Technically Feasible

We're http/2 and ipv6 compatible!

Likeness of Michael Oldroyd
Michael Oldroyd
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Well, it seems that way anyway. Unfortunately both my residential broadband and mobile connections lack ipv6 connectivity, so I'm relying on the Qualys SSL Test and various other on-line tools to assure me of the ipv6 compatibility. http/2 was easy to test; firefox developer tools tells you which protocol was used for each downloaded asset. Please let me know if I have gotten something obviously wrong!

Enabling http/2 #

Enabling http/2 was quite simple, given that I recently upgraded to Debian 9 and Apache 2.4. I've got both apache and nginx in use in different debian-based environments. I managed to add AAAA records to the relevant domains, and add the necessary http/2 configuration changes on the morning commute. Obviously the main prerequisite to doing so is having your web server configured for TLS connectivity (h2 requires TLS). For my sites, I have chosen to deploy Let's Encrypt X3 signed certificates. I migrated this blog after the controversy with Startcom's offering.

Apache 2.4 #

For Apache, it was a case of enabling the mod_http2 and adding a line of configuration;

$ a2enmod http2
$ service apache2 restart
<VirtualHost localhost:443>
  Protocols h2 http/1.1
  […]
</VirtualHost>

Nginx 1.10 #

It's even easier with nginx; the web server already has the http/2 support module included. You simply have to have a TLS-enabled virtualhost, and add the following;

listen 443 ssl http2;
listen [::]:443 ssl http2;

I've not yet experimented with h2c for the TLS redirections on port 80 with either environment. That's a job for another day 😁. It's been a while since I posted here — a very long while. I've been concentrating on honing my craft and continuous improvement. I hope to start sharing some of my learning here once again.

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Michael Oldroyd

Michael is a Software Engineer working in the North West of England.