How to provide ownership information for a personal website
To get to the point; I would like to make myself available in order to supply the information needed to establish my own website from my own server. I don't want to be forced to buy the rights to my own intellectual property. When I make it known that I am interested in a specific web address for my own use this will be used to gouge my resources and just make me pay a fee for things I don't need. Mozilla says that my website is not secure but I have an SSL certificate and it even later admits that the information is encrypted. I'm not mad, I simply don't want to be bullied and wrangled into purchasing what I don't need. Nobody has the web address I currently have as my ServerName. The more I advertise it while I am working on it, the more likely I will be gouged or it will be stolen out from under me.
I've been working on computational engineering topics on my own for about a year and a half since I have been unemployed. I am interested in developing my own website, free and clear. I have gotten to the point that I can access what I have built on my local network. I run a Macbook Air and dual boot a tower with Ubuntu 22.04 and Windows 10. I built a website on Github but I want to run my own version on Apache from my Ubuntu OS. So far I have an Apache server running and I can access my website with the web address (httpS://www.example.com) I want from the Ubuntu tower. When I am on my Mac I have to type the IP address of the tower to access the site; the web address won't work. I can do the same thing from my iphone while in the house as well. I have created my own SSL certificate (though I am not a certificate authority). When I access the website on the tower with the web address, Mozilla bonks me with a security warning. It says that there is no ownership information, though when I made the SSL cert, I provided a lot of info. I have a legitimate company verified with the IRS (established Jan 2022). I have a paypal account for any financing I may need to do, though I don't want to support greedy ISPs that horde resources and spy on their clients. I can provide practically any info you may need and I appreciate any advice you can give to help me avoid paying through the nose for a pet project that will NEVER turn a profit, especially if it has any additional overhead. I was given the tower through a contract position and I want to use it to it max value.
All that being said, I appreciate a stranger listening to my problems and considering them for a thoughtful response. I understand you have a boss and you may need to say what you need to say. I will try my best to be respectful; though I am rarely respected.
Chosen solution
SSL certificate verification is intended to confirm that the device responding to the request is actually the host the user requested rather than an impostor.
Browsers can only verify an SSL certificate when there is a complete and valid digital signature chain to a recognized certification authority (AKA as a trusted root certificate). Therefore, "self-signed" certificates can never pass this test and will always require the user to make an exception or import a certificate.
You could check whether Let's Encrypt can work on your server -- it generates verifiable certicates. (https://letsencrypt.org/)
You could look at webmaster sites for the other aspects, but two more thoughts:
(1) If you plan to allow the world access through your firewall to your web server, you probably need to purchase a domain name registration if you haven't already. The annual fees charged by NameCheap and some others are less expensive than GoDaddy and IONOS/1&1, but you should compare the included features to decide which will work best for your needs.
(2) I have not implemented it myself, but something like Cloudflare Tunnels sounds like a relatively safer way to allow access through your firewall. The free tier is designed around authorized users rather than wide public access, so in the long run, this might not be what you are looking for.
Read this answer in context 👍 1All Replies (3)
You need to go and find a computer consultant or web site content creator to do what your asking. This goes beyond Firefox forum user help on browser usage. This is something that someone gets paid to do here.
Chosen Solution
SSL certificate verification is intended to confirm that the device responding to the request is actually the host the user requested rather than an impostor.
Browsers can only verify an SSL certificate when there is a complete and valid digital signature chain to a recognized certification authority (AKA as a trusted root certificate). Therefore, "self-signed" certificates can never pass this test and will always require the user to make an exception or import a certificate.
You could check whether Let's Encrypt can work on your server -- it generates verifiable certicates. (https://letsencrypt.org/)
You could look at webmaster sites for the other aspects, but two more thoughts:
(1) If you plan to allow the world access through your firewall to your web server, you probably need to purchase a domain name registration if you haven't already. The annual fees charged by NameCheap and some others are less expensive than GoDaddy and IONOS/1&1, but you should compare the included features to decide which will work best for your needs.
(2) I have not implemented it myself, but something like Cloudflare Tunnels sounds like a relatively safer way to allow access through your firewall. The free tier is designed around authorized users rather than wide public access, so in the long run, this might not be what you are looking for.
Sorry to vent here. I know that this is yet another insurmountable project that I have an interest in but I run out of patience sometimes. I appreciate your answers. I didn't mean to insinuate you or someone who knows how to do this doesn't deserve to be paid. I will take your notes as expert advice for cheap.