6 ca - sample minimal CA application
19 [B<-crl_reason reason>]
20 [B<-crl_hold instruction>]
21 [B<-crl_compromise time>]
22 [B<-crl_CA_compromise time>]
48 [B<-extensions section>]
58 The B<ca> command is a minimal CA application. It can be used
59 to sign certificate requests in a variety of forms and generate
60 CRLs it also maintains a text database of issued certificates
63 The options descriptions will be divided into each purpose.
71 Print out a usage message.
75 this prints extra details about the operations being performed.
77 =item B<-config filename>
79 specifies the configuration file to use.
81 =item B<-name section>
83 specifies the configuration file section to use (overrides
84 B<default_ca> in the B<ca> section).
88 an input filename containing a single certificate request to be
91 =item B<-ss_cert filename>
93 a single self signed certificate to be signed by the CA.
95 =item B<-spkac filename>
97 a file containing a single Netscape signed public key and challenge
98 and additional field values to be signed by the CA. See the B<SPKAC FORMAT>
99 section for information on the required input and output format.
103 if present this should be the last option, all subsequent arguments
104 are taken as the names of files containing certificate requests.
106 =item B<-out filename>
108 the output file to output certificates to. The default is standard
109 output. The certificate details will also be printed out to this
110 file in PEM format (except that B<-spkac> outputs DER format).
112 =item B<-outdir directory>
114 the directory to output certificates to. The certificate will be
115 written to a filename consisting of the serial number in hex with
120 the CA certificate file.
122 =item B<-keyfile filename>
124 the private key to sign requests with.
126 =item B<-keyform PEM|DER>
128 the format of the data in the private key file.
131 =item B<-key password>
133 the password used to encrypt the private key. Since on some
134 systems the command line arguments are visible (e.g. Unix with
135 the 'ps' utility) this option should be used with caution.
139 indicates the issued certificates are to be signed with the key
140 the certificate requests were signed with (given with B<-keyfile>).
141 Certificate requests signed with a different key are ignored. If
142 B<-spkac>, B<-ss_cert> or B<-gencrl> are given, B<-selfsign> is
145 A consequence of using B<-selfsign> is that the self-signed
146 certificate appears among the entries in the certificate database
147 (see the configuration option B<database>), and uses the same
148 serial number counter as all other certificates sign with the
149 self-signed certificate.
153 the key password source. For more information about the format of B<arg>
154 see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)>.
158 don't output the text form of a certificate to the output file.
160 =item B<-startdate date>
162 this allows the start date to be explicitly set. The format of the
163 date is YYMMDDHHMMSSZ (the same as an ASN1 UTCTime structure).
165 =item B<-enddate date>
167 this allows the expiry date to be explicitly set. The format of the
168 date is YYMMDDHHMMSSZ (the same as an ASN1 UTCTime structure).
172 the number of days to certify the certificate for.
176 the message digest to use.
177 Any digest supported by the OpenSSL B<dgst> command can be used.
178 This option also applies to CRLs.
182 this option defines the CA "policy" to use. This is a section in
183 the configuration file which decides which fields should be mandatory
184 or match the CA certificate. Check out the B<POLICY FORMAT> section
185 for more information.
189 this is a legacy option to make B<ca> work with very old versions of
190 the IE certificate enrollment control "certenr3". It used UniversalStrings
191 for almost everything. Since the old control has various security bugs
192 its use is strongly discouraged. The newer control "Xenroll" does not
197 Normally the DN order of a certificate is the same as the order of the
198 fields in the relevant policy section. When this option is set the order
199 is the same as the request. This is largely for compatibility with the
200 older IE enrollment control which would only accept certificates if their
201 DNs match the order of the request. This is not needed for Xenroll.
205 The DN of a certificate can contain the EMAIL field if present in the
206 request DN, however it is good policy just having the e-mail set into
207 the altName extension of the certificate. When this option is set the
208 EMAIL field is removed from the certificate' subject and set only in
209 the, eventually present, extensions. The B<email_in_dn> keyword can be
210 used in the configuration file to enable this behaviour.
