Skip to content

Web Interface HTTPS server doesn't start even though plain HTTP works fine

I've enabled the vlc web interface by toggling Tools -> Preferences -> All -> Interface -> Main Interfaces -> Web

Tools -> Preferences -> All -> Input/Codecs -> HTTP Server Port = 8091
Tools -> Preferences -> All -> Input/Codecs -> HTTPS Server Port = 8442

I've followed this guide to create self-signed tls certificates.

The issue is that I can visit the vlc web interface page using http and it loads fine (http://192.168.0.21:8091), but when I use the https port (http://192.168.0.21:8442), it doesn't answer at all. nmap says the port is closed, curl -vv 192.168.0.21:8442 fails with curl: (7) Failed to connect to 192.168.0.21 port 8442 after 2027 ms: Connection refused.

I've checked if there was anything listening on port 8442 with these powershell commands (source), and as I expected, they returned nothing. No programs (including vlc) were ever listening on port 8442 (neither TCP nor UDP):

Get-Process -Id (Get-NetTCPConnection -LocalPort 8442).OwningProcess
Get-Process -Id (Get-NetUDPEndpoint -LocalPort 8442).OwningProcess

So clearly, the https server isn't even running, but I can't figure out why.

I've tried 4096 and 2048 bit certificates. They were always X.509 certs, not expired, and in PEM format, but nothing worked. I couldn't find anything in the logs that indicated an error in the HTTPS server. But I'll share them if it helps diagnose the problem.

I've also tried to "switch around" the ports (set HTTPS to 8091, and HTTP to 8442), but it didn't make any difference. The HTTP server worked fine, but the HTTPS server didn't start.

There's no mention of how to setup https in the documentation I checked, so I'm not even sure if what I'm trying to do is possible :/

I'd really appreciate a push in the right direction 😥

Edited by Ignacio J. Perez Portal
To upload designs, you'll need to enable LFS and have an admin enable hashed storage. More information

VideoLAN code repository instance