running the gRPC connection over TLS/SSL.
We will use HAProxy as the termination point for the TLS connection between the edges and the platform.
First, we need to change the default binding port for edge connectivity of the platform to port 7071. This allows us to configure HAProxy to listen on the default 7070 port and forward connections to the 7071 port on the platform.
Please execute the following command to update the edge bind port on the platform:
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sudo sh -c 'cat <<EOL >> /etc/thingsboard/conf/thingsboard.conf
export EDGES_RPC_PORT=7071
EOL'
To apply the changes, the ThingsBoard platform must be restarted:
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sudo systemctl restart thingsboard
Next, add the TLS configuration for HAProxy by executing the following command to update its config file:
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sudo sh -c 'cat <<EOL >> /etc/haproxy/haproxy.cfg
# Edge gRPC TLS (optional)
listen grpc_front
bind *:7070 ssl crt /usr/share/tb-haproxy/default.pem crt /usr/share/tb-haproxy/certs.d/ ciphers ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:RC4-SHA:RC4:HIGH:!MD5:!aNULL:!EDH:!AESGCM alpn h2,http/1.1
mode tcp
option clitcpka
option tcplog
default_backend grpc_backend
backend grpc_backend
mode tcp
server grpc 127.0.0.1:7071
EOL'
Step 7. Configure Certbot with Let’s Encrypt
Execute the following commands to create Certbot with Let’s Encrypt configuration and helper files:
(copy-paste full text of the command as-is)
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sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/letsencrypt \
&& sudo mkdir -p /usr/share/tb-haproxy/letsencrypt \
&& sudo rm -rf /etc/letsencrypt \
&& sudo ln -s /usr/share/tb-haproxy/letsencrypt /etc/letsencrypt
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cat <<EOT | sudo tee /usr/local/etc/letsencrypt/cli.ini
authenticator = standalone
agree-tos = True
http-01-port = 8090
non-interactive = True
preferred-challenges = http-01
EOT
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cat <<EOT | sudo tee /usr/bin/haproxy-refresh
#!/bin/sh
HA_PROXY_DIR=/usr/share/tb-haproxy
LE_DIR=/usr/share/tb-haproxy/letsencrypt/live
DOMAINS=\$(ls -I README \${LE_DIR})
# update certs for HA Proxy
for DOMAIN in \${DOMAINS}
do
cat \${LE_DIR}/\${DOMAIN}/fullchain.pem \${LE_DIR}/\${DOMAIN}/privkey.pem > \${HA_PROXY_DIR}/certs.d/\${DOMAIN}.pem
done
# restart haproxy
exec service haproxy restart
EOT
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cat <<EOT | sudo tee /usr/bin/certbot-certonly
#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/certbot certonly -c /usr/local/etc/letsencrypt/cli.ini "\$@"
EOT
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cat <<EOT | sudo tee /usr/bin/certbot-renew
#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/certbot -c /usr/local/etc/letsencrypt/cli.ini renew "\$@"
EOT
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sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/haproxy-refresh /usr/bin/certbot-certonly /usr/bin/certbot-renew
Step 8. Install certificates auto renewal cron job
Execute the following command to create certificates auto renewal cron job:
(copy-paste full text of the command as-is)
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cat <<EOT | sudo tee /etc/cron.d/certbot
# /etc/cron.d/certbot: crontab entries for the certbot package
#
# Upstream recommends attempting renewal twice a day
#
# Eventually, this will be an opportunity to validate certificates
# haven't been revoked, etc. Renewal will only occur if expiration
# is within 30 days.
SHELL=/bin/sh
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
0 */12 * * * root test -x /usr/bin/certbot && perl -e 'sleep int(rand(3600))' && certbot -c /usr/local/etc/letsencrypt/cli.ini -q renew && haproxy-refresh
EOT
Step 9. Restart HAProxy Load Balancer
Finally restart HAProxy Load Balancer service in order changes take effect:
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sudo service haproxy restart
Step 10. Execute command to get generate certificate using Let’s Encrypt
Don’t forget to replace your_domain and your_email before executing the command below:
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sudo certbot-certonly --domain your_domain --email your_email
Step 11. Refresh HAProxy configuration
Finally restart HAProxy:
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sudo haproxy-refresh
