Introduction TLS , or transport layer security, and its predecessor SSL , which stands for secure sockets layer, are web protocols used to wrap normal traffic in a protected, encrypted wrapper. Using this technology, servers can send traffic safely between the server and clients without the possibility of the messages being intercepted by outside parties. The certificate system also assists users in verifying the identity of the sites that they are connecting with. In this guide, we will show you how to set up a self-signed SSL certificate for use with an Nginx web server on an Ubuntu 16.04 server. Note: A self-signed certificate will encrypt communication between your server and any clients. However, because it is not signed by any of the trusted certificate authorities included with web browsers, users cannot use the certificate to validate the identity of your server automatically. A self-signed certificate may be appropriate if you do not have a...