==== Make A Self-signed SSL certificate ====
<code>
cd /etc/nginx
openssl req -new -x509 -nodes -out server.crt -keyout server.key
chmod 600 server.key
</code>

==== Global Settings ====
<code>
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.1 TLSv1;    
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
ssl_ciphers "EECDH+ECDSA+AESGCM EECDH+aRSA+AESGCM EECDH+ECDSA+SHA384 EECDH+ECDSA+SHA256 EECDH+aRSA+SHA384 EECDH+aRSA+SHA256 EECDH+aRSA+RC4 EECDH EDH+aRSA RC4 !aNULL !eNULL !LOW !3DES !MD5 !EXP !PSK !SRP !DSS !RC4";
</code>

If you want to support IE8/XP, change the last line to
<code>
ssl_ciphers "EECDH+ECDSA+AESGCM EECDH+aRSA+AESGCM EECDH+ECDSA+SHA384 EECDH+ECDSA+SHA256 EECDH+aRSA+SHA384 EECDH+aRSA+SHA256 EECDH+aRSA+RC4 EECDH EDH+aRSA RC4 !aNULL !eNULL !LOW !3DES !MD5 !EXP !PSK !SRP !DSS +RC4 RC4";
</code>

==== Example Site Configuration Part ====
<code>
listen 443 ssl spdy;
ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/server.crt;
ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/server.key;
</code>

==== Redirect to HTTPS ====
<code>
location / {
    return 301 https://example.com$request_uri;
}
</code>

==== As A Force-HTTPS Reverse Proxy ====
<code>
proxy_redirect   http:// $scheme://
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
proxy_set_header X-Scheme $scheme;
</code>

==== Verify A CRT Matches A KEY ====
<code>
openssl x509 -noout -modulus -in server.crt | openssl md5
openssl rsa -noout -modulus -in myserver.key | openssl md5
</code>
If the output are not the same, then they do not match and won't work on Nginx.

==== Generating a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) ====
<code>
openssl req -new -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout $DOMAIN.key -out $DOMAIN.csr
</code>

=== CSR Fields ===

  * Country Code: The two-letter International Organization for Standardization (ISO-) format country code for the country in which your organization is legally registered. Click the link below for a complete list of ISO country codes. [[http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/country_codes/country_names_and_code_elements.htm|ISO Country Codes]]

  * State/Province: Name of state, province, region, territory where your organization is located. Please enter the full name. Do not abbreviate

  * City/Locality: Name of the city/locality in which your organization is registered/located. Please spell out the name of the city/locality. Do not abbreviate.

  * Organization: The name under which your business is legally registered. The listed organization must be the legal registrant of the domain name in the certificate request. If you are enrolling as a small business/sole proprietor, please enter the certificate requester's name in the "Organization" field, and the DBA (doing business as) name in the "Organizational Unit" field.

  * Organizational Unit: Optional. Use this field to differentiate between divisions within an organization. For example, "Engineering" or "Human Resources." If applicable, you may enter the DBA (doing business as) name in this field.

  * Common name: The name entered in the "CN" (common name) field of the CSR MUST be the fully-qualified domain name for the website you will be using the certificate for (e.g., "www.domainnamegoeshere"). Do not include the "http://" or "https://" prefixes in your common name. Do NOT enter your personal name in this field.

If you are requesting a Wild Card certificate, please add an asterisk (*) on the left side of the common name (e.g., "*.domainnamegoeshere.com"). This will secure all subdomains of the common name.

NOTE: If you enter "www.domainnamegoeshere.com" as the Common Name in your certificate signing request, the certificate will secure both "www.domainnamegoeshere.com" and "domainnamegoeshere.com." And vice versa.


References:

  * http://dracoblue.net/dev/https-nginx-with-self-signed-ssl-certificate/188/
  * http://serverfault.com/questions/372886/prevent-nginx-from-redirecting-traffic-from-https-to-http-when-used-as-a-reverse
  * http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/3601/generating-a-certificate-signing-request-nginx
  * http://support.godaddy.com/help/category/746/ssl-certificates-csr-generation-instructions
  * https://support.comodo.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=1250
  * https://www.digicert.com/ssl-support/ssl-enabling-perfect-forward-secrecy.htm