2 {- OpenSSL::safe::output_do_not_edit_headers(); -}
6 openssl-req - PKCS#10 certificate request and certificate generating command
12 [B<-inform> B<DER>|B<PEM>]
13 [B<-outform> B<DER>|B<PEM>]
25 [B<-pkeyopt> I<opt>:I<value>]
29 [B<-keyform> B<DER>|B<PEM>|B<P12>|B<ENGINE>]
30 [B<-keyout> I<filename>]
31 [B<-keygen_engine> I<id>]
33 [B<-config> I<filename>]
40 [B<-extensions> I<section>]
41 [B<-reqexts> I<section>]
48 [B<-sigopt> I<nm>:I<v>]
49 [B<-vfyopt> I<nm>:I<v>]
52 {- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_name_synopsis -}
53 {- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_r_synopsis -}
54 {- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_engine_synopsis -}{- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_provider_synopsis -}
56 =for openssl ifdef engine keygen_engine
60 This command primarily creates and processes certificate requests
61 in PKCS#10 format. It can additionally create self signed certificates
62 for use as root CAs for example.
70 Print out a usage message.
72 =item B<-inform> B<DER>|B<PEM>, B<-outform> B<DER>|B<PEM>
74 The input and formats; the default is B<PEM>.
75 See L<openssl(1)/Format Options> for details.
77 The data is a PKCS#10 object.
79 =item B<-in> I<filename>
81 This specifies the input filename to read a request from or standard input
82 if this option is not specified. A request is only read if the creation
83 options (B<-new> and B<-newkey>) are not specified.
85 =item B<-sigopt> I<nm>:I<v>
87 Pass options to the signature algorithm during sign operations.
88 Names and values of these options are algorithm-specific.
90 =item B<-vfyopt> I<nm>:I<v>
92 Pass options to the signature algorithm during verify operations.
93 Names and values of these options are algorithm-specific.
97 Maybe it would be preferable to only have -opts instead of -sigopt and
98 -vfyopt? They are both present here to be compatible with L<openssl-ca(1)>,
99 which supports both options for good reasons.
103 =item B<-passin> I<arg>, B<-passout> I<arg>
105 The password source for the input and output file.
106 For more information about the format of B<arg>
107 see L<openssl(1)/Pass Phrase Options>.
109 =item B<-out> I<filename>
111 This specifies the output filename to write to or standard output by
116 Prints out the certificate request in text form.
120 Prints out the request subject (or certificate subject if B<-x509> is
125 Outputs the public key.
129 This option prevents output of the encoded version of the request.
133 This option prints out the value of the modulus of the public key
134 contained in the request.
138 Verifies the signature on the request.
142 This option generates a new certificate request. It will prompt
143 the user for the relevant field values. The actual fields
144 prompted for and their maximum and minimum sizes are specified
145 in the configuration file and any requested extensions.
147 If the B<-key> option is not used it will generate a new RSA private
148 key using information specified in the configuration file.
150 =item B<-newkey> I<arg>
152 This option creates a new certificate request and a new private
153 key. The argument takes one of several forms.
155 B<rsa:>I<nbits>, where
156 I<nbits> is the number of bits, generates an RSA key I<nbits>
157 in size. If I<nbits> is omitted, i.e. B<-newkey> I<rsa> specified,
158 the default key size, specified in the configuration file is used.
160 All other algorithms support the B<-newkey> I<alg>:I<file> form, where file
161 may be an algorithm parameter file, created with C<openssl genpkey -genparam>
162 or an X.509 certificate for a key with appropriate algorithm.
164 B<param:>I<file> generates a key using the parameter file or certificate
165 I<file>, the algorithm is determined by the parameters. I<algname>:I<file>
166 use algorithm I<algname> and parameter file I<file>: the two algorithms must
167 match or an error occurs. I<algname> just uses algorithm I<algname>, and
168 parameters, if necessary should be specified via B<-pkeyopt> parameter.
