Title: Enable HTTPS for a VIP Local Development Environment
Author: WordPress VIP Documentation
Published: August 9, 2023
Last modified: October 17, 2024

---

 1. [VIP Local Development Environment](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-local-development-environment/)
 2. Enable HTTPS for a VIP Local Development Environment

#  Enable HTTPS for a VIP Local Development Environment

By default, [VIP Local Development Environment](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-local-development-environment/)
URLs resolve with `HTTP` rather than `HTTPS`, the secure browsing protocol. When
developing locally, some users may have a need for URLs to resolve at `HTTPS` (e.
g. applications with payment integrations). For `HTTPS` to work as expected, a trusted
digital certificate issued by a certificate authority (CA certificate) for the local
environment must be added to the user’s machine.

**Warning**

Even after correctly completing the steps to configure a CA certificate on the local
machine, some browsers—including Chrome and Safari—might not trust the certificate.

## Identify the absolute local path of the CA certificate

Once a VIP Local Development Environment has been created, a CA certificate will
be located on the user’s local machine.

The exact local path for the CA certificate will vary depending on the operating
system of the user’s local machine. Listed below are example paths for the CA certificate`
vipdev.lndo.site.pem` on various operating systems if the current user is named “
example-user”.

 * **macOS:** `/Users/example-user/.local/share/vip/lando/certs/vipdev.lndo.site.
   pem`
 * **Windows (WSL):** `\\wsl.localhost\<EXAMPLE-DISTRO>\home\example-user\.local\
   share\vip\lando\certs\vipdev.lndo.site.crt`
 * **Windows (native):** `C:\Users\example-user\.local\share\vip\lando\certs\vipdev.
   lndo.site.pem`
 * **Ubuntu:** `/home/example-user/.local/share/vip/lando/certs/vipdev.lndo.site.
   pem`

## Configure the local machine to trust the CA certificate

The exact commands needed to trust the CA certificate will differ depending on the
local machine’s operating system. Refer to [Lando’s documentation for trusting the CA certificate](https://docs.lando.dev/core/v3/security.html#trusting-the-ca)
for macOS, Windows, and Debian command examples. When using the command examples
in Lando’s documentation, substitute the path of the Lando certificate with the 
absolute local path of the CA certificate.

### Mac OS and Linux

Replace the value `<EXAMPLE-USER>` with the name of the user on the local machine
and run the following command to trust the CA certificate:

    ```wp-block-preformatted
    sudo security add-trusted-cert -d -r trustRoot -k /Library/Keychains/System.keychain /Users/<EXAMPLE-USER>/.local/share/vip/lando/certs/vipdev.lndo.site.pem
    ```

### Windows (WSL) or Windows (Native)

For local machines running Windows (WSL) or Windows (Native), [add the CA certificate with `certutil`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/certutil).

For WSL, the path pointing to the machine’s distribution must be identified. The
structure of the path will look similar to: `\\wsl.localhost\<DISTRO>`. For example,
if the machine’s distribution is called `Ubuntu`, then the files will be accessible
at `\\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu`.

In the instructions below, replace the value `<EXAMPLE-USER>` with the name of the
Linux user on the local machine, and `<DISTRO>` with the name of the machine’s distribution.

 1. Start a command terminal as an administrator.
 2. Run the following command in the terminal with updated values for `<EXAMPLE-USER
    >` and `<DISTRO>`:

    ```wp-block-preformatted
    certutil -addstore -f "ROOT" \\wsl.localhost\<DISTRO>\home\<EXAMPLE-USER>\.local\share\vip\lando\certs\vipdev.lndo.site.crt
    ```

For example, if the distribution is `Ubuntu` and the Linux user is `example-user`,
the command would be:

    ```wp-block-preformatted
    certutil -addstore -f "ROOT" \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\example-user\.local\share\vip\lando\certs\vipdev.lndo.site.crt
    ```

`certutil -addstore -f "ROOT" \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\example-user\.local\share\
vip\lando\certs\vipdev.lndo.site.crt`

 3. A successfully completed command output the following message in the terminal:

    ```wp-block-preformatted
    Signature matches Public KeyCertificate "Lando Local CA" added to store.CertUtil: -addstore command completed successfully.
    ```

## Verify that the CA certificate is working as expected

If the terminal commands to trust the local CA certificate completed successfully,
warnings that the CA certificate is not trusted should no longer occur. In a browser,
visit a site on a running VIP Local Development Environment to verify that it loads
without the certificate warnings.

The local environment does not need to be restarted in order for the CA certificate
to be applied.

The trusted CA certificate will persist and can be used by all other VIP Local Development
Environments that are created on that machine.

Last updated: October 17, 2024