pf how-to: Single public IP --> many private NAT'd HTTPS servers

[Doug Poland]

David DeSimone wrote:
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> Doug Poland <doug at polands.org> wrote:
>> I have DNS resolution, the problem ( I think ) is in that pf simply
>> sees the packet destined for my single public IP (because all my
>> public host names must resolve to the same public IP address) and port
>> 443.
> 
> I am not sure how you expect this to work.  The web browser will expect
> the server to send a certificate with its identity as part of the
> initial SSL negotiation.  The client has not yet sent its request, so
> the web server has no idea which of the three domains the browser wanted
> to talk to, so it does not know which certificate should be sent.  This
> is the reason why every SSL site must have its own unique (public) IP
> address.
> 
> - -- 
> David DeSimone == Network Admin == fox at verio.net
>
I see what you are getting it.  I told pf to simply route all https 
requests to a fixed private IP.  When I pointed my browser at the FQDN, 
firefox told me I had a certificate problem... i.e., the certificate 
returned was not the one expected.

So, is the bottom line, one *cannot* hide multiple (NAT'd) SSL hosts 
behind a single public IP?  So my only solution, given apache and one 
public IP, is a single host listening on 443 and each "domain" would 
have to be served as a <Directory></Directory>.  e.g.,

   https://secure.example.com/webmail/
   https://secure.example.com/subversion/

instead of

   https://webmail.example.com
   https://subversion.example.com


-- 
Regards,
Doug