170 B<dsa:>I<filename> generates a DSA key using the parameters
171 in the file I<filename>. B<ec:>I<filename> generates EC key (usable both with
172 ECDSA or ECDH algorithms), B<gost2001:>I<filename> generates GOST R
173 34.10-2001 key (requires B<gost> engine configured in the configuration
174 file). If just B<gost2001> is specified a parameter set should be
175 specified by B<-pkeyopt> I<paramset:X>
177 =item B<-pkeyopt> I<opt>:I<value>
179 Set the public key algorithm option I<opt> to I<value>. The precise set of
180 options supported depends on the public key algorithm used and its
182 See L<openssl-genpkey(1)/KEY GENERATION OPTIONS> for more details.
184 =item B<-key> I<filename>
186 This specifies the file to read the private key from. It also
187 accepts PKCS#8 format private keys for PEM format files.
189 =item B<-keyform> B<DER>|B<PEM>|B<P12>|B<ENGINE>
191 The format of the private key; the default is B<PEM>.
192 The only value with effect is B<ENGINE>; all others have become obsolete.
193 See L<openssl(1)/Format Options> for details.
195 =item B<-keyout> I<filename>
197 This gives the filename to write the newly created private key to.
198 If this option is not specified then the filename present in the
199 configuration file is used.
203 If this option is specified then if a private key is created it
204 will not be encrypted.
208 This option is deprecated since OpenSSL 3.0; use B<-noenc> instead.
212 This specifies the message digest to sign the request.
213 Any digest supported by the OpenSSL B<dgst> command can be used.
214 This overrides the digest algorithm specified in
215 the configuration file.
217 Some public key algorithms may override this choice. For instance, DSA
218 signatures always use SHA1, GOST R 34.10 signatures always use
219 GOST R 34.11-94 (B<-md_gost94>), Ed25519 and Ed448 never use any digest.
221 =item B<-config> I<filename>
223 This allows an alternative configuration file to be specified.
224 Optional; for a description of the default value,
225 see L<openssl(1)/COMMAND SUMMARY>.
227 =item B<-section> I<name>
229 Specifies the name of the section to use; the default is B<req>.
231 =item B<-subj> I<arg>
233 Sets subject name for new request or supersedes the subject name
234 when processing a request.
236 The arg must be formatted as C</type0=value0/type1=value1/type2=...>.
237 Special characters may be escaped by C<\> (backslash), whitespace is retained.
238 Empty values are permitted, but the corresponding type will not be included
240 Giving a single C</> will lead to an empty sequence of RDNs (a NULL-DN).
241 Multi-valued RDNs can be formed by placing a C<+> character instead of a C</>
242 between the AttributeValueAssertions (AVAs) that specify the members of the set.
245 C</DC=org/DC=OpenSSL/DC=users/UID=123456+CN=John Doe>
247 =item B<-multivalue-rdn>
249 This option has been deprecated and has no effect.
253 This option outputs a self signed certificate instead of a certificate
254 request. This is typically used to generate a test certificate or
255 a self signed root CA. The extensions added to the certificate
256 (if any) are specified in the configuration file. Unless specified
257 using the B<-set_serial> option, a large random number will be used for
260 If existing request is specified with the B<-in> option, it is converted
261 to the self signed certificate otherwise new request is created.
265 When the B<-x509> option is being used this specifies the number of
266 days to certify the certificate for, otherwise it is ignored. I<n> should
267 be a positive integer. The default is 30 days.
269 =item B<-set_serial> I<n>
271 Serial number to use when outputting a self signed certificate. This
272 may be specified as a decimal value or a hex value if preceded by C<0x>.
274 =item B<-addext> I<ext>
276 Add a specific extension to the certificate (if the B<-x509> option is
277 present) or certificate request. The argument must have the form of
278 a key=value pair as it would appear in a config file.
280 This option can be given multiple times.
282 =item B<-extensions> I<section>
284 =item B<-reqexts> I<section>
286 These options specify alternative sections to include certificate
287 extensions (if the B<-x509> option is present) or certificate
288 request extensions. This allows several different sections to
289 be used in the same configuration file to specify requests for
290 a variety of purposes.
