1 | |
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2 | =pod |
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3 | |
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4 | =head1 NAME |
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5 | |
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6 | ca - sample minimal CA application |
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7 | |
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8 | =head1 SYNOPSIS |
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9 | |
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10 | B<openssl> B<ca> |
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11 | [B<-verbose>] |
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12 | [B<-config filename>] |
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13 | [B<-name section>] |
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14 | [B<-gencrl>] |
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15 | [B<-revoke file>] |
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16 | [B<-crl_reason reason>] |
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17 | [B<-crl_hold instruction>] |
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18 | [B<-crl_compromise time>] |
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19 | [B<-crl_CA_compromise time>] |
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20 | [B<-subj arg>] |
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21 | [B<-crldays days>] |
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22 | [B<-crlhours hours>] |
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23 | [B<-crlexts section>] |
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24 | [B<-startdate date>] |
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25 | [B<-enddate date>] |
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26 | [B<-days arg>] |
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27 | [B<-md arg>] |
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28 | [B<-policy arg>] |
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29 | [B<-keyfile arg>] |
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30 | [B<-key arg>] |
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31 | [B<-passin arg>] |
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32 | [B<-cert file>] |
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33 | [B<-in file>] |
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34 | [B<-out file>] |
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35 | [B<-notext>] |
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36 | [B<-outdir dir>] |
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37 | [B<-infiles>] |
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38 | [B<-spkac file>] |
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39 | [B<-ss_cert file>] |
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40 | [B<-preserveDN>] |
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41 | [B<-noemailDN>] |
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42 | [B<-batch>] |
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43 | [B<-msie_hack>] |
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44 | [B<-extensions section>] |
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45 | [B<-extfile section>] |
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46 | |
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47 | =head1 DESCRIPTION |
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48 | |
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49 | The B<ca> command is a minimal CA application. It can be used |
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50 | to sign certificate requests in a variety of forms and generate |
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51 | CRLs it also maintains a text database of issued certificates |
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52 | and their status. |
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53 | |
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54 | The options descriptions will be divided into each purpose. |
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55 | |
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56 | =head1 CA OPTIONS |
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57 | |
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58 | =over 4 |
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59 | |
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60 | =item B<-config filename> |
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61 | |
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62 | specifies the configuration file to use. |
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63 | |
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64 | =item B<-name section> |
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65 | |
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66 | specifies the configuration file section to use (overrides |
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67 | B<default_ca> in the B<ca> section). |
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68 | |
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69 | =item B<-in filename> |
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70 | |
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71 | an input filename containing a single certificate request to be |
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72 | signed by the CA. |
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73 | |
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74 | =item B<-ss_cert filename> |
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75 | |
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76 | a single self signed certificate to be signed by the CA. |
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77 | |
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78 | =item B<-spkac filename> |
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79 | |
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80 | a file containing a single Netscape signed public key and challenge |
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81 | and additional field values to be signed by the CA. See the B<SPKAC FORMAT> |
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82 | section for information on the required format. |
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83 | |
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84 | =item B<-infiles> |
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85 | |
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86 | if present this should be the last option, all subsequent arguments |
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87 | are assumed to the the names of files containing certificate requests. |
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88 | |
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89 | =item B<-out filename> |
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90 | |
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91 | the output file to output certificates to. The default is standard |
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92 | output. The certificate details will also be printed out to this |
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93 | file. |
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94 | |
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95 | =item B<-outdir directory> |
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96 | |
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97 | the directory to output certificates to. The certificate will be |
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98 | written to a filename consisting of the serial number in hex with |
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99 | ".pem" appended. |
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100 | |
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101 | =item B<-cert> |
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102 | |
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103 | the CA certificate file. |
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104 | |
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105 | =item B<-keyfile filename> |
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106 | |
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107 | the private key to sign requests with. |
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108 | |
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109 | =item B<-key password> |
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110 | |
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111 | the password used to encrypt the private key. Since on some |
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112 | systems the command line arguments are visible (e.g. Unix with |
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113 | the 'ps' utility) this option should be used with caution. |
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114 | |
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115 | =item B<-passin arg> |
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116 | |
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117 | the key password source. For more information about the format of B<arg> |
