Skip to main content

Implement HSTS with Load Balancer

HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) is a security policy that prevents man-in-the-middle attacks by requiring browsers to always use a secure connection (HTTPS) when communicating with the server.

Enabling HSTS on an FPT Load Balancer HTTPS Listener forces browsers to communicate only over HTTPS.

For Listener creation instructions, see Create a Listener.

note

To use this feature, select TERMINATED_HTTPS as the protocol and attach an SSL certificate to the Listener. If you do not have an SSL certificate, see Import SSL certificate.

When creating or updating the Listener, enable HSTS and configure the following:

Enable HSTS with the HSTS max age, Include Subdomain, and Preload fields

  • HSTS max age: An integer (maximum 256 characters, no negative values). Default: 31,536,000 seconds. This defines how long the browser enforces the HSTS policy and remembers that the site must only be accessed over HTTPS.
  • Include Subdomain: Apply the HSTS policy to all subdomains, or to this domain only.
  • Preload: Whether the domain is included in the browser's preload list.

Click Create Listener to create, or Cancel to discard.