xref: /openssl/doc/man1/openssl-ca.pod.in (revision ac559281)
1=pod
2{- OpenSSL::safe::output_do_not_edit_headers(); -}
3
4=head1 NAME
5
6openssl-ca - sample minimal CA application
7
8=head1 SYNOPSIS
9
10B<openssl> B<ca>
11[B<-help>]
12[B<-verbose>]
13[B<-quiet>]
14[B<-config> I<filename>]
15[B<-name> I<section>]
16[B<-section> I<section>]
17[B<-gencrl>]
18[B<-revoke> I<file>]
19[B<-valid> I<file>]
20[B<-status> I<serial>]
21[B<-updatedb>]
22[B<-crl_reason> I<reason>]
23[B<-crl_hold> I<instruction>]
24[B<-crl_compromise> I<time>]
25[B<-crl_CA_compromise> I<time>]
26[B<-crl_lastupdate> I<date>]
27[B<-crl_nextupdate> I<date>]
28[B<-crldays> I<days>]
29[B<-crlhours> I<hours>]
30[B<-crlsec> I<seconds>]
31[B<-crlexts> I<section>]
32[B<-startdate> I<date>]
33[B<-enddate> I<date>]
34[B<-days> I<arg>]
35[B<-md> I<arg>]
36[B<-policy> I<arg>]
37[B<-keyfile> I<filename>|I<uri>]
38[B<-keyform> B<DER>|B<PEM>|B<P12>|B<ENGINE>]
39[B<-key> I<arg>]
40[B<-passin> I<arg>]
41[B<-cert> I<file>]
42[B<-certform> B<DER>|B<PEM>|B<P12>]
43[B<-selfsign>]
44[B<-in> I<file>]
45[B<-inform> B<DER>|<PEM>]
46[B<-out> I<file>]
47[B<-notext>]
48[B<-dateopt>]
49[B<-outdir> I<dir>]
50[B<-infiles>]
51[B<-spkac> I<file>]
52[B<-ss_cert> I<file>]
53[B<-preserveDN>]
54[B<-noemailDN>]
55[B<-batch>]
56[B<-msie_hack>]
57[B<-extensions> I<section>]
58[B<-extfile> I<section>]
59[B<-subj> I<arg>]
60[B<-utf8>]
61[B<-sigopt> I<nm>:I<v>]
62[B<-vfyopt> I<nm>:I<v>]
63[B<-create_serial>]
64[B<-rand_serial>]
65[B<-multivalue-rdn>]
66{- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_r_synopsis -}
67{- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_engine_synopsis -}{- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_provider_synopsis -}
68[I<certreq>...]
69
70=head1 DESCRIPTION
71
72This command emulates a CA application.
73See the B<WARNINGS> especially when considering to use it productively.
74It can be used to sign certificate requests (CSRs) in a variety of forms
75and generate certificate revocation lists (CRLs).
76It also maintains a text database of issued certificates and their status.
77When signing certificates, a single request can be specified
78with the B<-in> option, or multiple requests can be processed by
79specifying a set of B<certreq> files after all options.
80
81Note that there are also very lean ways of generating certificates:
82the B<req> and B<x509> commands can be used for directly creating certificates.
83See L<openssl-req(1)> and L<openssl-x509(1)> for details.
84
85The descriptions of the B<ca> command options are divided into each purpose.
86
87=head1 OPTIONS
88
89=over 4
90
91=item B<-help>
92
93Print out a usage message.
94
95=item B<-verbose>
96
97This prints extra details about the operations being performed.
98
99=item B<-quiet>
100
101This prints fewer details about the operations being performed, which may
102be handy during batch scripts or pipelines.
103
104=item B<-config> I<filename>
105
106Specifies the configuration file to use.
107Optional; for a description of the default value,
108see L<openssl(1)/COMMAND SUMMARY>.
109
110=item B<-name> I<section>, B<-section> I<section>
111
112Specifies the configuration file section to use (overrides
113B<default_ca> in the B<ca> section).
114
115=item B<-in> I<filename>
116
117An input filename containing a single certificate request (CSR) to be
118signed by the CA.
119
120=item B<-inform> B<DER>|B<PEM>
121
122The format of the data in certificate request input files;
123unspecified by default.
124See L<openssl-format-options(1)> for details.
125
126=item B<-ss_cert> I<filename>
127
128A single self-signed certificate to be signed by the CA.
129
130=item B<-spkac> I<filename>
131
132A file containing a single Netscape signed public key and challenge
133and additional field values to be signed by the CA. See the B<SPKAC FORMAT>
134section for information on the required input and output format.