214 this sets the batch mode. In this mode no questions will be asked
215 and all certificates will be certified automatically.
217 =item B<-extensions section>
219 the section of the configuration file containing certificate extensions
220 to be added when a certificate is issued (defaults to B<x509_extensions>
221 unless the B<-extfile> option is used). If no extension section is
222 present then, a V1 certificate is created. If the extension section
223 is present (even if it is empty), then a V3 certificate is created. See the:w
224 L<x509v3_config(5)> manual page for details of the
225 extension section format.
227 =item B<-extfile file>
229 an additional configuration file to read certificate extensions from
230 (using the default section unless the B<-extensions> option is also
235 specifying an engine (by its unique B<id> string) will cause B<ca>
236 to attempt to obtain a functional reference to the specified engine,
237 thus initialising it if needed. The engine will then be set as the default
238 for all available algorithms.
242 supersedes subject name given in the request.
243 The arg must be formatted as I</type0=value0/type1=value1/type2=...>,
244 characters may be escaped by \ (backslash), no spaces are skipped.
248 this option causes field values to be interpreted as UTF8 strings, by
249 default they are interpreted as ASCII. This means that the field
250 values, whether prompted from a terminal or obtained from a
251 configuration file, must be valid UTF8 strings.
253 =item B<-create_serial>
255 if reading serial from the text file as specified in the configuration
256 fails, specifying this option creates a new random serial to be used as next
259 =item B<-multivalue-rdn>
261 This option causes the -subj argument to be interpreted with full
262 support for multivalued RDNs. Example:
264 I</DC=org/DC=OpenSSL/DC=users/UID=123456+CN=John Doe>
266 If -multi-rdn is not used then the UID value is I<123456+CN=John Doe>.
276 this option generates a CRL based on information in the index file.
278 =item B<-crldays num>
280 the number of days before the next CRL is due. That is the days from
281 now to place in the CRL nextUpdate field.
283 =item B<-crlhours num>
285 the number of hours before the next CRL is due.
287 =item B<-revoke filename>
289 a filename containing a certificate to revoke.
291 =item B<-status serial>
293 displays the revocation status of the certificate with the specified
294 serial number and exits.
298 Updates the database index to purge expired certificates.
300 =item B<-crl_reason reason>
302 revocation reason, where B<reason> is one of: B<unspecified>, B<keyCompromise>,
303 B<CACompromise>, B<affiliationChanged>, B<superseded>, B<cessationOfOperation>,
304 B<certificateHold> or B<removeFromCRL>. The matching of B<reason> is case
305 insensitive. Setting any revocation reason will make the CRL v2.
307 In practice B<removeFromCRL> is not particularly useful because it is only used
308 in delta CRLs which are not currently implemented.
310 =item B<-crl_hold instruction>
312 This sets the CRL revocation reason code to B<certificateHold> and the hold
313 instruction to B<instruction> which must be an OID. Although any OID can be
314 used only B<holdInstructionNone> (the use of which is discouraged by RFC2459)
315 B<holdInstructionCallIssuer> or B<holdInstructionReject> will normally be used.
317 =item B<-crl_compromise time>
319 This sets the revocation reason to B<keyCompromise> and the compromise time to
320 B<time>. B<time> should be in GeneralizedTime format that is B<YYYYMMDDHHMMSSZ>.
322 =item B<-crl_CA_compromise time>
324 This is the same as B<crl_compromise> except the revocation reason is set to
327 =item B<-crlexts section>
329 the section of the configuration file containing CRL extensions to
330 include. If no CRL extension section is present then a V1 CRL is
331 created, if the CRL extension section is present (even if it is
332 empty) then a V2 CRL is created. The CRL extensions specified are
333 CRL extensions and B<not> CRL entry extensions. It should be noted
334 that some software (for example Netscape) can't handle V2 CRLs. See
335 L<x509v3_config(5)> manual page for details of the
336 extension section format.
