How to create my own SSL proxy with an SSL cert and a VPS?

Question

The aim is to have my SSL proxy so I can add it to my FireFox by

Options -> Advanced -> Network -> Settings -> Manual proxy configuration -> SSL Proxy, Port -> OK

What I currently have:

1. a VPS hosting account with root SSH enabled
2. an SSL certificate installed to one of the domains hosted in that VPS How should I do it?

Basically, I need what expressvpn.com is offering.

Thus far I tried:

PuTTY -> Connection -> SSH -> Tunnels -> etc.

To set up a SOCKS5 proxy on my localhost via the SSH tunnel I am able to establish to my remote VPS host but it seems it's still not as secure or as anonymous as expressvpn.com.

I also tried https://www.some-web-proxy.com, or similar web proxy sites with HTTPS / SSL enabled on them, and they worked. However, the problems with them are

1. such web proxies aren't good with javascript
2. sessions keep going wrong
3. sometimes got recognized by some sites as mobile device thus being served with a mobile version of the website

I don't want to pay for this kind of VPN service because I believe I have everything they have, I just need to set it up on my VPS server via SSL. Right?

Any idea would be appreciated!

Answer 1

Question is a bit confused. The point of SSL is that nobody except the browser and the server can read the data stream - so all the (HTTP) proxy has to do is pass the data back and forth. In order to connect the client to the server the client needs to tell the proxy where to connect to (not using SSL). The proxy does not need / cannot use a SSL certificate.

A vpn does very different things.

You say you want security and anonymtity. The former is very generic but adding a proxy does little to enhance security. Anonymity is something a lot more complex.

seems it's still not as secure or as anonymous as expressvpn.com

Without knowing what you are trying to achieve it's difficult to say how you can achieve your end result, however that statement doesn't make a lot of sense - and you've provided no explanation of how you arrived at that conclusion. Given the confused nature of the rest of the question makes me suspect that your basis for making such an assertion may be flawed.

Answer 2

You need to set up and install a Proxy Server on your VPS. The most commonly used one is Squid and it can do everything you want.

How to install it varies greatly based on your OS of choice, so I suggest you research installing squid on your platform. Some you'll have to build from source, others will have packages you can install.

Installing packages also depends on the specific OS you run.