294 A poison extension will be added to the certificate, making it a
295 "pre-certificate" (see RFC6962). This can be submitted to Certificate
296 Transparency logs in order to obtain signed certificate timestamps (SCTs).
297 These SCTs can then be embedded into the pre-certificate as an extension, before
298 removing the poison and signing the certificate.
300 This implies the B<-new> flag.
304 This option causes field values to be interpreted as UTF8 strings, by
305 default they are interpreted as ASCII. This means that the field
306 values, whether prompted from a terminal or obtained from a
307 configuration file, must be valid UTF8 strings.
309 =item B<-reqopt> I<option>
311 Customise the output format used with B<-text>. The I<option> argument can be
312 a single option or multiple options separated by commas.
314 See discussion of the B<-certopt> parameter in the L<openssl-x509(1)>
319 Adds the word B<NEW> to the PEM file header and footer lines on the outputted
320 request. Some software (Netscape certificate server) and some CAs need this.
324 Non-interactive mode.
328 Print extra details about the operations being performed.
330 =item B<-keygen_engine> I<id>
332 Specifies an engine (by its unique I<id> string) which would be used
333 for key generation operations.
335 {- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_name_item -}
337 {- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_r_item -}
339 {- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_engine_item -}
341 {- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_provider_item -}
345 =head1 CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT
347 The configuration options are specified in the B<req> section of
348 the configuration file. An alternate name be specified by using the
350 As with all configuration files, if no
351 value is specified in the specific section then
352 the initial unnamed or B<default> section is searched too.
354 The options available are described in detail below.
358 =item B<input_password output_password>
360 The passwords for the input private key file (if present) and
361 the output private key file (if one will be created). The
362 command line options B<passin> and B<passout> override the
363 configuration file values.
365 =item B<default_bits>
367 Specifies the default key size in bits.
369 This option is used in conjunction with the B<-new> option to generate
370 a new key. It can be overridden by specifying an explicit key size in
371 the B<-newkey> option. The smallest accepted key size is 512 bits. If
372 no key size is specified then 2048 bits is used.
374 =item B<default_keyfile>
376 This is the default filename to write a private key to. If not
377 specified the key is written to standard output. This can be
378 overridden by the B<-keyout> option.
382 This specifies a file containing additional B<OBJECT IDENTIFIERS>.
383 Each line of the file should consist of the numerical form of the
384 object identifier followed by whitespace then the short name followed
385 by whitespace and finally the long name.
389 This specifies a section in the configuration file containing extra
390 object identifiers. Each line should consist of the short name of the
391 object identifier followed by B<=> and the numerical form. The short
392 and long names are the same when this option is used.
396 At startup the specified file is loaded into the random number generator,
397 and at exit 256 bytes will be written to it.
398 It is used for private key generation.
402 If this is set to B<no> then if a private key is generated it is
403 B<not> encrypted. This is equivalent to the B<-noenc> command line
404 option. For compatibility B<encrypt_rsa_key> is an equivalent option.
408 This option specifies the digest algorithm to use. Any digest supported by the
409 OpenSSL B<dgst> command can be used. This option can be overridden on the
410 command line. Certain signing algorithms (i.e. Ed25519 and Ed448) will ignore
411 any digest that has been set.
415 This option masks out the use of certain string types in certain
416 fields. Most users will not need to change this option.
418 It can be set to several values B<default> which is also the default
419 option uses PrintableStrings, T61Strings and BMPStrings if the
420 B<pkix> value is used then only PrintableStrings and BMPStrings will
421 be used. This follows the PKIX recommendation in RFC2459. If the
422 B<utf8only> option is used then only UTF8Strings will be used: this
423 is the PKIX recommendation in RFC2459 after 2003. Finally the B<nombstr>
424 option just uses PrintableStrings and T61Strings: certain software has
425 problems with BMPStrings and UTF8Strings: in particular Netscape.