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118 | see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)>. |
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119 | |
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120 | =item B<-verbose> |
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121 | |
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122 | this prints extra details about the operations being performed. |
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123 | |
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124 | =item B<-notext> |
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125 | |
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126 | don't output the text form of a certificate to the output file. |
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127 | |
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128 | =item B<-startdate date> |
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129 | |
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130 | this allows the start date to be explicitly set. The format of the |
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131 | date is YYMMDDHHMMSSZ (the same as an ASN1 UTCTime structure). |
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132 | |
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133 | =item B<-enddate date> |
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134 | |
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135 | this allows the expiry date to be explicitly set. The format of the |
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136 | date is YYMMDDHHMMSSZ (the same as an ASN1 UTCTime structure). |
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137 | |
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138 | =item B<-days arg> |
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139 | |
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140 | the number of days to certify the certificate for. |
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141 | |
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142 | =item B<-md alg> |
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143 | |
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144 | the message digest to use. Possible values include md5, sha1 and mdc2. |
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145 | This option also applies to CRLs. |
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146 | |
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147 | =item B<-policy arg> |
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148 | |
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149 | this option defines the CA "policy" to use. This is a section in |
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150 | the configuration file which decides which fields should be mandatory |
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151 | or match the CA certificate. Check out the B<POLICY FORMAT> section |
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152 | for more information. |
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153 | |
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154 | =item B<-msie_hack> |
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155 | |
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156 | this is a legacy option to make B<ca> work with very old versions of |
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157 | the IE certificate enrollment control "certenr3". It used UniversalStrings |
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158 | for almost everything. Since the old control has various security bugs |
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159 | its use is strongly discouraged. The newer control "Xenroll" does not |
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160 | need this option. |
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161 | |
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162 | =item B<-preserveDN> |
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163 | |
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164 | Normally the DN order of a certificate is the same as the order of the |
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165 | fields in the relevant policy section. When this option is set the order |
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166 | is the same as the request. This is largely for compatibility with the |
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167 | older IE enrollment control which would only accept certificates if their |
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168 | DNs match the order of the request. This is not needed for Xenroll. |
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169 | |
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170 | =item B<-noemailDN> |
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171 | |
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172 | The DN of a certificate can contain the EMAIL field if present in the |
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173 | request DN, however it is good policy just having the e-mail set into |
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174 | the altName extension of the certificate. When this option is set the |
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175 | EMAIL field is removed from the certificate' subject and set only in |
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176 | the, eventually present, extensions. The B<email_in_dn> keyword can be |
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177 | used in the configuration file to enable this behaviour. |
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178 | |
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179 | =item B<-batch> |
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180 | |
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181 | this sets the batch mode. In this mode no questions will be asked |
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182 | and all certificates will be certified automatically. |
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183 | |
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184 | =item B<-extensions section> |
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185 | |
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186 | the section of the configuration file containing certificate extensions |
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187 | to be added when a certificate is issued (defaults to B<x509_extensions> |
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188 | unless the B<-extfile> option is used). If no extension section is |
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189 | present then, a V1 certificate is created. If the extension section |
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190 | is present (even if it is empty), then a V3 certificate is created. |
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191 | |
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192 | =item B<-extfile file> |
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193 | |
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194 | an additional configuration file to read certificate extensions from |
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195 | (using the default section unless the B<-extensions> option is also |
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196 | used). |
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197 | |
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198 | =back |
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199 | |
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200 | =head1 CRL OPTIONS |
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201 | |
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202 | =over 4 |
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203 | |
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204 | =item B<-gencrl> |
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205 | |
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206 | this option generates a CRL based on information in the index file. |
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207 | |
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208 | =item B<-crldays num> |
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209 | |
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210 | the number of days before the next CRL is due. That is the days from |
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211 | now to place in the CRL nextUpdate field. |
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212 | |
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213 | =item B<-crlhours num> |
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214 | |
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215 | the number of hours before the next CRL is due. |
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216 | |
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217 | =item B<-revoke filename> |
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218 | |
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219 | a filename containing a certificate to revoke. |
