6 req - PKCS#10 certificate and certificate generating utility.
29 [B<-[md5|sha1|md2|mdc2]>]
36 [B<-extensions section>]
43 The B<req> command primarily creates and processes certificate requests
44 in PKCS#10 format. It can additionally create self signed certificates
45 for use as root CAs for example.
47 =head1 COMMAND OPTIONS
51 =item B<-inform DER|PEM>
53 This specifies the input format. The B<DER> option uses an ASN1 DER encoded
54 form compatible with the PKCS#10. The B<PEM> form is the default format: it
55 consists of the B<DER> format base64 encoded with additional header and
58 =item B<-outform DER|PEM>
60 This specifies the output format, the options have the same meaning as the
65 This specifies the input filename to read a request from or standard input
66 if this option is not specified. A request is only read if the creation
67 options (B<-new> and B<-newkey>) are not specified.
71 the input file password source. For more information about the format of B<arg>
72 see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)>.
74 =item B<-out filename>
76 This specifies the output filename to write to or standard output by
81 the output file password source. For more information about the format of B<arg>
82 see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)>.
86 prints out the certificate request in text form.
90 this option prevents output of the encoded version of the request.
94 this option prints out the value of the modulus of the public key
95 contained in the request.
99 verifies the signature on the request.
103 this option generates a new certificate request. It will prompt
104 the user for the relevant field values. The actual fields
105 prompted for and their maximum and minimum sizes are specified
106 in the configuration file and any requested extensions.
108 If the B<-key> option is not used it will generate a new RSA private
109 key using information specified in the configuration file.
111 =item B<-rand file(s)>
113 a file or files containing random data used to seed the random number
114 generator, or an EGD socket (see L<RAND_egd(3)|RAND_egd(3)>).
115 Multiple files can be specified separated by a OS-dependent character.
116 The separator is B<;> for MS-Windows, B<,> for OpenVMS, and B<:> for
121 this option creates a new certificate request and a new private
122 key. The argument takes one of two forms. B<rsa:nbits>, where
123 B<nbits> is the number of bits, generates an RSA key B<nbits>
124 in size. B<dsa:filename> generates a DSA key using the parameters
125 in the file B<filename>.
127 =item B<-key filename>
129 This specifies the file to read the private key from. It also
130 accepts PKCS#8 format private keys for PEM format files.
132 =item B<-keyform PEM|DER>
134 the format of the private key file specified in the B<-key>
135 argument. PEM is the default.
137 =item B<-keyout filename>
139 this gives the filename to write the newly created private key to.
140 If this option is not specified then the filename present in the
141 configuration file is used.
145 if this option is specified then if a private key is created it
146 will not be encrypted.
148 =item B<-[md5|sha1|md2|mdc2]>
150 this specifies the message digest to sign the request with. This
151 overrides the digest algorithm specified in the configuration file.
152 This option is ignored for DSA requests: they always use SHA1.
154 =item B<-config filename>
156 this allows an alternative configuration file to be specified,
157 this overrides the compile time filename or any specified in
158 the B<OPENSSL_CONF> environment variable.
162 sets subject name for new request or supersedes the subject name
163 when processing a request.
167 this option outputs a self signed certificate instead of a certificate
168 request. This is typically used to generate a test certificate or
169 a self signed root CA. The extensions added to the certificate
170 (if any) are specified in the configuration file.
174 when the B<-x509> option is being used this specifies the number of
175 days to certify the certificate for. The default is 30 days.
177 =item B<-extensions section>
179 =item B<-reqexts section>
181 these options specify alternative sections to include certificate
182 extensions (if the B<-x509> option is present) or certificate
183 request extensions. This allows several different sections to
184 be used in the same configuration file to specify requests for
185 a variety of purposes.
187 =item B<-asn1-kludge>
189 by default the B<req> command outputs certificate requests containing
190 no attributes in the correct PKCS#10 format. However certain CAs will only
191 accept requests containing no attributes in an invalid form: this
192 option produces this invalid format.
194 More precisely the B<Attributes> in a PKCS#10 certificate request
195 are defined as a B<SET OF Attribute>. They are B<not OPTIONAL> so
196 if no attributes are present then they should be encoded as an
197 empty B<SET OF>. The invalid form does not include the empty
198 B<SET OF> whereas the correct form does.
200 It should be noted that very few CAs still require the use of this option.
204 Adds the word B<NEW> to the PEM file header and footer lines on the outputed
205 request. Some software (Netscape certificate server) and some CAs need this.
209 non-interactive mode.
213 print extra details about the operations being performed.
217 =head1 CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT
219 The configuration options are specified in the B<req> section of
220 the configuration file. As with all configuration files if no
221 value is specified in the specific section (i.e. B<req>) then
222 the initial unnamed or B<default> section is searched too.
