The Python in-built http.server is great when to nead to temperarily start up a simple webserver, to transfer files or host baisc content.

https.server Works exaclty the same, but the connection will be over TLS, giving slightly more privacy and security.

Just like http.server, by default it will server the current directory, but you can also set it to serve a specific folder.

It can be imported as Class in Python, or called on the commandline with python -m https.server or just https.server

Either pass in a pre-generated TLS cert and key, or the project will create a new tempeory one for you.

https.server runs on Python 3.6 or later

Easiest way is from pip:

pip install https.server

Serve the current folder over TLS on the default port:

https.server
# OR
python -m https.server

Serve a specific folder of TLS

https.server --directory foo

Serve the current folder on 443 Note: Usually requires root/administrator privliges

https.server 443

Serve the current folder on localhost only

https.server --bind 127.0.0.1

Save the auto-generated cert for future use:

https.server --save-cert

Save both server and client certificates (for proper SSL verification):

https.server --save-cert --client-cert

When using --client-cert, the server will generate both a server certificate (cert.pem) and a client certificate (client-cert.pem). The client certificate contains only the public certificate (no private key) and can be used by HTTP clients to verify the server's identity without SSL warnings.

import requests

# Instead of using verify=False (insecure)
# response = requests.get('https://localhost:8443', verify=False)

# Use the client certificate for proper verification
response = requests.get('https://localhost:8443', verify='client-cert.pem')
print(response.text)

curl --cacert client-cert.pem https://localhost:8443

The client-cert.pem file can be used with any HTTP client that supports custom CA certificates for SSL verification.

You can also use the server as a library to serve cursom HTTP responses:

from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler
from https.server import HTTPSServer, generate_cert

class CustomRequestHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
    def do_GET(self):
        message = "Hello!"

        self.protocol_version = "HTTP/1.1"
        self.send_response(200)
        self.send_header("Content-Length", len(message))
        self.end_headers()

        self.wfile.write(bytes(message, "utf8"))
        return

cert_path = "cert.pem"
server = ("127.0.0.1", 8443)

generate_cert(cert_path)
httpd = HTTPSServer(cert_path, server, CustomRequestHandler)
httpd.serve_forever()

Serve folder over TLS, using an existing certificate Note: Certificate must be PEM encoded, and have both the cert and private key in the same file

https.server --existing-cert mycert.pem