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220 | |
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221 | =item B<-crl_reason reason> |
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222 | |
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223 | revocation reason, where B<reason> is one of: B<unspecified>, B<keyCompromise>, |
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224 | B<CACompromise>, B<affiliationChanged>, B<superseded>, B<cessationOfOperation>, |
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225 | B<certificateHold> or B<removeFromCRL>. The matching of B<reason> is case |
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226 | insensitive. Setting any revocation reason will make the CRL v2. |
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227 | |
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228 | In practive B<removeFromCRL> is not particularly useful because it is only used |
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229 | in delta CRLs which are not currently implemented. |
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230 | |
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231 | =item B<-crl_hold instruction> |
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232 | |
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233 | This sets the CRL revocation reason code to B<certificateHold> and the hold |
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234 | instruction to B<instruction> which must be an OID. Although any OID can be |
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235 | used only B<holdInstructionNone> (the use of which is discouraged by RFC2459) |
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236 | B<holdInstructionCallIssuer> or B<holdInstructionReject> will normally be used. |
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237 | |
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238 | =item B<-crl_compromise time> |
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239 | |
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240 | This sets the revocation reason to B<keyCompromise> and the compromise time to |
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241 | B<time>. B<time> should be in GeneralizedTime format that is B<YYYYMMDDHHMMSSZ>. |
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242 | |
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243 | =item B<-crl_CA_compromise time> |
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244 | |
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245 | This is the same as B<crl_compromise> except the revocation reason is set to |
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246 | B<CACompromise>. |
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247 | |
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248 | =item B<-subj arg> |
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249 | |
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250 | supersedes subject name given in the request. |
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251 | The arg must be formatted as I</type0=value0/type1=value1/type2=...>, |
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252 | characters may be escaped by \ (backslash), no spaces are skipped. |
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253 | |
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254 | =item B<-crlexts section> |
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255 | |
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256 | the section of the configuration file containing CRL extensions to |
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257 | include. If no CRL extension section is present then a V1 CRL is |
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258 | created, if the CRL extension section is present (even if it is |
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259 | empty) then a V2 CRL is created. The CRL extensions specified are |
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260 | CRL extensions and B<not> CRL entry extensions. It should be noted |
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261 | that some software (for example Netscape) can't handle V2 CRLs. |
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262 | |
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263 | =back |
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264 | |
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265 | =head1 CONFIGURATION FILE OPTIONS |
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266 | |
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267 | The section of the configuration file containing options for B<ca> |
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268 | is found as follows: If the B<-name> command line option is used, |
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269 | then it names the section to be used. Otherwise the section to |
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270 | be used must be named in the B<default_ca> option of the B<ca> section |
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271 | of the configuration file (or in the default section of the |
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272 | configuration file). Besides B<default_ca>, the following options are |
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273 | read directly from the B<ca> section: |
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274 | RANDFILE |
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275 | preserve |
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276 | msie_hack |
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277 | With the exception of B<RANDFILE>, this is probably a bug and may |
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278 | change in future releases. |
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279 | |
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280 | Many of the configuration file options are identical to command line |
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281 | options. Where the option is present in the configuration file |
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282 | and the command line the command line value is used. Where an |
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283 | option is described as mandatory then it must be present in |
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284 | the configuration file or the command line equivalent (if |
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285 | any) used. |
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286 | |
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287 | =over 4 |
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288 | |
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289 | =item B<oid_file> |
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290 | |
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291 | This specifies a file containing additional B<OBJECT IDENTIFIERS>. |
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292 | Each line of the file should consist of the numerical form of the |
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293 | object identifier followed by white space then the short name followed |
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294 | by white space and finally the long name. |
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295 | |
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296 | =item B<oid_section> |
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297 | |
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298 | This specifies a section in the configuration file containing extra |
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299 | object identifiers. Each line should consist of the short name of the |
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300 | object identifier followed by B<=> and the numerical form. The short |
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301 | and long names are the same when this option is used. |
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302 | |
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303 | =item B<new_certs_dir> |
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304 | |
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305 | the same as the B<-outdir> command line option. It specifies |
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306 | the directory where new certificates will be placed. Mandatory. |
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307 | |
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308 | =item B<certificate> |
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309 | |
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310 | the same as B<-cert>. It gives the file containing the CA |
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311 | certificate. Mandatory. |
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312 | |
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313 | =item B<private_key> |
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314 | |
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315 | same as the B<-keyfile> option. The file containing the |
