---
layout: page
title: "Self-signed certificate for SSL/TLS"
description: "Configure a self-signed certificate to use with Home Assistant"
date: 2016-10-06 08:00
sidebar: true
comments: false
sharing: true
footer: true
redirect_from: /cookbook/tls_self_signed_certificate/
---

If your Home Assistant instance is only accessible from your local network you can still protect the communication between your browsers and the frontend with SSL/TLS. [Let's encrypt]({{site_root}}/blog/2015/12/13/setup-encryption-using-lets-encrypt/) will only work if you have a DNS entry and remote access is allowed. The solution is to use a self-signed certificate. As you most likely don't have a certification authority (CA) your browser will conplain about the security. If you have a CA then this will not be an issue.

To create locally a certificate you need the [OpenSSL](https://www.openssl.org/) command-line tool.

Change to your Home Assistant [configuration directory](/getting-started/configuration/) like `~/.homeassistant`. This will make it easier to backup your certificate and the key. Run the command shown below.

```bash
$ openssl req -new -x509 -sha256 -newkey rsa:4096 -nodes -keyout privkey.pem -days 730 -out fullchain.pem
```

For details about the parameters, please check the OpenSSL documentation. Provide the requested information during the generation process. At the end you will have two files called `privkey.pem` and `fullchain.pem`. The key and the certificate.

Update the `http:` entry in your `configuration.yaml` file and let it point to your created files. 

```yaml
http:
  api_password: YOUR_SECRET_PASSWORD
  ssl_certificate: /home/fab/.homeassistant/fullchain.pem
  ssl_key: /home/fab/.homeassistant/privkey.pem
```

A tutorial "[Working with SSL Certificates, Private Keys and CSRs](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/openssl-essentials-working-with-ssl-certificates-private-keys-and-csrs)" could give you some insight about special cases.
