how to make a website https available

Did you port forward port 443?

Not sure, how do I port forward 443?  What and where do I do that?

On your router/modem.

oh, yea, I'll set that up shortly, but first I need to get it to work internally first, right?
Right now, I need it to work from my own PC, then after it works internally, I'll setup my firewall correctly to point to it.  I guess I'm asking what do I need to do to IIS to make it work internally first?

Right.  Did you purchase a SSl certificate?

not yet, I am going to, do I have to have the certificate for it to work, or if I don't install the cert, I guess it won't work?

You have to have a cirtificate for it to work.  You can self sign it but it will always pop up for the clients tryign to log in.

Take a look at this article its quite clear on the steps and should help:  http://www.zdnetasia.com/techguide/storage/0,39045058,62036934,00.htm

thanks, that's good, but how do I install a self signed certificate, so I can test to see if it even works internally, as spiceworks says that they don't support SSL, so I don't want to spend money in buying a certificate if my software doesn't work with it.

http://www.somacon.com/p42.php

thanks, I'll get back to you

ok, cool, I installed the selfssl and now it asks me to confirm the certificate and it goes to the helpdesk age, so that's cool.  I guess my next steps are, 1. get a real certificate, and 2.configure my firewall to allow the traffic to it, and 3. setup external DNS, right?  Any other steps you can think of?
what would the certificate be, I'm assuming it would be like helpdesk.amazingfacts.org

doesn't my SSL need to be specifically helpdesk.amazingfacts.org?
how does a wildcard SSL work?

well, I did everything and it's still not working.  Here's what I did and sitll nothing.
1.      Created the internal dns
2.      Created the external dns
3.      Purchased an SSL certificate and installed it on my IIS spiceworks website
4.      Configured my firewall with an external IP address to point to my spiceworks server

I tried to access it via https and http, but both don't work.  I get the following error message:

You are not authorized to view this page
You do not have permission to view this directory or page due to the access control list (ACL) that is configured for this resource on the Web server.
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Please try the following:

Contact the Web site administrator if you believe you should be able to view this directory or page.
Click the Refresh button to try again with different credentials.
HTTP Error 401.3 - Unauthorized: Access is denied due to an ACL set on the requested resource.
Internet Information Services (IIS)

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Technical Information (for support personnel)

Go to Microsoft Product Support Services and perform a title search for the words HTTP and 401.
Open IIS Help, which is accessible in IIS Manager (inetmgr), and search for topics titled About Security, Access Control, and About Custom Error Messages.