427 =item B<req_extensions>
429 This specifies the configuration file section containing a list of
430 extensions to add to the certificate request. It can be overridden
431 by the B<-reqexts> command line switch. See the
432 L<x509v3_config(5)> manual page for details of the
433 extension section format.
435 =item B<x509_extensions>
437 This specifies the configuration file section containing a list of
438 extensions to add to certificate generated when the B<-x509> switch
439 is used. It can be overridden by the B<-extensions> command line switch.
443 If set to the value B<no> this disables prompting of certificate fields
444 and just takes values from the config file directly. It also changes the
445 expected format of the B<distinguished_name> and B<attributes> sections.
449 If set to the value B<yes> then field values to be interpreted as UTF8
450 strings, by default they are interpreted as ASCII. This means that
451 the field values, whether prompted from a terminal or obtained from a
452 configuration file, must be valid UTF8 strings.
456 This specifies the section containing any request attributes: its format
457 is the same as B<distinguished_name>. Typically these may contain the
458 challengePassword or unstructuredName types. They are currently ignored
459 by OpenSSL's request signing utilities but some CAs might want them.
461 =item B<distinguished_name>
463 This specifies the section containing the distinguished name fields to
464 prompt for when generating a certificate or certificate request. The format
465 is described in the next section.
469 =head1 DISTINGUISHED NAME AND ATTRIBUTE SECTION FORMAT
471 There are two separate formats for the distinguished name and attribute
472 sections. If the B<prompt> option is set to B<no> then these sections
473 just consist of field names and values: for example,
477 emailAddress=someone@somewhere.org
479 This allows external programs (e.g. GUI based) to generate a template file with
480 all the field names and values and just pass it to this command. An example
481 of this kind of configuration file is contained in the B<EXAMPLES> section.
483 Alternatively if the B<prompt> option is absent or not set to B<no> then the
484 file contains field prompting information. It consists of lines of the form:
487 fieldName_default="default field value"
491 "fieldName" is the field name being used, for example commonName (or CN).
492 The "prompt" string is used to ask the user to enter the relevant
493 details. If the user enters nothing then the default value is used if no
494 default value is present then the field is omitted. A field can
495 still be omitted if a default value is present if the user just
496 enters the '.' character.
498 The number of characters entered must be between the fieldName_min and
499 fieldName_max limits: there may be additional restrictions based
500 on the field being used (for example countryName can only ever be
501 two characters long and must fit in a PrintableString).
503 Some fields (such as organizationName) can be used more than once
504 in a DN. This presents a problem because configuration files will
505 not recognize the same name occurring twice. To avoid this problem
506 if the fieldName contains some characters followed by a full stop
507 they will be ignored. So for example a second organizationName can
508 be input by calling it "1.organizationName".
510 The actual permitted field names are any object identifier short or
511 long names. These are compiled into OpenSSL and include the usual
512 values such as commonName, countryName, localityName, organizationName,
513 organizationalUnitName, stateOrProvinceName. Additionally emailAddress
514 is included as well as name, surname, givenName, initials, and dnQualifier.
516 Additional object identifiers can be defined with the B<oid_file> or
517 B<oid_section> options in the configuration file. Any additional fields
518 will be treated as though they were a DirectoryString.