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316 | CA private key. Mandatory. |
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317 | |
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318 | =item B<RANDFILE> |
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319 | |
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320 | a file used to read and write random number seed information, or |
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321 | an EGD socket (see L<RAND_egd(3)|RAND_egd(3)>). |
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322 | |
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323 | =item B<default_days> |
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324 | |
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325 | the same as the B<-days> option. The number of days to certify |
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326 | a certificate for. |
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327 | |
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328 | =item B<default_startdate> |
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329 | |
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330 | the same as the B<-startdate> option. The start date to certify |
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331 | a certificate for. If not set the current time is used. |
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332 | |
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333 | =item B<default_enddate> |
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334 | |
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335 | the same as the B<-enddate> option. Either this option or |
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336 | B<default_days> (or the command line equivalents) must be |
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337 | present. |
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338 | |
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339 | =item B<default_crl_hours default_crl_days> |
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340 | |
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341 | the same as the B<-crlhours> and the B<-crldays> options. These |
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342 | will only be used if neither command line option is present. At |
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343 | least one of these must be present to generate a CRL. |
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344 | |
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345 | =item B<default_md> |
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346 | |
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347 | the same as the B<-md> option. The message digest to use. Mandatory. |
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348 | |
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349 | =item B<database> |
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350 | |
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351 | the text database file to use. Mandatory. This file must be present |
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352 | though initially it will be empty. |
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353 | |
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354 | =item B<serialfile> |
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355 | |
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356 | a text file containing the next serial number to use in hex. Mandatory. |
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357 | This file must be present and contain a valid serial number. |
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358 | |
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359 | =item B<x509_extensions> |
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360 | |
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361 | the same as B<-extensions>. |
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362 | |
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363 | =item B<crl_extensions> |
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364 | |
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365 | the same as B<-crlexts>. |
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366 | |
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367 | =item B<preserve> |
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368 | |
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369 | the same as B<-preserveDN> |
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370 | |
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371 | =item B<email_in_dn> |
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372 | |
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373 | the same as B<-noemailDN>. If you want the EMAIL field to be removed |
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374 | from the DN of the certificate simply set this to 'no'. If not present |
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375 | the default is to allow for the EMAIL filed in the certificate's DN. |
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376 | |
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377 | =item B<msie_hack> |
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378 | |
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379 | the same as B<-msie_hack> |
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380 | |
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381 | =item B<policy> |
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382 | |
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383 | the same as B<-policy>. Mandatory. See the B<POLICY FORMAT> section |
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384 | for more information. |
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385 | |
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386 | =item B<nameopt>, B<certopt> |
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387 | |
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388 | these options allow the format used to display the certificate details |
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389 | when asking the user to confirm signing. All the options supported by |
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390 | the B<x509> utilities B<-nameopt> and B<-certopt> switches can be used |
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391 | here, except the B<no_signame> and B<no_sigdump> are permanently set |
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392 | and cannot be disabled (this is because the certificate signature cannot |
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393 | be displayed because the certificate has not been signed at this point). |
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394 | |
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395 | For convenience the values B<default_ca> are accepted by both to produce |
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396 | a reasonable output. |
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397 | |
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398 | If neither option is present the format used in earlier versions of |
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399 | OpenSSL is used. Use of the old format is B<strongly> discouraged because |
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400 | it only displays fields mentioned in the B<policy> section, mishandles |
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401 | multicharacter string types and does not display extensions. |
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402 | |
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403 | =item B<copy_extensions> |
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404 | |
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405 | determines how extensions in certificate requests should be handled. |
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406 | If set to B<none> or this option is not present then extensions are |
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407 | ignored and not copied to the certificate. If set to B<copy> then any |
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408 | extensions present in the request that are not already present are copied |
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409 | to the certificate. If set to B<copyall> then all extensions in the |
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410 | request are copied to the certificate: if the extension is already present |
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411 | in the certificate it is deleted first. See the B<WARNINGS> section before |
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412 | using this option. |
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413 | |
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414 | The main use of this option is to allow a certificate request to supply |
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415 | values for certain extensions such as subjectAltName. |
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416 | |
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417 | =back |
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418 | |