135
136=item B<-infiles>
137
138If present this should be the last option, all subsequent arguments
139are taken as the names of files containing certificate requests.
140
141=item B<-out> I<filename>
142
143The output file to output certificates to. The default is standard
144output. The certificate details will also be printed out to this
145file in PEM format (except that B<-spkac> outputs DER format).
146
147=item B<-outdir> I<directory>
148
149The directory to output certificates to. The certificate will be
150written to a filename consisting of the serial number in hex with
151F<.pem> appended.
152
153=item B<-cert> I<filename>
154
155The CA certificate, which must match with B<-keyfile>.
156
157=item B<-certform> B<DER>|B<PEM>|B<P12>
158
159The format of the data in certificate input files; unspecified by default.
160See L<openssl-format-options(1)> for details.
161
162=item B<-keyfile> I<filename>|I<uri>
163
164The CA private key to sign certificate requests with.
165This must match with B<-cert>.
166
167=item B<-keyform> B<DER>|B<PEM>|B<P12>|B<ENGINE>
168
169The format of the private key input file; unspecified by default.
170See L<openssl-format-options(1)> for details.
171
172=item B<-sigopt> I<nm>:I<v>
173
174Pass options to the signature algorithm during sign operations.
175Names and values of these options are algorithm-specific.
176
177=item B<-vfyopt> I<nm>:I<v>
178
179Pass options to the signature algorithm during verify operations.
180Names and values of these options are algorithm-specific.
181
182This often needs to be given while signing too, because the self-signature of
183a certificate signing request (CSR) is verified against the included public key,
184and that verification may need its own set of options.
185
186=item B<-key> I<password>
187
188=for openssl foreign manual ps(1)
189
190The password used to encrypt the private key. Since on some
191systems the command line arguments are visible (e.g., when using
192L<ps(1)> on Unix),
193this option should be used with caution.
194Better use B<-passin>.
195
196=item B<-passin> I<arg>
197
198The key password source for key files and certificate PKCS#12 files.
199For more information about the format of B<arg>
200see L<openssl-passphrase-options(1)>.
201
202=item B<-selfsign>
203
204Indicates the issued certificates are to be signed with the key
205the certificate requests were signed with (given with B<-keyfile>).
206Certificate requests signed with a different key are ignored.
207If B<-spkac>, B<-ss_cert> or B<-gencrl> are given, B<-selfsign> is ignored.
208
209A consequence of using B<-selfsign> is that the self-signed
210certificate appears among the entries in the certificate database
211(see the configuration option B<database>), and uses the same
212serial number counter as all other certificates sign with the
213self-signed certificate.
214
215=item B<-notext>
216
217Don't output the text form of a certificate to the output file.
218
219=item B<-dateopt>
220
221Specify the date output format. Values are: rfc_822 and iso_8601.
222Defaults to rfc_822.
223
224=item B<-startdate> I<date>
225
226This allows the start date to be explicitly set. The format of the
227date is YYMMDDHHMMSSZ (the same as an ASN1 UTCTime structure), or
228YYYYMMDDHHMMSSZ (the same as an ASN1 GeneralizedTime structure). In
229both formats, seconds SS and timezone Z must be present.
230
231=item B<-enddate> I<date>
232
233This allows the expiry date to be explicitly set. The format of the
234date is YYMMDDHHMMSSZ (the same as an ASN1 UTCTime structure), or
235YYYYMMDDHHMMSSZ (the same as an ASN1 GeneralizedTime structure). In
236both formats, seconds SS and timezone Z must be present.
237
238=item B<-days> I<arg>
239
240The number of days to certify the certificate for.
241
242=item B<-md> I<alg>
243
244The message digest to use.
245Any digest supported by the L<openssl-dgst(1)> command can be used. For signing
246algorithms that do not support a digest (i.e. Ed25519 and Ed448) any message
247digest that is set is ignored. This option also applies to CRLs.
248
249=item B<-policy> I<arg>
250
251This option defines the CA "policy" to use. This is a section in
252the configuration file which decides which fields should be mandatory
253or match the CA certificate. Check out the B<POLICY FORMAT> section
254for more information.
255
256=item B<-msie_hack>
257
258This is a deprecated option to make this command work with very old versions
259of the IE certificate enrollment control "certenr3". It used UniversalStrings
260for almost everything. Since the old control has various security bugs
261its use is strongly discouraged.
262
263=item B<-preserveDN>
264
265Normally the DN order of a certificate is the same as the order of the
266fields in the relevant policy section. When this option is set the order
267is the same as the request. This is largely for compatibility with the
268older IE enrollment control which would only accept certificates if their
269DNs match the order of the request. This is not needed for Xenroll.
