SSL and Windows Azure Web Sites

Question

SSL is not stated in the configuration options for Windows Azure Web Sites: https://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/manage/services/web-sites/how-to-configure-websites/

Is it possible to configure an SSL certificate for a Windows Azure Web Site?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Great question!

During preview, we support shared SSL certificates only.  Custom SSL certificates are not yet available, but are an important features we hope to introduce in the future!

If your website is at http://mysite.azurewebsites.net, then it is automatically accessible via HTTPS at https://mysite.azurewebsites.net

Thanks!

Ryan

Answer 2

Hey Ryan,

Any idea when support for custom SSL certificates will be available?

Thanks again!

Willem 

Answer 3

Hi Willem,

I don't have a date I can share at this time :)  But please rest assured knowing it's high on our list of priorities.

Thanks!

Ryan

Answer 4

Wildcard SSL certs are important as well. For us to us Azure, we need to be able to map *.ourdomain.com to a single wildcard cert.

Answer 5

Wildcard domains aren't supported quite yet on Azure Web Sites.  Though +1 from me for wildcard ssl.

Answer 6

weeks or months? :) i need it

Answer 7

Wildcard SSL certs are important as well. For us to us Azure, we need to be able to map *.ourdomain.com to a single wildcard cert.

Azure Websites without SSL & wild card domains are entirely useless for all business customers.

Answer 8

Hi,

What about supporting WIF identity driven website that uses separated service certificate to encrypt/decrypt security token? Can Azure websites accommodate this type of web application?

I have an WIF claim-based identity driven web application that currently runs as an Azure web role. It runs as a relying party of Azure Access Control service. ACS signs the identity token with a self-signed certificate that provides private key. To get it working, the web application has to have access of that self-signed certificate. Would Azure web site support this scenario?

Reggie

Answer 9

Hi Ryan,

It has been a few months since there was any updates on whether SSL will be supported by Windows Azure web sites (in shared or reserved mode).  We have been kind of sitting on the fence trying to make a decision.  Could you please give us an update on the expected date?  Thank you.

Answer 10

@gamoniac - We don't have a date which we can share publicly at this time, but we do realize this is an important gap and are working to fill it.

@reggie - I'm not sure your question pertains to this thread.  Can you open a new thread so someone can assist you there?

Thanks!

Ryan

Answer 11

During preview, we support shared SSL certificates only.  Custom SSL certificates are not yet available, but are an important features we hope to introduce in the future!

When does the "preview" end and "real environment" begin?

Answer 12

any news here about release? i really need wildcards ssl too on our websites...

Answer 13

A big +1 from me.... in fact, make that a +2 :)

We're desperate to a number of sites on Windows Azure websites when SSL is an option... but without an eta, we may end up having to look elsewhere... no further comment from MS on this since preview was launched four months ago?

John

Answer 14

I am in the same boat.  I am building an app for Microsoft HealthVault and of course I need SSL for the approval process, but I am very interested in reducing my workload worrying about infrastructure.  I thought that Azure websites was going to be perfect for getting my project started, but without SSL, I cannot use it at all.  :(  

Please, throw us a bone and give some idea when preview will end and SSL might be supported.

Answer 15

When will it implemented?

Answer 16

Any news on certificates for Azure Web Sites? We need this feature.

Answer 17

Yes, an ETA or at least some regular updates would be very welcome at this point.

Answer 18

Ditto.  We have been waiting on this for several months now.  Please indicate the date this will be supported.

Answer 19

Hi Everyone.

We understand the importance of custom SSL certificates, and it is something we are working on.

I don't have a date I can share publically.

Thanks,

Ryan

Answer 20

@rjones_max

In the meantime, if we were to setup an ARR instance to proxy the SSL in the same data center, would we be guaranteed that all traffic between the ARR web role and the Windows Azure Web Site(s) would be data center, internal traffic only that we could trust wouldn't be able to be sniffed by external parties?

Answer 21

I don't have a date I can share at this time :)  But please rest assured knowing it's high on our list of priorities.

