Error: unable to verify the first certificate in nodejs

Question

I'm trying to download a file from jira server using an url but I'm getting an error. how to include certificate in the code to verify Error:

Error: unable to verify the first certificate in nodejs

at Error (native)
    at TLSSocket.<anonymous> (_tls_wrap.js:929:36)

  at TLSSocket.emit (events.js:104:17)

at TLSSocket._finishInit (_tls_wrap.js:460:8)

My Nodejs code:

var https = require("https");
var fs = require('fs');
var options = {
    host: 'jira.example.com',
    path: '/secure/attachment/206906/update.xlsx'
};

https.get(options, function (http_res) {

    var data = "";


    http_res.on("data", function (chunk) {

        data += chunk;
    });


    http_res.on("end", function () {

        var file = fs.createWriteStream("file.xlsx");
        data.pipe(file);

    });
});

Answer 1

Try adding the appropriate root certificate

This is always going to be a much safer option than just blindly accepting unauthorised end points, which should in turn only be used as a last resort.

This can be as simple as adding

require('https').globalAgent.options.ca = require('ssl-root-cas/latest').create();

to your application.

The SSL Root CAs npm package (as used here) is a very useful package regarding this problem.