523 Examine and verify certificate request:
525 openssl req -in req.pem -text -verify -noout
527 Create a private key and then generate a certificate request from it:
529 openssl genrsa -out key.pem 2048
530 openssl req -new -key key.pem -out req.pem
532 The same but just using req:
534 openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
536 Generate a self signed root certificate:
538 openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
540 Create an SM2 private key and then generate a certificate request from it:
542 openssl ecparam -genkey -name SM2 -out sm2.key
543 openssl req -new -key sm2.key -out sm2.csr -sm3 -sigopt "distid:1234567812345678"
545 Examine and verify an SM2 certificate request:
547 openssl req -verify -in sm2.csr -sm3 -vfyopt "distid:1234567812345678"
549 Example of a file pointed to by the B<oid_file> option:
551 1.2.3.4 shortName A longer Name
552 1.2.3.6 otherName Other longer Name
554 Example of a section pointed to by B<oid_section> making use of variable
558 testoid2=${testoid1}.6
560 Sample configuration file prompting for field values:
564 default_keyfile = privkey.pem
565 distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
566 attributes = req_attributes
567 req_extensions = v3_ca
569 dirstring_type = nobmp
571 [ req_distinguished_name ]
572 countryName = Country Name (2 letter code)
573 countryName_default = AU
577 localityName = Locality Name (eg, city)
579 organizationalUnitName = Organizational Unit Name (eg, section)
581 commonName = Common Name (eg, YOUR name)
584 emailAddress = Email Address
585 emailAddress_max = 40
588 challengePassword = A challenge password
589 challengePassword_min = 4
590 challengePassword_max = 20
594 subjectKeyIdentifier=hash
595 authorityKeyIdentifier=keyid:always,issuer:always
596 basicConstraints = critical, CA:true
598 Sample configuration containing all field values:
603 default_keyfile = keyfile.pem
604 distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
605 attributes = req_attributes
607 output_password = mypass
609 [ req_distinguished_name ]
611 ST = Test State or Province
613 O = Organization Name
614 OU = Organizational Unit Name
616 emailAddress = test@email.address
619 challengePassword = A challenge password
621 Example of giving the most common attributes (subject and extensions)
624 openssl req -new -subj "/C=GB/CN=foo" \
625 -addext "subjectAltName = DNS:foo.co.uk" \
626 -addext "certificatePolicies = 1.2.3.4" \
627 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
632 The certificate requests generated by B<Xenroll> with MSIE have extensions
633 added. It includes the B<keyUsage> extension which determines the type of
634 key (signature only or general purpose) and any additional OIDs entered
635 by the script in an B<extendedKeyUsage> extension.
639 The following messages are frequently asked about:
641 Using configuration from /some/path/openssl.cnf
642 Unable to load config info
644 This is followed some time later by:
646 unable to find 'distinguished_name' in config
647 problems making Certificate Request
649 The first error message is the clue: it can't find the configuration
650 file! Certain operations (like examining a certificate request) don't
651 need a configuration file so its use isn't enforced. Generation of
652 certificates or requests however does need a configuration file. This
653 could be regarded as a bug.
655 Another puzzling message is this:
660 this is displayed when no attributes are present and the request includes
661 the correct empty B<SET OF> structure (the DER encoding of which is 0xa0
662 0x00). If you just see:
666 then the B<SET OF> is missing and the encoding is technically invalid (but
667 it is tolerated). See the description of the command line option B<-asn1-kludge>
668 for more information.
672 OpenSSL's handling of T61Strings (aka TeletexStrings) is broken: it effectively
673 treats them as ISO-8859-1 (Latin 1), Netscape and MSIE have similar behaviour.
674 This can cause problems if you need characters that aren't available in
675 PrintableStrings and you don't want to or can't use BMPStrings.
677 As a consequence of the T61String handling the only correct way to represent
678 accented characters in OpenSSL is to use a BMPString: unfortunately Netscape
679 currently chokes on these. If you have to use accented characters with Netscape
680 and MSIE then you currently need to use the invalid T61String form.
682 The current prompting is not very friendly. It doesn't allow you to confirm what
683 you've just entered. Other things like extensions in certificate requests are
684 statically defined in the configuration file. Some of these: like an email
685 address in subjectAltName should be input by the user.
692 L<openssl-genrsa(1)>,
693 L<openssl-gendsa(1)>,
699 The B<-section> option was added in OpenSSL 3.0.0.
701 All B<-keyform> values except B<ENGINE> and the B<-multivalue-rdn> option
702 have become obsolete in OpenSSL 3.0.0 and have no effect.
704 The B<-engine> option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.
705 The <-nodes> option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0, too; use B<-noenc> instead.
709 Copyright 2000-2020 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
711 Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use
712 this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
713 in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
714 L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.