Configuring SSL to Secure the Connection to Dynamics NAV Web Client

Article
11/24/2017

We recommend that you secure Dynamics NAV data that is transmitted over the Internet by enabling Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) on the connection to Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client.

SSL is a web protocol that encrypts data that is transmitted over a network to make the data and the network more secure and reliable. A website that is enabled with SSL uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) instead of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) as a communication protocol. Enabling SSL on a website requires that an SSL certificate is installed on the web server. An SSL certificate is a small file that the web server uses to prove its identity and establish a trusted connection with the browser that is trying to access Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client. When a browser connects to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client, the web server replies by sending its certificate to the browser. This certificate contains the web server's public encryption key and the name of the authority that granted the certificate. The browser verifies the certificate using the authority's public key.

To configure SSL, you must follow these steps.

Note

You can configure SSL for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client when you install the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web Server components. For more information, see How to: Install the Web Server Components.

Obtaining and Installing an SSL Certificate

In a production environment, you should obtain an SSL certificate from a certification authority. Some large organizations may have their own certification authorities, and other organizations can request a certificate from a third-party organization. In a test environment or development environment, you can create your own self-signed certificate.

To create a self-signed SSL certificate

To open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, search for inetmgr.
In Internet Information Services Manager, in the Connections pane, choose the top-level node for the server.
On the Home page, under IIS, choose Server Certificates, and then in the Actions pane, choose Open Feature.
On the Server Certificates page, in the Actions pane, choose Create Self-Signed Certificate.
In the Specify Friendly Name dialog box, type a brief name for the certificate, and then choose the OK button.

The new certificate appears on the Server Certificates page.

Adding an HTTPS Binding That Uses the Certificate on the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web Client Site

After you get the certificate, you add a binding to the https protocol on the website. When you add the binding, you associate it with the certificate.

To add an https binding with the certificate to the website

Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
In the Connections pane, expand the Sites node, and then choose the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client site to which you want to add the binding.

By default, the site has the name Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018 Web Client.
In the Actions pane, choose Bindings.
In the Site Bindings dialog box, choose Add.
In the Add Site Binding dialog box, set the Type field to https.

You can use the default port 443 or change it to another port. If you change it to another port, you will have to provide the port number in the URL when you try to open the client.
Set the SSL certificate field to the certificate that you obtained or created for the site.
Choose the OK button, and then choose the Close button.

Redirecting HTTP to HTTPS (Optional)

To ensure that users always access the site that is secured with SSL, you can automatically redirect HTTP requests to HTTPS. This means that users do not have to explicitly include https in the URL in the browser. For example, the nonsecure URL of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client could be https://MyWebclient:8080/DynamicsNAV110 and the secure URL could be https://MyWebclient:443/DynamicsNAV110. If a user types https://MyWebclient:8080/DynamicsNAV110, the browser automatically redirects to https://MyWebclient:443/DynamicsNAV110.

There are different ways to redirect HTTP requests to HTTPS. The following procedure describes how to redirect HTTP requests to HTTPS by installing the Microsoft Application Request Routing for IIS 7 and modifying the web.config file for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client.

To redirect HTTP to HTTPS

Download and install Microsoft Application Request Routing for IIS. You can use one of the following links:
- Microsoft Application Request Routing Version 2 for IIS 7 (x64)
- Microsoft Application Request Routing Version 2 for IIS 7 (x86)
On the computer that is running Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web Server components, open the web.config file for the web server instance for Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client. Use a text editor, such as Notepad.

The web.config file is located in the physical path of the web application on IIS. By default, the path is %systemroot%\inetpub\wwwroot\[VirtualDirectoryName]\WebClient. For example, the folder for the default Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client application is %systemroot%\inetpub\wwwroot\DynamicsNAV110\WebClient.

In the <system.webServer> element, add the following elements.

<rewrite>  
  <rules>  
    <rule name="Redirect to HTTPS">  
      <match url="(.*)" />  
      <conditions>  
        <add input="{HTTPS}" pattern="off" ignoreCase="true" />  
      </conditions>  
      <action type="Redirect" url="https://{SERVER_NAME}/{R:1}" redirectType="SeeOther" />  
    </rule>  
  </rules>  
</rewrite>

Save the web.config file.

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