SSL certificate without a domain

Question

I have a bunch of node.js apps serving information to an apache site via websockets (ws://). The site itself doesn't have a domain name and is accessed through its IP address (that's non-negotiable, unfortunately...)

The problem is the following :

• Without a secure connection, browsers will block the ws:// traffic, so I have to use SSL and secure websockets wss://

• Without a domain name, I cannot secure the connection except by generating a self-signed certificate.

• Self generated certificates are not trusted by browsers and display an error 'certificate not trusted...'. Last chrome update made it even more annoying to get through the message.

In addition to that, the IP changes regularly and is sent to the users (2-3 people) when it happens. So a certificate issued for a specific IP wouldn't be ideal (if it's free I can deal with the hassle of refreshing the cert).

Does anyone have a solution ?

Answer 1

If you only have a user or two, you could create your own CA, and have each person install it on their browser. You would still need to update the cert every time the IP changes though. google.ca/search?q=create+your+own+ca