224 The options available are described in detail below.
228 =item B<input_password output_password>
230 The passwords for the input private key file (if present) and
231 the output private key file (if one will be created). The
232 command line options B<passin> and B<passout> override the
233 configuration file values.
235 =item B<default_bits>
237 This specifies the default key size in bits. If not specified then
238 512 is used. It is used if the B<-new> option is used. It can be
239 overridden by using the B<-newkey> option.
241 =item B<default_keyfile>
243 This is the default filename to write a private key to. If not
244 specified the key is written to standard output. This can be
245 overridden by the B<-keyout> option.
249 This specifies a file containing additional B<OBJECT IDENTIFIERS>.
250 Each line of the file should consist of the numerical form of the
251 object identifier followed by white space then the short name followed
252 by white space and finally the long name.
256 This specifies a section in the configuration file containing extra
257 object identifiers. Each line should consist of the short name of the
258 object identifier followed by B<=> and the numerical form. The short
259 and long names are the same when this option is used.
263 This specifies a filename in which random number seed information is
264 placed and read from, or an EGD socket (see L<RAND_egd(3)|RAND_egd(3)>).
265 It is used for private key generation.
269 If this is set to B<no> then if a private key is generated it is
270 B<not> encrypted. This is equivalent to the B<-nodes> command line
271 option. For compatibility B<encrypt_rsa_key> is an equivalent option.
275 This option specifies the digest algorithm to use. Possible values
276 include B<md5 sha1 mdc2>. If not present then MD5 is used. This
277 option can be overridden on the command line.
281 This option masks out the use of certain string types in certain
282 fields. Most users will not need to change this option.
284 It can be set to several values B<default> which is also the default
285 option uses PrintableStrings, T61Strings and BMPStrings if the
286 B<pkix> value is used then only PrintableStrings and BMPStrings will
287 be used. This follows the PKIX recommendation in RFC2459. If the
288 B<utf8only> option is used then only UTF8Strings will be used: this
289 is the PKIX recommendation in RFC2459 after 2003. Finally the B<nombstr>
290 option just uses PrintableStrings and T61Strings: certain software has
291 problems with BMPStrings and UTF8Strings: in particular Netscape.
293 =item B<req_extensions>
295 this specifies the configuration file section containing a list of
296 extensions to add to the certificate request. It can be overridden
297 by the B<-reqexts> command line switch.
299 =item B<x509_extensions>
301 this specifies the configuration file section containing a list of
302 extensions to add to certificate generated when the B<-x509> switch
303 is used. It can be overridden by the B<-extensions> command line switch.
307 if set to the value B<no> this disables prompting of certificate fields
308 and just takes values from the config file directly. It also changes the
309 expected format of the B<distinguished_name> and B<attributes> sections.
313 this specifies the section containing any request attributes: its format
314 is the same as B<distinguished_name>. Typically these may contain the
315 challengePassword or unstructuredName types. They are currently ignored
316 by OpenSSL's request signing utilities but some CAs might want them.
318 =item B<distinguished_name>
320 This specifies the section containing the distinguished name fields to
321 prompt for when generating a certificate or certificate request. The format
322 is described in the next section.
326 =head1 DISTINGUISHED NAME AND ATTRIBUTE SECTION FORMAT
328 There are two separate formats for the distinguished name and attribute
329 sections. If the B<prompt> option is set to B<no> then these sections
330 just consist of field names and values: for example,
334 emailAddress=someone@somewhere.org
336 This allows external programs (e.g. GUI based) to generate a template file
337 with all the field names and values and just pass it to B<req>. An example
338 of this kind of configuration file is contained in the B<EXAMPLES> section.
340 Alternatively if the B<prompt> option is absent or not set to B<no> then the
341 file contains field prompting information. It consists of lines of the form:
344 fieldName_default="default field value"
348 "fieldName" is the field name being used, for example commonName (or CN).
349 The "prompt" string is used to ask the user to enter the relevant
350 details. If the user enters nothing then the default value is used if no
351 default value is present then the field is omitted. A field can
352 still be omitted if a default value is present if the user just
353 enters the '.' character.
355 The number of characters entered must be between the fieldName_min and
356 fieldName_max limits: there may be additional restrictions based
357 on the field being used (for example countryName can only ever be
358 two characters long and must fit in a PrintableString).
360 Some fields (such as organizationName) can be used more than once
361 in a DN. This presents a problem because configuration files will
362 not recognize the same name occurring twice. To avoid this problem
363 if the fieldName contains some characters followed by a full stop
364 they will be ignored. So for example a second organizationName can
365 be input by calling it "1.organizationName".
367 The actual permitted field names are any object identifier short or
368 long names. These are compiled into OpenSSL and include the usual
369 values such as commonName, countryName, localityName, organizationName,
370 organizationUnitName, stateOrPrivinceName. Additionally emailAddress
371 is include as well as name, surname, givenName initials and dnQualifier.
