xref: /freebsd/crypto/openssl/doc/man1/CA.pl.pod (revision b9f654b163bce26de79705e77b872427c9f2afa1)
1=pod
2
3=head1 NAME
4
5CA.pl - friendlier interface for OpenSSL certificate programs
6
7=head1 SYNOPSIS
8
9B<CA.pl>
10B<-?> |
11B<-h> |
12B<-help>
13
14B<CA.pl>
15B<-newcert> |
16B<-newreq> |
17B<-newreq-nodes> |
18B<-xsign> |
19B<-sign> |
20B<-signCA> |
21B<-signcert> |
22B<-crl> |
23B<-newca>
24[B<-extra-cmd> extra-params]
25
26B<CA.pl> B<-pkcs12> [B<-extra-pkcs12> extra-params] [B<certname>]
27
28B<CA.pl> B<-verify> [B<-extra-verify> extra-params] B<certfile>...
29
30B<CA.pl> B<-revoke> [B<-extra-ca> extra-params] B<certfile> [B<reason>]
31
32=head1 DESCRIPTION
33
34The B<CA.pl> script is a perl script that supplies the relevant command line
35arguments to the B<openssl> command for some common certificate operations.
36It is intended to simplify the process of certificate creation and management
37by the use of some simple options.
38
39=head1 OPTIONS
40
41=over 4
42
43=item B<?>, B<-h>, B<-help>
44
45Prints a usage message.
46
47=item B<-newcert>
48
49Creates a new self signed certificate. The private key is written to the file
50"newkey.pem" and the request written to the file "newreq.pem".
51This argument invokes B<openssl req> command.
52
53=item B<-newreq>
54
55Creates a new certificate request. The private key is written to the file
56"newkey.pem" and the request written to the file "newreq.pem".
57Executes B<openssl req> command below the hood.
58
59=item B<-newreq-nodes>
60
61Is like B<-newreq> except that the private key will not be encrypted.
62Uses B<openssl req> command.
63
64=item B<-newca>
65
66Creates a new CA hierarchy for use with the B<ca> program (or the B<-signcert>
67and B<-xsign> options). The user is prompted to enter the filename of the CA
68certificates (which should also contain the private key) or by hitting ENTER
69details of the CA will be prompted for. The relevant files and directories
70are created in a directory called "demoCA" in the current directory.
71B<openssl req> and B<openssl ca> commands are get invoked.
72
73=item B<-pkcs12>
74
75Create a PKCS#12 file containing the user certificate, private key and CA
76certificate. It expects the user certificate and private key to be in the
77file "newcert.pem" and the CA certificate to be in the file demoCA/cacert.pem,
78it creates a file "newcert.p12". This command can thus be called after the
79B<-sign> option. The PKCS#12 file can be imported directly into a browser.
80If 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
82list box), otherwise the name "My Certificate" is used.
83Delegates work to B<openssl pkcs12> command.
84
85=item B<-sign>, B<-signcert>, B<-xsign>
86
87Calls the B<ca> program to sign a certificate request. It expects the request
88to be in the file "newreq.pem". The new certificate is written to the file
89"newcert.pem" except in the case of the B<-xsign> option when it is written
90to standard output. Leverages B<openssl ca> command.
91
92=item B<-signCA>
93
94This option is the same as the B<-signreq> option except it uses the
95configuration file section B<v3_ca> and so makes the signed request a
96valid CA certificate. This is useful when creating intermediate CA from
97a root CA.  Extra params are passed on to B<openssl ca> command.
98
99=item B<-signcert>
100
101This option is the same as B<-sign> except it expects a self signed certificate
102to be present in the file "newreq.pem".
103Extra params are passed on to B<openssl x509> and B<openssl ca> commands.
104
105=item B<-crl>
106
107Generate a CRL. Executes B<openssl ca> command.
108
109=item B<-revoke certfile [reason]>
110
111Revoke the certificate contained in the specified B<certfile>. An optional
112reason may be specified, and must be one of: B<unspecified>,
113B<keyCompromise>, B<CACompromise>, B<affiliationChanged>, B<superseded>,
114B<cessationOfOperation>, B<certificateHold>, or B<removeFromCRL>.
115Leverages B<openssl ca> command.
116
117=item B<-verify>
118
119Verifies certificates against the CA certificate for "demoCA". If no
120certificates are specified on the command line it tries to verify the file
121"newcert.pem".  Invokes B<openssl verify> command.
122
123=item B<-extra-req> | B<-extra-ca> | B<-extra-pkcs12> | B<-extra-x509> | B<-extra-verify> <extra-params>
124
125The purpose of these parameters is to allow optional parameters to be supplied
126to B<openssl> that this command executes. The B<-extra-cmd> are specific to the
127option being used and the B<openssl> command getting invoked. For example
128when this command invokes B<openssl req> extra parameters can be passed on
129with the B<-extra-req> parameter. The
130B<openssl> commands being invoked per option are documented below.
131Users should consult B<openssl> command documentation for more information.
132
133=back
134
135=head1 EXAMPLES
136
137Create a CA hierarchy:
138
139 CA.pl -newca
140
141Complete certificate creation example: create a CA, create a request, sign
142the request and finally create a PKCS#12 file containing it.
143
144 CA.pl -newca
145 CA.pl -newreq
146 CA.pl -signreq
147 CA.pl -pkcs12 "My Test Certificate"
148
149=head1 DSA CERTIFICATES
150
151Although the B<CA.pl> creates RSA CAs and requests it is still possible to
152use it with DSA certificates and requests using the L<req(1)> command
153directly. The following example shows the steps that would typically be taken.
154
155Create some DSA parameters:
156
157 openssl dsaparam -out dsap.pem 1024
158
159Create a DSA CA certificate and private key:
160
161 openssl req -x509 -newkey dsa:dsap.pem -keyout cacert.pem -out cacert.pem
162
163Create the CA directories and files:
164
165 CA.pl -newca
166
167enter cacert.pem when prompted for the CA file name.
168
169Create a DSA certificate request and private key (a different set of parameters
170can optionally be created first):
171
172 openssl req -out newreq.pem -newkey dsa:dsap.pem
173
174Sign the request:
175
176 CA.pl -signreq
177
178=head1 NOTES
179
180Most of the filenames mentioned can be modified by editing the B<CA.pl> script.
181
182If the demoCA directory already exists then the B<-newca> command will not
183overwrite it and will do nothing. This can happen if a previous call using
184the B<-newca> option terminated abnormally. To get the correct behaviour
185delete the demoCA directory if it already exists.
186
187Under some environments it may not be possible to run the B<CA.pl> script
188directly (for example Win32) and the default configuration file location may
189be wrong. In this case the command:
190
191 perl -S CA.pl
192
193can be used and the B<OPENSSL_CONF> environment variable changed to point to
194the correct path of the configuration file.
195
196The script is intended as a simple front end for the B<openssl> program for use
197by a beginner. Its behaviour isn't always what is wanted. For more control over the
198behaviour of the certificate commands call the B<openssl> command directly.
199
200=head1 SEE ALSO
201
202L<x509(1)>, L<ca(1)>, L<req(1)>, L<pkcs12(1)>,
203L<config(5)>
204
205=head1 COPYRIGHT
206
207Copyright 2000-2017 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
208
209Licensed under the OpenSSL license (the "License").  You may not use
210this file except in compliance with the License.  You can obtain a copy
211in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
212L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
213
214=cut
215