Eiji
At start some definitions:
- HTTPS (is a protocol for secure communication over a computer network which is widely used on the Internet) - see HTTPS Wikipedia article
- WSS (secured WebSocket protocol) - see WebSocket Wikipedia article
- PFS (is a property of secure communication protocols in which compromise of long-term keys does not compromise past session keys) - see Perfect Forward Secrecy Wikipedia article.
- E2EE (a cryptographic paradigm involving uninterrupted protection of data traveling between two communicating parties) - see End-to-end encryption Wikipedia article
Summary:
- HTTPS, WSS protocols can be set in configuration
- PFS can be set in configuration too and need more attention (ciphers, SSL version)
- E2EE - to setup this we need choose algorithm(s) to generate, export, import, encrypt and decrypt for Web Cryptography API; time between generate new keys depends on what is used in application
Helpful sources:
- Mozilla wiki article describes SSL configuration and splits it by client support.
- SSL configuration could be set in standard nginx way or in cowboy/phoenix configuration.
- An examples of using Web Cryptography API
Where Next?
Trending in Wikis
Other Trending Topics
Latest Phoenix Threads
Latest on Elixir Forum
Sponsor Spotlight
Error tracking, logs, APM, uptime and cron monitoring in one dev-friendly platform. Find and fix problems before your users notice.
Categories:
Sub Categories:
Forums
Popular Tags
- #ecto
- #liveview
- #troubleshooting
- #learning-elixir
- #library
- #deployment
- #erlang
- #testing
- #genserver
- #mix
- #absinthe
- #remote-other
- #otp
- #plug
- #how-to-question
- #macros
- #postgres
- #elixirconf
- #channels
- #exunit
- #discussion
- #code-sync
- #podcasts
- #javascript
- #onsite
- #dialyzer
- #docker
- #authentication
- #ai
- #umbrella
- #full-time-contract
- #podcasts-by-brainlid
- #ecto-query
- #blog-post
- #elixirconf-us
- #elixir-ls
- #phoenix_html
- #iex
- #graphql
- #genstage
- #websockets
- #supervisor
- #advent-of-code
- #distillery
- #processes
- #elixirconf-eu
- #api
- #forms
- #security
- #metaprogramming
Our Sponsors
Supporting innovation across the BEAM ecosystem.
We build reliable cloud platforms for business-critical systems.
Catch errors, track performance, monitor hosts and more.
Error tracking, logs, uptime, and Just Enough APM. Built for developers.
Elixir, Erlang & BEAM conferences from Code Sync - join us in 2026!
Bringing learning, work and compliance together since 1987.
Producing high quality Elixir screencasts since 2017.
**Building the future of software with AI, trust, and human connection.**
The team behind Membrane, Popcorn, LiveDebugger. Available for hire.
Courses that'll move you from confusion to "Aha, now I get it!"
Showing Posts 1 to 10- Show Best Posts
- Show All (oldest first)
- Show All (newest first)
Nicd
Phoenix has HTTPS and WSS support builtin, see http://www.phoenixframework.org/docs/configuration-for-ssl
For PFS I believe you need to configure your server to use specific key exchange algorithms (i.e. it’s not a matter of the certificate). I don’t know how to do that with Phoenix. Personally I terminate TLS with Nginx and proxy it to Phoenix.
HTTPS and WSS are end-to-end encrypted, one end being the client’s browser and the other end being the server.
For free certificates, take a look at https://letsencrypt.org/
Eiji
First link describes only https or it will work also with WebSocket?
You reminded me that I already have seen that this is a matter of configuration algorithm. To summarize answer what was encryption algorithm name in PFS?
Summary:
I need any valid SSL certificate + configure ssl in phoenix + configure encryption algorithm that provide PFS, right?
Nicd
It should also enable WSS as far as I know.
Yes, but I don’t know how to do the last part. Maybe someone else can help.
Eiji
I found interesting article from Mozilla Wiki.
What do you think about it?
Is Modern configuration robust enough?
Nicd
That’s a good article, I’ve followed it in my own configurations. You need to decide for yourself which configuration you can use based on the clients you need to support.
Eiji
My demo site (in future) will support only modern standards. I do not want to support M$ standards, IE and other old leafs of web programming. I decide to CSS3/Ecmascript6/HTML5 in fronted and Elixir/Phoenix + my libs in backend, so I want Modern configuration. Is this configuration describes all SSL configuration must-have or you know more SSL configuration options that should be set (of course we need to generate certificate and add configuration to generated files)?
Nicd
I think that’s pretty comprehensive but I’m not an expert by any means.
Eiji
Ok, thx - here I will summarize all info:
Mozilla wiki article describes SSL configuration and splits it by client support.
SSL configuration could be set in standard nginx way or in cowboy/phoenix configuration.
Qqwy
And just a note about end-to-end encryption: This is a whole different beast. Usually it means that you have to use a JavaScript cryptography library, which is used to encrypt data before it is sent towards the server, and to decrypt certain data coming from the server (at a later time, or for a different user). Because usually with end-to-end encryption the server is ‘in the middle’, there are no special settings for the server software (such as Phoenix) to work with it.
Eiji
@Qqwy: Can you recommend any JavaScript library?
I found Web Cryptography API Examples github project, but I don’t know if one of this is good.