5 CA.pl - friendlier interface for OpenSSL certificate programs
24 [B<-extra-cmd> I<extra-params>]
26 B<CA.pl> B<-pkcs12> [B<-extra-pkcs12> I<extra-params>] [I<certname>]
28 B<CA.pl> B<-verify> [B<-extra-verify> I<extra-params>] I<certfile> ...
30 B<CA.pl> B<-revoke> [B<-extra-ca> I<extra-params>] I<certfile> [I<reason>]
34 The B<CA.pl> script is a perl script that supplies the relevant command line
35 arguments to the L<openssl(1)> command for some common certificate operations.
36 It is intended to simplify the process of certificate creation and management
37 by the use of some simple options.
43 =item B<?>, B<-h>, B<-help>
45 Prints a usage message.
49 Creates a new self signed certificate. The private key is written to the file
50 F<newkey.pem> and the request written to the file F<newreq.pem>.
51 Invokes L<openssl-req(1)>.
55 Creates a new certificate request. The private key is written to the file
56 F<newkey.pem> and the request written to the file F<newreq.pem>.
57 Executes L<openssl-req(1)> under the hood.
59 =item B<-newreq-nodes>
61 Is like B<-newreq> except that the private key will not be encrypted.
62 Uses L<openssl-req(1)>.
66 Creates a new CA hierarchy for use with the B<ca> program (or the B<-signcert>
67 and B<-xsign> options). The user is prompted to enter the filename of the CA
68 certificates (which should also contain the private key) or by hitting ENTER
69 details of the CA will be prompted for. The relevant files and directories
70 are created in a directory called F<demoCA> in the current directory.
71 Uses L<openssl-req(1)> and L<openssl-ca(1)>.
75 Create a PKCS#12 file containing the user certificate, private key and CA
76 certificate. It expects the user certificate and private key to be in the
77 file F<newcert.pem> and the CA certificate to be in the file F<demoCA/cacert.pem>,
78 it creates a file F<newcert.p12>. This command can thus be called after the
79 B<-sign> option. The PKCS#12 file can be imported directly into a browser.
80 If there is an additional argument on the command line it will be used as the
81 "friendly name" for the certificate (which is typically displayed in the browser
82 list box), otherwise the name "My Certificate" is used.
83 Delegates work to L<openssl-pkcs12(1)>.
85 =item B<-sign>, B<-signcert>, B<-xsign>
87 Calls the L<openssl-ca(1)> command to sign a certificate request. It expects the
88 request to be in the file F<newreq.pem>. The new certificate is written to the
89 file F<newcert.pem> except in the case of the B<-xsign> option when it is
90 written to standard output.
94 This option is the same as the B<-signreq> option except it uses the
95 configuration file section B<v3_ca> and so makes the signed request a
96 valid CA certificate. This is useful when creating intermediate CA from
97 a root CA. Extra params are passed to L<openssl-ca(1)>.
101 This option is the same as B<-sign> except it expects a self signed certificate
102 to be present in the file F<newreq.pem>.
103 Extra params are passed to L<openssl-x509(1)> and L<openssl-ca(1)>.
107 Generate a CRL. Executes L<openssl-ca(1)>.
109 =item B<-revoke> I<certfile> [I<reason>]
111 Revoke the certificate contained in the specified B<certfile>. An optional
112 reason may be specified, and must be one of: B<unspecified>,
113 B<keyCompromise>, B<CACompromise>, B<affiliationChanged>, B<superseded>,
114 B<cessationOfOperation>, B<certificateHold>, or B<removeFromCRL>.
115 Leverages L<openssl-ca(1)>.
119 Verifies certificates against the CA certificate for F<demoCA>. If no
120 certificates are specified on the command line it tries to verify the file
121 F<newcert.pem>. Invokes L<openssl-verify(1)>.
123 =item B<-extra-req> | B<-extra-ca> | B<-extra-pkcs12> | B<-extra-x509> | B<-extra-verify> I<extra-params>
125 For each option B<extra-I<cmd>>, pass I<extra-params> to the L<openssl(1)>
126 sub-command with the same name as I<cmd>, if that sub-command is invoked.
127 For example, if L<openssl-req(1)> is invoked, the I<extra-params> given with
128 B<-extra-req> will be passed to it.
129 Users should consult L<openssl(1)> command documentation for more information.
135 Create a CA hierarchy:
139 Complete certificate creation example: create a CA, create a request, sign
140 the request and finally create a PKCS#12 file containing it.
145 CA.pl -pkcs12 "My Test Certificate"
147 =head1 DSA CERTIFICATES
149 Although the B<CA.pl> creates RSA CAs and requests it is still possible to
150 use it with DSA certificates and requests using the L<openssl-req(1)> command
151 directly. The following example shows the steps that would typically be taken.
153 Create some DSA parameters:
155 openssl dsaparam -out dsap.pem 1024
157 Create a DSA CA certificate and private key:
159 openssl req -x509 -newkey dsa:dsap.pem -keyout cacert.pem -out cacert.pem
161 Create the CA directories and files:
165 enter a filename (for example, F<cacert.pem>) when prompted for the CA file
168 Create a DSA certificate request and private key (a different set of parameters
169 can optionally be created first):
171 openssl req -out newreq.pem -newkey dsa:dsap.pem
179 Most of the filenames mentioned can be modified by editing the B<CA.pl> script.
181 If the demoCA directory already exists then the B<-newca> command will not
182 overwrite it and will do nothing. This can happen if a previous call using
183 the B<-newca> option terminated abnormally. To get the correct behaviour
184 delete the demoCA directory if it already exists.
186 Under some environments it may not be possible to run the B<CA.pl> script
187 directly (for example Win32) and the default configuration file location may
188 be wrong. In this case the command:
192 can be used and the B<OPENSSL_CONF> environment variable changed to point to
193 the correct path of the configuration file.
195 The script is intended as a simple front end for the L<openssl(1)> program for
196 use by a beginner. Its behaviour isn't always what is wanted. For more control
197 over the behaviour of the certificate commands call the L<openssl(1)> command
206 L<openssl-pkcs12(1)>,
211 Copyright 2000-2017 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
213 Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use
214 this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
215 in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
216 L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.