340 =head1 CONFIGURATION FILE OPTIONS
342 The section of the configuration file containing options for B<ca>
343 is found as follows: If the B<-name> command line option is used,
344 then it names the section to be used. Otherwise the section to
345 be used must be named in the B<default_ca> option of the B<ca> section
346 of the configuration file (or in the default section of the
347 configuration file). Besides B<default_ca>, the following options are
348 read directly from the B<ca> section:
352 With the exception of B<RANDFILE>, this is probably a bug and may
353 change in future releases.
355 Many of the configuration file options are identical to command line
356 options. Where the option is present in the configuration file
357 and the command line the command line value is used. Where an
358 option is described as mandatory then it must be present in
359 the configuration file or the command line equivalent (if
366 This specifies a file containing additional B<OBJECT IDENTIFIERS>.
367 Each line of the file should consist of the numerical form of the
368 object identifier followed by white space then the short name followed
369 by white space and finally the long name.
373 This specifies a section in the configuration file containing extra
374 object identifiers. Each line should consist of the short name of the
375 object identifier followed by B<=> and the numerical form. The short
376 and long names are the same when this option is used.
378 =item B<new_certs_dir>
380 the same as the B<-outdir> command line option. It specifies
381 the directory where new certificates will be placed. Mandatory.
385 the same as B<-cert>. It gives the file containing the CA
386 certificate. Mandatory.
390 same as the B<-keyfile> option. The file containing the
391 CA private key. Mandatory.
395 a file used to read and write random number seed information, or
396 an EGD socket (see L<RAND_egd(3)>).
398 =item B<default_days>
400 the same as the B<-days> option. The number of days to certify
403 =item B<default_startdate>
405 the same as the B<-startdate> option. The start date to certify
406 a certificate for. If not set the current time is used.
408 =item B<default_enddate>
410 the same as the B<-enddate> option. Either this option or
411 B<default_days> (or the command line equivalents) must be
414 =item B<default_crl_hours default_crl_days>
416 the same as the B<-crlhours> and the B<-crldays> options. These
417 will only be used if neither command line option is present. At
418 least one of these must be present to generate a CRL.
422 the same as the B<-md> option. Mandatory.
426 the text database file to use. Mandatory. This file must be present
427 though initially it will be empty.
429 =item B<unique_subject>
431 if the value B<yes> is given, the valid certificate entries in the
432 database must have unique subjects. if the value B<no> is given,
433 several valid certificate entries may have the exact same subject.
434 The default value is B<yes>, to be compatible with older (pre 0.9.8)
435 versions of OpenSSL. However, to make CA certificate roll-over easier,
436 it's recommended to use the value B<no>, especially if combined with
437 the B<-selfsign> command line option.
441 a text file containing the next serial number to use in hex. Mandatory.
442 This file must be present and contain a valid serial number.
446 a text file containing the next CRL number to use in hex. The crl number
447 will be inserted in the CRLs only if this file exists. If this file is
448 present, it must contain a valid CRL number.
450 =item B<x509_extensions>
452 the same as B<-extensions>.
454 =item B<crl_extensions>
456 the same as B<-crlexts>.
460 the same as B<-preserveDN>
464 the same as B<-noemailDN>. If you want the EMAIL field to be removed
465 from the DN of the certificate simply set this to 'no'. If not present
466 the default is to allow for the EMAIL filed in the certificate's DN.
470 the same as B<-msie_hack>
474 the same as B<-policy>. Mandatory. See the B<POLICY FORMAT> section
475 for more information.