Will voting at mygreatwindowsazureidea.com help to prioritize and speed up the process? :)

Answer 22

@rjones_max

Web sites without our own certificates are definitively a show stopper for commerce sites. 

Answer 23

It's been over a month. Any news? This is a show stopper.

Answer 24

Hello,

Any news about the availability of ssl for azure websites?

Regards

Answer 25

Hi.

The lack of company specific SSL certificates for azurewebsites.net could "make a cold shopper out of me", to quote one of my favorite christmas movies. Regretfully, because I like Azure.

Regards,
Markus

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Markus Sveinn Markusson

Answer 26

Markus,

This is something that we know is important to people, and it's in the plans. We just don't have an ETA to announce at this time.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Answer 27

+1

Plus some characters so they let me post.

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Bruno Garcia MCPD Web 4, 3.5, 2.0 - MCSA Windows Server 2003

Answer 28

Hi:

What does it mean that:

If your website is at http://mysite.azurewebsites.net, then it is automatically accessible via HTTPS at https://mysite.azurewebsites.net

Does it mean HTTP requests and responses to-and-from that site are encrypted (with 'shared' certificates)?

JerseyJim

Answer 29

Yes. There is a cert registered to *.azurewebsites.net that will be used in this case.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Answer 30

Yes. There is a cert registered to *.azurewebsites.net that will be used in this case.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Do we have any pointes for SSL implementation for Azure websites?

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Regards, Vishal Supekar BE.CSE MCPDEA(Micorsoft Certified)

Answer 31

Hi, Vishal. Can you please clarify? I'm not sure what you're asking.

Thanks.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Answer 32

Hi Jim,

I am looking for SSL support for azure websites and pointers to - how we can implement it.

Please advise.

Thanks,

Vishal

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Regards, Vishal Supekar BE.CSE MCPDEA(Micorsoft Certified)

Answer 33

Vishal,

This is not yet available in WAWS.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Answer 34

Hi Jim

I know you said you don't have ETA on SSL but will it be ready in a month or two?  Or else I will have to move my site out of Azure because I need to start charging my users.  

Thanks

Answer 35

I'm in the same boat. I have a complete web app ready for launch but without SSL, I can't really present a registration or login form. Such a basic requirement. Azure websites is great, but for this one critical and essential feature.

I'm going to wait it out a little longer, but I'm moving to AppHardbor if I can't get SSL soon. An ETA would be really nice. Even just a ballpark (2nd quarter 2013 or something). 

Answer 36

It has been 09 months, and still the response is same. "This is very important for business customers, but no ETA".    I feel myself in trouble,  how to charge the customer?

Answer 37

Hi, guys. I have checked with the product group. They tell me that they are planning on deploying this into production within the next few months. If this is a concern for you, you can email me at jamesche at Microsoft.

Thanks!

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Answer 38

Man this is a big problem.  I really wanted to use Azure Web Sites for an e-commerce application.  I can't imagine asking users to give me their payment information without SSL.  The wildcard cert on *.azurewebsites.net is nowhere near good enough, sorry guys :(

Answer 39

We are shooting for April or May for this feature.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Answer 40

Good to finally have some sort of answer.  Disappointing on the answer.  I realize Azure Websites' are still in preview, but how can you preview an unfinished product?  

Does your answer also imply that the preview will end around the same time?

I realize this is not the place, but as my complaint will point out, there's no where else to say it.  As such, here is my complaint.  

It would seem that MS is making great strides to develop and iterate faster and in parallel.  This is great on the surface, but the reality is, it's becoming increasingly difficult to locate an authoritative response on anything currently.  This SSL issue is a primary example.  Why does it take a "Google" search to come across this post where I have to scroll to the bottom to find an answer? Another case in point, SqlPackage.exe.  There are so many flavors of it floating around right now.  Unless you happen to stumble upon particular bloggers that are in the know, you wouldn't know where to get the latest.  Somebody over there needs to rope all this stuff together and communicate!