270
271=item B<-noemailDN>
272
273The DN of a certificate can contain the EMAIL field if present in the
274request DN, however, it is good policy just having the e-mail set into
275the altName extension of the certificate. When this option is set the
276EMAIL field is removed from the certificate' subject and set only in
277the, eventually present, extensions. The B<email_in_dn> keyword can be
278used in the configuration file to enable this behaviour.
279
280=item B<-batch>
281
282This sets the batch mode. In this mode no questions will be asked
283and all certificates will be certified automatically.
284
285=item B<-extensions> I<section>
286
287The section of the configuration file containing certificate extensions
288to be added when a certificate is issued (defaults to B<x509_extensions>
289unless the B<-extfile> option is used).
290If no X.509 extensions are specified then a V1 certificate is created,
291else a V3 certificate is created.
292See the L<x509v3_config(5)> manual page for details of the
293extension section format.
294
295=item B<-extfile> I<file>
296
297An additional configuration file to read certificate extensions from
298(using the default section unless the B<-extensions> option is also
299used).
300
301=item B<-subj> I<arg>
302
303Supersedes subject name given in the request.
304
305The arg must be formatted as C</type0=value0/type1=value1/type2=...>.
306Special characters may be escaped by C<\> (backslash), whitespace is retained.
307Empty values are permitted, but the corresponding type will not be included
308in the resulting certificate.
309Giving a single C</> will lead to an empty sequence of RDNs (a NULL-DN).
310Multi-valued RDNs can be formed by placing a C<+> character instead of a C</>
311between the AttributeValueAssertions (AVAs) that specify the members of the set.
312Example:
313
314C</DC=org/DC=OpenSSL/DC=users/UID=123456+CN=John Doe>
315
316=item B<-utf8>
317
318This option causes field values to be interpreted as UTF8 strings, by
319default they are interpreted as ASCII. This means that the field
320values, whether prompted from a terminal or obtained from a
321configuration file, must be valid UTF8 strings.
322
323=item B<-create_serial>
324
325If reading serial from the text file as specified in the configuration
326fails, specifying this option creates a new random serial to be used as next
327serial number.
328To get random serial numbers, use the B<-rand_serial> flag instead; this
329should only be used for simple error-recovery.
330
331=item B<-rand_serial>
332
333Generate a large random number to use as the serial number.
334This overrides any option or configuration to use a serial number file.
335
336=item B<-multivalue-rdn>
337
338This option has been deprecated and has no effect.
339
340{- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_r_item -}
341
342{- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_engine_item -}
343
344{- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_provider_item -}
345
346=back
347
348=head1 CRL OPTIONS
349
350=over 4
351
352=item B<-gencrl>
353
354This option generates a CRL based on information in the index file.
355
356=item B<-crl_lastupdate> I<time>
357
358Allows the value of the CRL's lastUpdate field to be explicitly set; if
359this option is not present, the current time is used. Accepts times in
360YYMMDDHHMMSSZ format (the same as an ASN1 UTCTime structure) or
361YYYYMMDDHHMMSSZ format (the same as an ASN1 GeneralizedTime structure).
362
363=item B<-crl_nextupdate> I<time>
364
365Allows the value of the CRL's nextUpdate field to be explicitly set; if
366this option is present, any values given for B<-crldays>, B<-crlhours>
367and B<-crlsec> are ignored. Accepts times in the same formats as
368B<-crl_lastupdate>.
369
370=item B<-crldays> I<num>
371
372The number of days before the next CRL is due. That is the days from
373now to place in the CRL nextUpdate field.
374
375=item B<-crlhours> I<num>
376
377The number of hours before the next CRL is due.
378
379=item B<-crlsec> I<num>
380
381The number of seconds before the next CRL is due.
382
383=item B<-revoke> I<filename>
384
385A filename containing a certificate to revoke.
386
387=item B<-valid> I<filename>
388
389A filename containing a certificate to add a Valid certificate entry.
390
391=item B<-status> I<serial>
392
393Displays the revocation status of the certificate with the specified
394serial number and exits.
395
396=item B<-updatedb>
397
398Updates the database index to purge expired certificates.
399
400=item B<-crl_reason> I<reason>
401
402Revocation reason, where I<reason> is one of: B<unspecified>, B<keyCompromise>,
403B<CACompromise>, B<affiliationChanged>, B<superseded>, B<cessationOfOperation>,
404B<certificateHold> or B<removeFromCRL>. The matching of I<reason> is case
405insensitive. Setting any revocation reason will make the CRL v2.