477 =item B<name_opt>, B<cert_opt>
479 these options allow the format used to display the certificate details
480 when asking the user to confirm signing. All the options supported by
481 the B<x509> utilities B<-nameopt> and B<-certopt> switches can be used
482 here, except the B<no_signame> and B<no_sigdump> are permanently set
483 and cannot be disabled (this is because the certificate signature cannot
484 be displayed because the certificate has not been signed at this point).
486 For convenience the values B<ca_default> are accepted by both to produce
489 If neither option is present the format used in earlier versions of
490 OpenSSL is used. Use of the old format is B<strongly> discouraged because
491 it only displays fields mentioned in the B<policy> section, mishandles
492 multicharacter string types and does not display extensions.
494 =item B<copy_extensions>
496 determines how extensions in certificate requests should be handled.
497 If set to B<none> or this option is not present then extensions are
498 ignored and not copied to the certificate. If set to B<copy> then any
499 extensions present in the request that are not already present are copied
500 to the certificate. If set to B<copyall> then all extensions in the
501 request are copied to the certificate: if the extension is already present
502 in the certificate it is deleted first. See the B<WARNINGS> section before
505 The main use of this option is to allow a certificate request to supply
506 values for certain extensions such as subjectAltName.
512 The policy section consists of a set of variables corresponding to
513 certificate DN fields. If the value is "match" then the field value
514 must match the same field in the CA certificate. If the value is
515 "supplied" then it must be present. If the value is "optional" then
516 it may be present. Any fields not mentioned in the policy section
517 are silently deleted, unless the B<-preserveDN> option is set but
518 this can be regarded more of a quirk than intended behaviour.
522 The input to the B<-spkac> command line option is a Netscape
523 signed public key and challenge. This will usually come from
524 the B<KEYGEN> tag in an HTML form to create a new private key.
525 It is however possible to create SPKACs using the B<spkac> utility.
527 The file should contain the variable SPKAC set to the value of
528 the SPKAC and also the required DN components as name value pairs.
529 If you need to include the same component twice then it can be
530 preceded by a number and a '.'.
532 When processing SPKAC format, the output is DER if the B<-out>
533 flag is used, but PEM format if sending to stdout or the B<-outdir>
538 Note: these examples assume that the B<ca> directory structure is
539 already set up and the relevant files already exist. This usually
540 involves creating a CA certificate and private key with B<req>, a
541 serial number file and an empty index file and placing them in
542 the relevant directories.
544 To use the sample configuration file below the directories demoCA,
545 demoCA/private and demoCA/newcerts would be created. The CA
546 certificate would be copied to demoCA/cacert.pem and its private
547 key to demoCA/private/cakey.pem. A file demoCA/serial would be
548 created containing for example "01" and the empty index file
552 Sign a certificate request:
554 openssl ca -in req.pem -out newcert.pem
556 Sign a certificate request, using CA extensions:
558 openssl ca -in req.pem -extensions v3_ca -out newcert.pem
562 openssl ca -gencrl -out crl.pem
564 Sign several requests:
566 openssl ca -infiles req1.pem req2.pem req3.pem
568 Certify a Netscape SPKAC:
570 openssl ca -spkac spkac.txt
572 A sample SPKAC file (the SPKAC line has been truncated for clarity):
574 SPKAC=MIG0MGAwXDANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAANLADBIAkEAn7PDhCeV/xIxUg8V70YRxK2A5
576 emailAddress=steve@openssl.org
580 A sample configuration file with the relevant sections for B<ca>:
583 default_ca = CA_default # The default ca section
587 dir = ./demoCA # top dir
588 database = $dir/index.txt # index file.