Answer 41

Hi, KickStartCV. That's good feedback, and I appreciate it. I'll funnel it up.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Answer 42

Jim,

Will this be available for both Shared- and Reserved mode?

Regards,
Robert

Answer 43

Robert,

I don't have details on the implementation at this point.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Answer 44

I know you have already answered in this thread but I have spent the past few weeks developing a site we thought we were going to go live on Azure with. Not in my wildest dreams did I think I wouldn't be able to apply an SSL certificate. Only when I actually tried to find in the Portal where to do it did I start 

This is meant to be a cutting edge hosting platform and I can't secure my website. Utter utter fail.

Unless this appears in the next couple of weeks we will be ditching Azure.

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Mark Wilson

Answer 45

Mark,

Please keep in mind that Windows Azure Web Sites is in preview (beta) and is not feature-complete at this point. We plan on adding this support within the next couple of months. If that is something that falls outside of your requirements, please email me at jamesche at Microsoft.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Answer 46

Mark,

Please keep in mind that Windows Azure Web Sites is in preview (beta) and is not feature-complete at this point. We plan on adding this support within the next couple of months. If that is something that falls outside of your requirements, please email me at jamesche at Microsoft.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Jim,

We understand how previews work, it's just SSL support on a website hosting platform is so... fundamental.  

Very disappointing, to say the least.

Mike

Answer 47

Dear Jim: We are almost in April, any news about SSL in custom domains? It is becoming a total stopper for using websites seriously. Please help us with this. Regards

Answer 48

We just hit this road block as well yesterday after developing on Azure for 3 months.  My devs are taking our secure apps to AWS that supports custom certs. 

P.S  The compute hours, storage and data services are 20 to 40% cheaper than AZ anyway - so in this regard you may find your cup is half full.  :)

Hope this helps someone.

Dave

Answer 49

We're still targeting April or May. However, as stated above, if that's a concern for you, please email me.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Answer 50

Honestly, April or May will fit into our timeline. But chiming in here that it is going to be critical to our needs. Also, will there be wildcard SSL support for sub-domains?

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stonetip

Answer 51

We're still targeting April or May. However, as stated above, if that's a concern for you, please email me.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

We have just hit the same issue as everyone else. Everything is working 100% in Azure Websites except SSL. We've tried using Azure Cloud Services, but it's brought in a whole lot of other complications.

How can we email you (not sure where to find your email address)?

Answer 52

You can email me at jamesche at Microsoft.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Answer 53

Hi Jim,

Pls Tell the Product Managers @ Microsoft Azure to Accelerate "Our" request ...

I can't believe a Multi Billion Global Company Is Slow to Add SSL to the Their

Customers Shared/Resevered Azure Websites..

My site is Ready to Launch by June 2013 .. it's in Beta now ..

If I can't get a guarentee by May 2013 Then I have to Move out..

I Like what I see so far in Azure Websites .. but not having SSL is a Deal Breaker

Thanx..A.L.G.

Answer 54

Please email me as per previous responses.

Thanks.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Answer 55

Jim - can you help me understand something? With the use of the shared cert right now, is it possible to use my own SSL certficiate for my custom domain (https://mydomain.com) and have the CNAME record pointing to the secured https://mysite.azurewebsites.com behind the scenes? Or is that the problem that others are asking about?  For that matter, is it even possible to have a CNAME record for a NON-secured http://mydomain.com pointing to a secured azure website? I have not messed around with SSL before so I'm not quite sure how all of that works. Thanks.

Answer 56

That won't work. See the sticky at the top of the forum for information on how you can make this work until we release this feature.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft

Answer 57

Dave, good luck with that when you get your first bill. Hopefully your cup won't be half full. Having run enterprise applications on both clouds Amazon tends to be more stealthy with its pricing as I'm sure you'll find out.

Answer 58

To close out this thread, if you are interested in using a temporary solution for SSL until we release this as an official feature, please see the sticky in the forum.

Thanks.

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Jim Cheshire | Microsoft