1 =pod 2 3 =head1 NAME 4 5 CA.pl - friendlier interface for OpenSSL certificate programs 6 7 =head1 SYNOPSIS 8 9 B<CA.pl> 10 B<-?> | 11 B<-h> | 12 B<-help> 13 14 B<CA.pl> 15 B<-newcert> | 16 B<-newreq> | 17 B<-newreq-nodes> | 18 B<-xsign> | 19 B<-sign> | 20 B<-signCA> | 21 B<-signcert> | 22 B<-crl> | 23 B<-newca> 24 [B<-extra-cmd> extra-params] 25 26 B<CA.pl> B<-pkcs12> [B<-extra-pkcs12> extra-params] [B<certname>] 27 28 B<CA.pl> B<-verify> [B<-extra-verify> extra-params] B<certfile>... 29 30 B<CA.pl> B<-revoke> [B<-extra-ca> extra-params] B<certfile> [B<reason>] 31 32 =head1 DESCRIPTION 33 34 The B<CA.pl> script is a perl script that supplies the relevant command line 35 arguments to the B<openssl> 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. 38 39 =head1 OPTIONS 40 41 =over 4 42 43 =item B<?>, B<-h>, B<-help> 44 45 Prints a usage message. 46 47 =item B<-newcert> 48 49 Creates 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". 51 This argument invokes B<openssl req> command. 52 53 =item B<-newreq> 54 55 Creates a new certificate request. The private key is written to the file 56 "newkey.pem" and the request written to the file "newreq.pem". 57 Executes B<openssl req> command below the hood. 58 59 =item B<-newreq-nodes> 60 61 Is like B<-newreq> except that the private key will not be encrypted. 62 Uses B<openssl req> command. 63 64 =item B<-newca> 65 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 "demoCA" in the current directory. 71 B<openssl req> and B<openssl ca> commands are get invoked. 72 73 =item B<-pkcs12> 74 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 "newcert.pem" and the CA certificate to be in the file demoCA/cacert.pem, 78 it creates a file "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 B<openssl pkcs12> command. 84 85 =item B<-sign>, B<-signcert>, B<-xsign> 86 87 Calls the B<ca> program to sign a certificate request. It expects the request 88 to 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 90 to standard output. Leverages B<openssl ca> command. 91 92 =item B<-signCA> 93 94 This option is the same as the B<-sign> 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 on to B<openssl ca> command. 98 99 =item B<-signcert> 100 101 This option is the same as B<-sign> except it expects a self signed certificate 102 to be present in the file "newreq.pem". 103 Extra params are passed on to B<openssl x509> and B<openssl ca> commands. 104 105 =item B<-crl> 106 107 Generate a CRL. Executes B<openssl ca> command. 108 109 =item B<-revoke certfile [reason]> 110 111 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 B<openssl ca> command. 116 117 =item B<-verify> 118 119 Verifies certificates against the CA certificate for "demoCA". If no 120 certificates 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> 124 125 The purpose of these parameters is to allow optional parameters to be supplied 126 to B<openssl> that this command executes. The B<-extra-cmd> are specific to the 127 option being used and the B<openssl> command getting invoked. For example 128 when this command invokes B<openssl req> extra parameters can be passed on 129 with the B<-extra-req> parameter. The 130 B<openssl> commands being invoked per option are documented below. 131 Users should consult B<openssl> command documentation for more information. 132 133 =back 134 135 =head1 EXAMPLES 136 137 Create a CA hierarchy: 138 139 CA.pl -newca 140 141 Complete certificate creation example: create a CA, create a request, sign 142 the request and finally create a PKCS#12 file containing it. 143 144 CA.pl -newca 145 CA.pl -newreq 146 CA.pl -sign 147 CA.pl -pkcs12 "My Test Certificate" 148 149 =head1 DSA CERTIFICATES 150 151 Although the B<CA.pl> creates RSA CAs and requests it is still possible to 152 use it with DSA certificates and requests using the L<req(1)> command 153 directly. The following example shows the steps that would typically be taken. 154 155 Create some DSA parameters: 156 157 openssl dsaparam -out dsap.pem 1024 158 159 Create a DSA CA certificate and private key: 160 161 openssl req -x509 -newkey dsa:dsap.pem -keyout cacert.pem -out cacert.pem 162 163 Create the CA directories and files: 164 165 CA.pl -newca 166 167 enter cacert.pem when prompted for the CA filename. 168 169 Create a DSA certificate request and private key (a different set of parameters 170 can optionally be created first): 171 172 openssl req -out newreq.pem -newkey dsa:dsap.pem 173 174 Sign the request: 175 176 CA.pl -sign 177 178 =head1 NOTES 179 180 Most of the filenames mentioned can be modified by editing the B<CA.pl> script. 181 182 If the demoCA directory already exists then the B<-newca> command will not 183 overwrite it and will do nothing. This can happen if a previous call using 184 the B<-newca> option terminated abnormally. To get the correct behaviour 185 delete the demoCA directory if it already exists. 186 187 Under some environments it may not be possible to run the B<CA.pl> script 188 directly (for example Win32) and the default configuration file location may 189 be wrong. In this case the command: 190 191 perl -S CA.pl 192 193 can be used and the B<OPENSSL_CONF> environment variable changed to point to 194 the correct path of the configuration file. 195 196 The script is intended as a simple front end for the B<openssl> program for use 197 by a beginner. Its behaviour isn't always what is wanted. For more control over the 198 behaviour of the certificate commands call the B<openssl> command directly. 199 200 =head1 SEE ALSO 201 202 L<x509(1)>, L<ca(1)>, L<req(1)>, L<pkcs12(1)>, 203 L<config(5)> 204 205 =head1 COPYRIGHT 206 207 Copyright 2000-2020 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved. 208 209 Licensed under the OpenSSL license (the "License"). You may not use 210 this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy 211 in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at 212 L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>. 213 214 =cut 215
Indexes created Sun Apr 26 00:22:38 UTC 2026