How To Enable Your Room Alert PRO & MAX Models To Use HTTPS

1. First, open your Room Alert web interface.
   • To do so, type the IP address of the unit directly into the address bar of your web browser.
     For help, please see How To Discover A Room Alert Monitor & How To Open Your Room Alert Monitor’s Built-in Web Interface.
2. Next, select Settings in the navigation bar to the left.
   • For help, please see How To Access A Room Alert Monitor’s Settings Pages.
3. (On Room Alert PRO models) Select Advanced in the navigation bar to the left.
   (On Room Alert MAX) Select Web Interface Settings in the navigation bar to the left.
4. Then select the Enable HTTPS checkbox.
   
5. When you do, the Web Port will automatically change from the HTTP default, 80, to the HTTPS default, 443.
   
   • You may change this to a custom port, if desired.
6. Click Save or Save Settings.
7. Your device will reboot, and your browser will automatically redirect to https://<your device’s IP address>:<web port>
   • In our example, the device will reboot at https://192.168.2.123
   • Note that the web address will only include the web port if it’s a custom port; otherwise the default port is not displayed in the web address.

Based on the default certificate for your Room Alert, your web browser expects to see “.roomalertmonitor.com” within the web address.

For best performance within the device’s web interface, you should set up a hostname for your device that includes the “.roomalertmonitor.com” domain.

Using a hostname with the .roomalertmonitor.com domain

You can either setup a roomalertmonitor.com zone in your local DNS or add an entry to your local computer’s hosts file.

Add an entry to your hosts file

These instructions apply to Windows 10 and Windows 8 systems. If you’re using a different Operating System, you can find the proper instructions by doing a Google search for “add entry to hosts file + <your operating system>”

1. Go to c:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc on your computer.
2. Open the hosts file in a text editing program, such as Notepad.
   • You’ll need to run the text editing program as an administrator in order to save your changes later.
3. Add a new entry for your Room Alert monitor.
   • Be sure to include the domain, .roomalertmonitor.com, so that your browser recognizes the SSL certificate.
   • In our example, we want our hostname to be “ExampleRA32S.roomalertmonitor.com” so we’re adding the following line to our hosts file:
     192.168.2.123 ExampleRA32S.roomalertmonitor.com
     
     
4. Save your changes.
5. You can then enter “https://<hostname>” into your web browser’s address bar to open your device’s local web interface.
   • Be sure to include https:// in the web address, as shown below.
     

If your device gets a different IP address, you will need to edit the DNS or hosts file entry.

1. First, open your Room Alert web interface.
   • To do so, type the IP address of the unit directly into the address bar of your web browser.
     For help, please see How To Discover A Room Alert Monitor & How To Open Your Room Alert Monitor’s Built-in Web Interface.
2. Next, select Settings in the navigation bar to the left.
   • For help, please see How To Access A Room Alert Monitor’s Settings Pages.
3. Select TLS Certificate from the navigation bar to the left.
   
4. In Certificate File, browse to your certificate, which should be PEM format.
5. In Key File, browse to the matching private key file, which should also be in PEM format.
6. Click Save.
7. Your Base Station will verify that the certificate & private key match and are correctly formatted.
   • If not, you’ll see an error message on the page.
   • If so, the certificate will be applied.
8. Once your certificate is applied, the Custom Certificate section of the page shows:
   • the Common Name
   • the Expiration date and time
   • the Status of the certificate
     

If you certificate becomes invalid (like if it expires) the device will revert to using its default certificate (.roomalertmonitor.com) again.

Using a custom certificate gives you full control, but also full responsibility. You must ensure the certificate matches how users access the device and is trusted by their systems.

If you choose to use your own certificate instead of the default:

For best results, configure a DNS entry or local hosts file so the device is accessed using a consistent hostname that matches the certificate.