[B<-name section>]
[B<-gencrl>]
[B<-revoke file>]
+[B<-subj arg>]
[B<-crldays days>]
[B<-crlhours hours>]
[B<-crlexts section>]
[B<-policy arg>]
[B<-keyfile arg>]
[B<-key arg>]
+[B<-passin arg>]
[B<-cert file>]
[B<-in file>]
[B<-out file>]
[B<-spkac file>]
[B<-ss_cert file>]
[B<-preserveDN>]
+[B<-noemailDN>]
[B<-batch>]
[B<-msie_hack>]
[B<-extensions section>]
+[B<-extfile section>]
=head1 DESCRIPTION
specifies the configuration file to use.
+=item B<-name section>
+
+specifies the configuration file section to use (overrides
+B<default_ca> in the B<ca> section).
+
=item B<-in filename>
an input filename containing a single certificate request to be
systems the command line arguments are visible (e.g. Unix with
the 'ps' utility) this option should be used with caution.
+=item B<-passin arg>
+
+the key password source. For more information about the format of B<arg>
+see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)>.
+
=item B<-verbose>
this prints extra details about the operations being performed.
older IE enrollment control which would only accept certificates if their
DNs match the order of the request. This is not needed for Xenroll.
+=item B<-noemailDN>
+
+The DN of a certificate can contain the EMAIL field if present in the
+request DN, however it is good policy just having the e-mail set into
+the altName extension of the certificate. When this option is set the
+EMAIL field is removed from the certificate' subject and set only in
+the, eventually present, extensions. The B<email_in_dn> keyword can be
+used in the configuration file to enable this behaviour.
+
=item B<-batch>
this sets the batch mode. In this mode no questions will be asked
=item B<-extensions section>
the section of the configuration file containing certificate extensions
-to be added when a certificate is issued. If no extension section is
-present then a V1 certificate is created. If the extension section
-is present (even if it is empty) then a V3 certificate is created.
+to be added when a certificate is issued (defaults to B<x509_extensions>
+unless the B<-extfile> option is used). If no extension section is
+present then, a V1 certificate is created. If the extension section
+is present (even if it is empty), then a V3 certificate is created.
+
+=item B<-extfile file>
+
+an additional configuration file to read certificate extensions from
+(using the default section unless the B<-extensions> option is also
+used).
=back
a filename containing a certificate to revoke.
+=item B<-subj arg>
+
+supersedes subject name given in the request
+
=item B<-crlexts section>
the section of the configuration file containing CRL extensions to
=head1 CONFIGURATION FILE OPTIONS
-The options for B<ca> are contained in the B<ca> section of the
-configuration file. Many of these are identical to command line
+The section of the configuration file containing options for B<ca>
+is found as follows: If the B<-name> command line option is used,
+then it names the section to be used. Otherwise the section to
+be used must be named in the B<default_ca> option of the B<ca> section
+of the configuration file (or in the default section of the
+configuration file). Besides B<default_ca>, the following options are
+read directly from the B<ca> section:
+ RANDFILE
+ preserve
+ msie_hack
+With the exception of B<RANDFILE>, this is probably a bug and may
+change in future releases.
+
+Many of the configuration file options are identical to command line
options. Where the option is present in the configuration file
and the command line the command line value is used. Where an
option is described as mandatory then it must be present in
the same as B<-preserveDN>
+=item B<email_in_dn>
+
+the same as B<-noemailDN>. If you want the EMAIL field to be removed
+from the DN of the certificate simply set this to 'no'. If not present
+the default is to allow for the EMAIL filed in the certificate's DN.
+
=item B<msie_hack>
the same as B<-msie_hack>
the same as B<-policy>. Mandatory. See the B<POLICY FORMAT> section
for more information.
+=item B<nameopt>, B<certopt>
+
+these options allow the format used to display the certificate details
+when asking the user to confirm signing. All the options supported by
+the B<x509> utilities B<-nameopt> and B<-certopt> switches can be used
+here, except the B<no_signame> and B<no_sigdump> are permanently set
+and cannot be disabled (this is because the certificate signature cannot
+be displayed because the certificate has not been signed at this point).