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419 | =head1 POLICY FORMAT |
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420 | |
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421 | The policy section consists of a set of variables corresponding to |
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422 | certificate DN fields. If the value is "match" then the field value |
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423 | must match the same field in the CA certificate. If the value is |
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424 | "supplied" then it must be present. If the value is "optional" then |
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425 | it may be present. Any fields not mentioned in the policy section |
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426 | are silently deleted, unless the B<-preserveDN> option is set but |
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427 | this can be regarded more of a quirk than intended behaviour. |
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428 | |
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429 | =head1 SPKAC FORMAT |
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430 | |
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431 | The input to the B<-spkac> command line option is a Netscape |
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432 | signed public key and challenge. This will usually come from |
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433 | the B<KEYGEN> tag in an HTML form to create a new private key. |
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434 | It is however possible to create SPKACs using the B<spkac> utility. |
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435 | |
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436 | The file should contain the variable SPKAC set to the value of |
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437 | the SPKAC and also the required DN components as name value pairs. |
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438 | If you need to include the same component twice then it can be |
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439 | preceded by a number and a '.'. |
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440 | |
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441 | =head1 EXAMPLES |
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442 | |
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443 | Note: these examples assume that the B<ca> directory structure is |
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444 | already set up and the relevant files already exist. This usually |
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445 | involves creating a CA certificate and private key with B<req>, a |
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446 | serial number file and an empty index file and placing them in |
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447 | the relevant directories. |
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448 | |
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449 | To use the sample configuration file below the directories demoCA, |
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450 | demoCA/private and demoCA/newcerts would be created. The CA |
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451 | certificate would be copied to demoCA/cacert.pem and its private |
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452 | key to demoCA/private/cakey.pem. A file demoCA/serial would be |
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453 | created containing for example "01" and the empty index file |
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454 | demoCA/index.txt. |
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455 | |
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456 | |
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457 | Sign a certificate request: |
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458 | |
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459 | openssl ca -in req.pem -out newcert.pem |
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460 | |
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461 | Sign a certificate request, using CA extensions: |
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462 | |
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463 | openssl ca -in req.pem -extensions v3_ca -out newcert.pem |
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464 | |
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465 | Generate a CRL |
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466 | |
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467 | openssl ca -gencrl -out crl.pem |
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468 | |
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469 | Sign several requests: |
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470 | |
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471 | openssl ca -infiles req1.pem req2.pem req3.pem |
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472 | |
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473 | Certify a Netscape SPKAC: |
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474 | |
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475 | openssl ca -spkac spkac.txt |
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476 | |
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477 | A sample SPKAC file (the SPKAC line has been truncated for clarity): |
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478 | |
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479 | SPKAC=MIG0MGAwXDANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAANLADBIAkEAn7PDhCeV/xIxUg8V70YRxK2A5 |
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480 | CN=Steve Test |
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481 | emailAddress=steve@openssl.org |
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482 | 0.OU=OpenSSL Group |
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483 | 1.OU=Another Group |
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484 | |
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485 | A sample configuration file with the relevant sections for B<ca>: |
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486 | |
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487 | [ ca ] |
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488 | default_ca = CA_default # The default ca section |
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489 | |
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490 | [ CA_default ] |
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491 | |
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492 | dir = ./demoCA # top dir |
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493 | database = $dir/index.txt # index file. |
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494 | new_certs_dir = $dir/newcerts # new certs dir |
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495 | |
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496 | certificate = $dir/cacert.pem # The CA cert |
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497 | serial = $dir/serial # serial no file |
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498 | private_key = $dir/private/cakey.pem# CA private key |
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499 | RANDFILE = $dir/private/.rand # random number file |
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500 | |
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501 | default_days = 365 # how long to certify for |
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502 | default_crl_days= 30 # how long before next CRL |
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503 | default_md = md5 # md to use |
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504 | |
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505 | policy = policy_any # default policy |
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506 | email_in_dn = no # Don't add the email into cert DN |
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507 | |
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508 | nameopt = default_ca # Subject name display option |
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509 | certopt = default_ca # Certificate display option |
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510 | copy_extensions = none # Don't copy extensions from request |
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511 | |
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512 | [ policy_any ] |
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513 | countryName = supplied |
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514 | stateOrProvinceName = optional |
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515 | organizationName = optional |
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516 | organizationalUnitName = optional |
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517 | commonName = supplied |
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518 | emailAddress = optional |
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519 | |
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520 | =head1 FILES |