373 Additional object identifiers can be defined with the B<oid_file> or
374 B<oid_section> options in the configuration file. Any additional fields
375 will be treated as though they were a DirectoryString.
380 Examine and verify certificate request:
382 openssl req -in req.pem -text -verify -noout
384 Create a private key and then generate a certificate request from it:
386 openssl genrsa -out key.pem 1024
387 openssl req -new -key key.pem -out req.pem
389 The same but just using req:
391 openssl req -newkey rsa:1024 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
393 Generate a self signed root certificate:
395 openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:1024 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
397 Example of a file pointed to by the B<oid_file> option:
399 1.2.3.4 shortName A longer Name
400 1.2.3.6 otherName Other longer Name
402 Example of a section pointed to by B<oid_section> making use of variable
406 testoid2=${testoid1}.6
408 Sample configuration file prompting for field values:
412 default_keyfile = privkey.pem
413 distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
414 attributes = req_attributes
415 x509_extensions = v3_ca
417 dirstring_type = nobmp
419 [ req_distinguished_name ]
420 countryName = Country Name (2 letter code)
421 countryName_default = AU
425 localityName = Locality Name (eg, city)
427 organizationalUnitName = Organizational Unit Name (eg, section)
429 commonName = Common Name (eg, YOUR name)
432 emailAddress = Email Address
433 emailAddress_max = 40
436 challengePassword = A challenge password
437 challengePassword_min = 4
438 challengePassword_max = 20
442 subjectKeyIdentifier=hash
443 authorityKeyIdentifier=keyid:always,issuer:always
444 basicConstraints = CA:true
446 Sample configuration containing all field values:
449 RANDFILE = $ENV::HOME/.rnd
453 default_keyfile = keyfile.pem
454 distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
455 attributes = req_attributes
457 output_password = mypass
459 [ req_distinguished_name ]
461 ST = Test State or Province
463 O = Organization Name
464 OU = Organizational Unit Name
466 emailAddress = test@email.address
469 challengePassword = A challenge password
474 The header and footer lines in the B<PEM> format are normally:
476 -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST----
477 -----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST----
479 some software (some versions of Netscape certificate server) instead needs:
481 -----BEGIN NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST----
482 -----END NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST----
484 which is produced with the B<-newhdr> option but is otherwise compatible.
485 Either form is accepted transparently on input.
487 The certificate requests generated by B<Xenroll> with MSIE have extensions
488 added. It includes the B<keyUsage> extension which determines the type of
489 key (signature only or general purpose) and any additional OIDs entered
490 by the script in an extendedKeyUsage extension.
494 The following messages are frequently asked about:
496 Using configuration from /some/path/openssl.cnf
497 Unable to load config info
499 This is followed some time later by...
501 unable to find 'distinguished_name' in config
502 problems making Certificate Request
504 The first error message is the clue: it can't find the configuration
505 file! Certain operations (like examining a certificate request) don't
506 need a configuration file so its use isn't enforced. Generation of
507 certificates or requests however does need a configuration file. This
508 could be regarded as a bug.
510 Another puzzling message is this:
515 this is displayed when no attributes are present and the request includes
516 the correct empty B<SET OF> structure (the DER encoding of which is 0xa0
517 0x00). If you just see:
521 then the B<SET OF> is missing and the encoding is technically invalid (but
522 it is tolerated). See the description of the command line option B<-asn1-kludge>
523 for more information.
525 =head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
527 The variable B<OPENSSL_CONF> if defined allows an alternative configuration
528 file location to be specified, it will be overridden by the B<-config> command
529 line switch if it is present. For compatibility reasons the B<SSLEAY_CONF>
530 environment variable serves the same purpose but its use is discouraged.
534 OpenSSL's handling of T61Strings (aka TeletexStrings) is broken: it effectively
535 treats them as ISO-8859-1 (Latin 1), Netscape and MSIE have similar behaviour.
536 This can cause problems if you need characters that aren't available in
537 PrintableStrings and you don't want to or can't use BMPStrings.
539 As a consequence of the T61String handling the only correct way to represent
540 accented characters in OpenSSL is to use a BMPString: unfortunately Netscape
541 currently chokes on these. If you have to use accented characters with Netscape
542 and MSIE then you currently need to use the invalid T61String form.
544 The current prompting is not very friendly. It doesn't allow you to confirm what
545 you've just entered. Other things like extensions in certificate requests are
546 statically defined in the configuration file. Some of these: like an email
547 address in subjectAltName should be input by the user.
551 L<x509(1)|x509(1)>, L<ca(1)|ca(1)>, L<genrsa(1)|genrsa(1)>,
552 L<gendsa(1)|gendsa(1)>, L<config(5)|config(5)>