+
+For convenience the values B<default_ca> are accepted by both to produce
+a reasonable output.
+
+If neither option is present the format used in earlier versions of
+OpenSSL is used. Use of the old format is B<strongly> discouraged because
+it only displays fields mentioned in the B<policy> section, mishandles
+multicharacter string types and does not display extensions.
+
+=item B<copy_extensions>
+
+determines how extensions in certificate requests should be handled.
+If set to B<none> or this option is not present then extensions are
+ignored and not copied to the certificate. If set to B<copy> then any
+extensions present in the request that are not already present are copied
+to the certificate. If set to B<copyall> then all extensions in the
+request are copied to the certificate: if the extension is already present
+in the certificate it is deleted first. See the B<WARNINGS> section before
+using this option.
+
+The main use of this option is to allow a certificate request to supply
+values for certain extensions such as subjectAltName.
+
=back
=head1 POLICY FORMAT
openssl ca -in req.pem -out newcert.pem
+Sign a certificate request, using CA extensions:
+
+ openssl ca -in req.pem -extensions v3_ca -out newcert.pem
+
Generate a CRL
openssl ca -gencrl -out crl.pem
default_md = md5 # md to use
policy = policy_any # default policy
+ email_in_dn = no # Don't add the email into cert DN
+
+ nameopt = default_ca # Subject name display option
+ certopt = default_ca # Certificate display option
+ copy_extensions = none # Don't copy extensions from request
[ policy_any ]
countryName = supplied
The B<ca> command is quirky and at times downright unfriendly.
The B<ca> utility was originally meant as an example of how to do things
-in a CA. It was not supposed be be used as a full blown CA itself:
+in a CA. It was not supposed to be used as a full blown CA itself:
nevertheless some people are using it for this purpose.
The B<ca> command is effectively a single user command: no locking is
numbers of certificates are present because, as the name implies
the database has to be kept in memory.
-Certificate request extensions are ignored: some kind of "policy" should
-be included to use certain static extensions and certain extensions
-from the request.
-
It is not possible to certify two certificates with the same DN: this
is a side effect of how the text database is indexed and it cannot easily
be fixed without introducing other problems. Some S/MIME clients can use
B<CA.pl> help a little but not very much.
Any fields in a request that are not present in a policy are silently
-deleted. This does not happen if the B<-preserveDN> option is used but
-the extra fields are not displayed when the user is asked to certify
-a request. The behaviour should be more friendly and configurable.
+deleted. This does not happen if the B<-preserveDN> option is used. To
+enforce the absence of the EMAIL field within the DN, as suggested by
+RFCs, regardless the contents of the request' subject the B<-noemailDN>
+option can be used. The behaviour should be more friendly and
+configurable.
Cancelling some commands by refusing to certify a certificate can
create an empty file.
+=head1 WARNINGS
+
+The B<copy_extensions> option should be used with caution. If care is
+not taken then it can be a security risk. For example if a certificate
+request contains a basicConstraints extension with CA:TRUE and the
+B<copy_extensions> value is set to B<copyall> and the user does not spot
+this when the certificate is displayed then this will hand the requestor
+a valid CA certificate.
+
+This situation can be avoided by setting B<copy_extensions> to B<copy>
+and including basicConstraints with CA:FALSE in the configuration file.
+Then if the request contains a basicConstraints extension it will be
+ignored.
+
+It is advisable to also include values for other extensions such
+as B<keyUsage> to prevent a request supplying its own values.
+
+Additional restrictions can be placed on the CA certificate itself.
+For example if the CA certificate has:
+
+ basicConstraints = CA:TRUE, pathlen:0
+
+then even if a certificate is issued with CA:TRUE it will not be valid.
+
=head1 SEE ALSO
L<req(1)|req(1)>, L<spkac(1)|spkac(1)>, L<x509(1)|x509(1)>, L<CA.pl(1)|CA.pl(1)>,
projects / openssl.git / blobdiff