Adding SSL/TLS To Azure Container Instances

Nowadays, SSL/TLS is a base requirement for any website or application that operates over the internet. Unfortunately for most people, setting up and managing SSL/TLS is a nightmare.

This post will walk through using a standard Nginx container as a sidecar to add SSL/TLS for Azure Container Instance. All without making changes to the application code.

Types of SSL/TLS Certificates

First, we’ll need an SSL/TLS certificate. There are two options get a certificate

1. Create Your Own Certificate (Self-Signed): Self-Signed certificates are generated by us and certified by us, hence the self-signed. This makes them easier to get, but you get to see the nice https warning when trying to use a browser. To stop that warning you’ll need a certificate that is trusted and vetted by a third-party know as a CA Certificate.
2. Obtain a CA Certificate: A CA (Certificate Authority) is a third-party organization that verifies the legitimacy of the website/application. All browsers store the principle certificates to confirm that the site you are going to is actually the site you want. This means not only is your data safe while in transit, but you are also confident it is going to the correct place.

Generate Self-Signed Certificate…