589 new_certs_dir = $dir/newcerts # new certs dir
591 certificate = $dir/cacert.pem # The CA cert
592 serial = $dir/serial # serial no file
593 private_key = $dir/private/cakey.pem# CA private key
594 RANDFILE = $dir/private/.rand # random number file
596 default_days = 365 # how long to certify for
597 default_crl_days= 30 # how long before next CRL
598 default_md = md5 # md to use
600 policy = policy_any # default policy
601 email_in_dn = no # Don't add the email into cert DN
603 name_opt = ca_default # Subject name display option
604 cert_opt = ca_default # Certificate display option
605 copy_extensions = none # Don't copy extensions from request
608 countryName = supplied
609 stateOrProvinceName = optional
610 organizationName = optional
611 organizationalUnitName = optional
612 commonName = supplied
613 emailAddress = optional
617 Note: the location of all files can change either by compile time options,
618 configuration file entries, environment variables or command line options.
619 The values below reflect the default values.
621 /usr/local/ssl/lib/openssl.cnf - master configuration file
622 ./demoCA - main CA directory
623 ./demoCA/cacert.pem - CA certificate
624 ./demoCA/private/cakey.pem - CA private key
625 ./demoCA/serial - CA serial number file
626 ./demoCA/serial.old - CA serial number backup file
627 ./demoCA/index.txt - CA text database file
628 ./demoCA/index.txt.old - CA text database backup file
629 ./demoCA/certs - certificate output file
630 ./demoCA/.rnd - CA random seed information
632 =head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
634 B<OPENSSL_CONF> reflects the location of master configuration file it can
635 be overridden by the B<-config> command line option.
639 The text database index file is a critical part of the process and
640 if corrupted it can be difficult to fix. It is theoretically possible
641 to rebuild the index file from all the issued certificates and a current
642 CRL: however there is no option to do this.
644 V2 CRL features like delta CRLs are not currently supported.
646 Although several requests can be input and handled at once it is only
647 possible to include one SPKAC or self signed certificate.
651 The use of an in memory text database can cause problems when large
652 numbers of certificates are present because, as the name implies
653 the database has to be kept in memory.
655 The B<ca> command really needs rewriting or the required functionality
656 exposed at either a command or interface level so a more friendly utility
657 (perl script or GUI) can handle things properly. The script
658 B<CA.pl> helps a little but not very much.
660 Any fields in a request that are not present in a policy are silently
661 deleted. This does not happen if the B<-preserveDN> option is used. To
662 enforce the absence of the EMAIL field within the DN, as suggested by
663 RFCs, regardless the contents of the request' subject the B<-noemailDN>
664 option can be used. The behaviour should be more friendly and
667 Canceling some commands by refusing to certify a certificate can
668 create an empty file.
672 The B<ca> command is quirky and at times downright unfriendly.
674 The B<ca> utility was originally meant as an example of how to do things
675 in a CA. It was not supposed to be used as a full blown CA itself:
676 nevertheless some people are using it for this purpose.
678 The B<ca> command is effectively a single user command: no locking is
679 done on the various files and attempts to run more than one B<ca> command
680 on the same database can have unpredictable results.
682 The B<copy_extensions> option should be used with caution. If care is
683 not taken then it can be a security risk. For example if a certificate
684 request contains a basicConstraints extension with CA:TRUE and the
685 B<copy_extensions> value is set to B<copyall> and the user does not spot
686 this when the certificate is displayed then this will hand the requester
687 a valid CA certificate.
689 This situation can be avoided by setting B<copy_extensions> to B<copy>
690 and including basicConstraints with CA:FALSE in the configuration file.
691 Then if the request contains a basicConstraints extension it will be
694 It is advisable to also include values for other extensions such
695 as B<keyUsage> to prevent a request supplying its own values.
697 Additional restrictions can be placed on the CA certificate itself.
698 For example if the CA certificate has:
700 basicConstraints = CA:TRUE, pathlen:0
702 then even if a certificate is issued with CA:TRUE it will not be valid.
706 L<req(1)>, L<spkac(1)>, L<x509(1)>, L<CA.pl(1)>,
707 L<config(5)>, L<x509v3_config(5)>
713 Copyright 2000-2016 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
715 Licensed under the OpenSSL license (the "License"). You may not use
716 this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
717 in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
718 L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.