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521 | |
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522 | Note: the location of all files can change either by compile time options, |
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523 | configuration file entries, environment variables or command line options. |
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524 | The values below reflect the default values. |
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525 | |
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526 | /usr/local/ssl/lib/openssl.cnf - master configuration file |
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527 | ./demoCA - main CA directory |
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528 | ./demoCA/cacert.pem - CA certificate |
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529 | ./demoCA/private/cakey.pem - CA private key |
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530 | ./demoCA/serial - CA serial number file |
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531 | ./demoCA/serial.old - CA serial number backup file |
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532 | ./demoCA/index.txt - CA text database file |
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533 | ./demoCA/index.txt.old - CA text database backup file |
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534 | ./demoCA/certs - certificate output file |
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535 | ./demoCA/.rnd - CA random seed information |
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536 | |
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537 | =head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES |
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538 | |
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539 | B<OPENSSL_CONF> reflects the location of master configuration file it can |
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540 | be overridden by the B<-config> command line option. |
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541 | |
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542 | =head1 RESTRICTIONS |
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543 | |
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544 | The text database index file is a critical part of the process and |
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545 | if corrupted it can be difficult to fix. It is theoretically possible |
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546 | to rebuild the index file from all the issued certificates and a current |
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547 | CRL: however there is no option to do this. |
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548 | |
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549 | V2 CRL features like delta CRL support and CRL numbers are not currently |
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550 | supported. |
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551 | |
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552 | Although several requests can be input and handled at once it is only |
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553 | possible to include one SPKAC or self signed certificate. |
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554 | |
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555 | =head1 BUGS |
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556 | |
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557 | The use of an in memory text database can cause problems when large |
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558 | numbers of certificates are present because, as the name implies |
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559 | the database has to be kept in memory. |
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560 | |
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561 | It is not possible to certify two certificates with the same DN: this |
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562 | is a side effect of how the text database is indexed and it cannot easily |
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563 | be fixed without introducing other problems. Some S/MIME clients can use |
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564 | two certificates with the same DN for separate signing and encryption |
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565 | keys. |
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566 | |
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567 | The B<ca> command really needs rewriting or the required functionality |
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568 | exposed at either a command or interface level so a more friendly utility |
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569 | (perl script or GUI) can handle things properly. The scripts B<CA.sh> and |
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570 | B<CA.pl> help a little but not very much. |
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571 | |
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572 | Any fields in a request that are not present in a policy are silently |
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573 | deleted. This does not happen if the B<-preserveDN> option is used. To |
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574 | enforce the absence of the EMAIL field within the DN, as suggested by |
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575 | RFCs, regardless the contents of the request' subject the B<-noemailDN> |
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576 | option can be used. The behaviour should be more friendly and |
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577 | configurable. |
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578 | |
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579 | Cancelling some commands by refusing to certify a certificate can |
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580 | create an empty file. |
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581 | |
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582 | =head1 WARNINGS |
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583 | |
---|
584 | The B<ca> command is quirky and at times downright unfriendly. |
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585 | |
---|
586 | The B<ca> utility was originally meant as an example of how to do things |
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587 | in a CA. It was not supposed to be used as a full blown CA itself: |
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588 | nevertheless some people are using it for this purpose. |
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589 | |
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590 | The B<ca> command is effectively a single user command: no locking is |
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591 | done on the various files and attempts to run more than one B<ca> command |
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592 | on the same database can have unpredictable results. |
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593 | |
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594 | The B<copy_extensions> option should be used with caution. If care is |
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595 | not taken then it can be a security risk. For example if a certificate |
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596 | request contains a basicConstraints extension with CA:TRUE and the |
---|
597 | B<copy_extensions> value is set to B<copyall> and the user does not spot |
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598 | this when the certificate is displayed then this will hand the requestor |
---|
599 | a valid CA certificate. |
---|
600 | |
---|
601 | This situation can be avoided by setting B<copy_extensions> to B<copy> |
---|
602 | and including basicConstraints with CA:FALSE in the configuration file. |
---|
603 | Then if the request contains a basicConstraints extension it will be |
---|
604 | ignored. |
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605 | |
---|
606 | It is advisable to also include values for other extensions such |
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607 | as B<keyUsage> to prevent a request supplying its own values. |
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608 | |
---|
609 | Additional restrictions can be placed on the CA certificate itself. |
---|
610 | For example if the CA certificate has: |
---|
611 | |
---|
612 | basicConstraints = CA:TRUE, pathlen:0 |
---|
613 | |
---|
614 | then even if a certificate is issued with CA:TRUE it will not be valid. |
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615 | |
---|
616 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
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617 | |
---|
618 | L<req(1)|req(1)>, L<spkac(1)|spkac(1)>, L<x509(1)|x509(1)>, L<CA.pl(1)|CA.pl(1)>, |
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619 | L<config(5)|config(5)> |
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620 | |
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621 | =cut |
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