Can't compile nginx with SSL support, OpenSSL not found

Question

I'm trying to compile nginx from source with the SSL module enabled. When I run this command:

./configure --with-http_ssl_module

it does its usual checks to see if everything is installed correctly, and then this pops up:

checking for OpenSSL library ... not found

./configure: error: SSL modules require the OpenSSL library. You can either do not enable the modules, or install the OpenSSL library into the system, or build the OpenSSL library statically from the source with nginx by using --with-openssl= option.

I know for a fact that OpenSSL is installed, because when I do openssl version I get OpenSSL 1.0.1 14 Mar 2012

So I'm pretty stumped. I thought maybe OpenSSL isn't isntalled in its default location, which is why nginx can't find it, but I have no idea where this is as it came pre-installed with the server. How can I find out where this is?

The server is running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.

Thanks.

Solution 1

Most likely you're missing the libssl-dev package.

But why not save yourself all the trouble and just use a PPA for nginx?

Solution 2

I used the following to get openssl for nginx:

https://ethitter.com/2016/06/nginx-openssl-1-0-2-http-2-alpn/

All other attempts either did not work, or were to clunky.

Hope this helps another...

Comments

[maverick3]

For people using yum (CentOS | redhat | fedora) try installing openssl-devel and then try running the command.

[James Linton]

What exactly are PPA's? From what I can gather people can upload packages to be installed using apt-get? I thought the best way to ensure I was always getting the latest version of software was to compile it from the source from the website.

[Christopher Perrin]

PPAs are Personal Package Archives. As you said, they are to distribute dpkg packages. Compiling from source might get you the newest version but this is not always necessary. Information for Ubuntu and the PPA can be found here: wiki.nginx.org/Install#Official_Debian.2FUbuntu_packages

[Michael Hampton]

The info on the nginx wiki is good. It will eventually lead you to the PPA that I linked. :)

[sergzach]

Why not just use a PPA: for instance, when you want old NGINX (with obsolete features) compiled from sources. Am I wrong?

[Michael Hampton]

@sergzach I'm sure there's some circumstance in which you might want to run an obsolete release of nginx, but at the moment I really can't think of one.

[Jamie Lindsey]

Is the option --with-openssl= pointing at a cloned openssl github repo? You might consider editing your answer to reflect this as it could be confusing for people without sufficient understanding.

[Pnemonic]

yes, /GitHub/openssl/openssl is a cloned repository of github.com/openssl/openssl.git

[sknt]

Building from source is required if you want ngx_pagespeed or other compile time options. nginx.com/resources/wiki/start/topics/tutorials/installoptio‌​ns

[vesperto]

Helped me figure out the --with-openssl= flag is to point to the source files. If you want to link against an already-compiled/system OpenSSL that nginx's ./configure can't find see this forum post: --with-cc-opt="-I /usr/local/include" --with-ld-opt="-L/usr/local/lib64 -ldl -Wl,-rpath,/usr/local/lib64" (YMMV).

[skidadon]

Thanks for the additional reference @vesperto