Re: [mv] Secure Server for MiniVend.

["Christian J. Müller" <cmueller@polinet.ch>]

I have messed around with Apache/openssl for some time and eventually
decided to go for Stronghold (http://www.c2.net), who offer a commercial
Apache/openssl solution for use outside US. I paid the $1,000
(!!!)(including a Thawte Certificate) and had Apache SSL running within
virtually minutes. I found the documentation very professional and
comprehensive and email support was immediate (usually less than one
hour).
Now that I know a little more about certificates, private and public
keys and signing your own certificate etc. I would probably dare to go
for the open source solution. But, although Stronghold is pretty
expensive, it gave me the comfort of being able to run a secure server
for my customers without really understanding SSL profoundly.

Chris

> I have to respectfully disagree with the replies to date, for
> these reasons:
> 
> a/ for those of us living outside of the US, it's not so easy
> to get these "prohibited munitions" in a ready-to-fire form.
> b/ quoted figures of US$349 for Raven vs an hour's
> work seem a little off the wall to me 8)
> c/ when you compare the difficulty of compiling a  new
> Apache/SSL to the difficulty of developing and
> customising the inner workings of Minivend, then there's
> no contest. Compiling a new Apache/SSL is one or
> two hours - a good Minivend shop is ... ?????
> 
> True, for those of us "non-Linux people" (including
> myself) the prospect of compiling a new kernel or whatever
> is very daunting, but once you've been through and done it
> then it all becomes very simple. The main thing you need
> is good_clear_instructions (not always easy to find) and
> then to follow_them.
> 
> Get a new apache from apache.org, get mod_ssl from
> http://www.engelschall.com/sw/mod_ssl/ - (this includes
> all the instructions you will need) and Open SSL from
> http://www.openssl.org/. Print out the install file (from
> Engerschall), study it and decide on the options, and then
> compile apache into, say, /home/tmp - if this works then
> you know that you can do it again with more options or
> a better location or whatever. If it fails (in /home/tmp),
> then you can be certain that there is no damage
> done to your existing system.
> 
> Plus - and this is a big plus - you'll find once you've
> done something like this that you have more confidence
> about getting down to the nitty-gritty with Minivend.
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> Lyn
> 
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