406
407In practice B<removeFromCRL> is not particularly useful because it is only used
408in delta CRLs which are not currently implemented.
409
410=item B<-crl_hold> I<instruction>
411
412This sets the CRL revocation reason code to B<certificateHold> and the hold
413instruction to I<instruction> which must be an OID. Although any OID can be
414used only B<holdInstructionNone> (the use of which is discouraged by RFC2459)
415B<holdInstructionCallIssuer> or B<holdInstructionReject> will normally be used.
416
417=item B<-crl_compromise> I<time>
418
419This sets the revocation reason to B<keyCompromise> and the compromise time to
420I<time>. I<time> should be in GeneralizedTime format that is I<YYYYMMDDHHMMSSZ>.
421
422=item B<-crl_CA_compromise> I<time>
423
424This is the same as B<crl_compromise> except the revocation reason is set to
425B<CACompromise>.
426
427=item B<-crlexts> I<section>
428
429The section of the configuration file containing CRL extensions to
430include. If no CRL extension section is present then a V1 CRL is
431created, if the CRL extension section is present (even if it is
432empty) then a V2 CRL is created. The CRL extensions specified are
433CRL extensions and B<not> CRL entry extensions.  It should be noted
434that some software (for example Netscape) can't handle V2 CRLs. See
435L<x509v3_config(5)> manual page for details of the
436extension section format.
437
438=back
439
440=head1 CONFIGURATION FILE OPTIONS
441
442The section of the configuration file containing options for this command
443is found as follows: If the B<-name> command line option is used,
444then it names the section to be used. Otherwise the section to
445be used must be named in the B<default_ca> option of the B<ca> section
446of the configuration file (or in the default section of the
447configuration file). Besides B<default_ca>, the following options are
448read directly from the B<ca> section:
449 RANDFILE
450 preserve
451 msie_hack
452With the exception of B<RANDFILE>, this is probably a bug and may
453change in future releases.
454
455Many of the configuration file options are identical to command line
456options. Where the option is present in the configuration file
457and the command line the command line value is used. Where an
458option is described as mandatory then it must be present in
459the configuration file or the command line equivalent (if
460any) used.
461
462=over 4
463
464=item B<oid_file>
465
466This specifies a file containing additional B<OBJECT IDENTIFIERS>.
467Each line of the file should consist of the numerical form of the
468object identifier followed by whitespace then the short name followed
469by whitespace and finally the long name.
470
471=item B<oid_section>
472
473This specifies a section in the configuration file containing extra
474object identifiers. Each line should consist of the short name of the
475object identifier followed by B<=> and the numerical form. The short
476and long names are the same when this option is used.
477
478=item B<new_certs_dir>
479
480The same as the B<-outdir> command line option. It specifies
481the directory where new certificates will be placed. Mandatory.
482
483=item B<certificate>
484
485The same as B<-cert>. It gives the file containing the CA
486certificate. Mandatory.
487
488=item B<private_key>
489
490Same as the B<-keyfile> option. The file containing the
491CA private key. Mandatory.
492
493=item B<RANDFILE>
494
495At startup the specified file is loaded into the random number generator,
496and at exit 256 bytes will be written to it. (Note: Using a RANDFILE is
497not necessary anymore, see the L</HISTORY> section.
498
499=item B<default_days>
500
501The same as the B<-days> option. The number of days to certify
502a certificate for.
503
504=item B<default_startdate>
505
506The same as the B<-startdate> option. The start date to certify
507a certificate for. If not set the current time is used.
508
509=item B<default_enddate>
510
511The same as the B<-enddate> option. Either this option or
512B<default_days> (or the command line equivalents) must be
513present.
514
515=item B<default_crl_hours default_crl_days>
516
517The same as the B<-crlhours> and the B<-crldays> options. These
518will only be used if neither command line option is present. At
519least one of these must be present to generate a CRL.
520
521=item B<default_md>
522
523The same as the B<-md> option. Mandatory except where the signing algorithm does
524not require a digest (i.e. Ed25519 and Ed448).
525
526=item B<database>
527
528The text database file to use. Mandatory. This file must be present
529though initially it will be empty.
530
531=item B<unique_subject>
532
533If the value B<yes> is given, the valid certificate entries in the
534database must have unique subjects.  if the value B<no> is given,
535several valid certificate entries may have the exact same subject.
536The default value is B<yes>, to be compatible with older (pre 0.9.8)
537versions of OpenSSL.  However, to make CA certificate roll-over easier,
538it's recommended to use the value B<no>, especially if combined with
539the B<-selfsign> command line option.
540
541Note that it is valid in some circumstances for certificates to be created
542without any subject. In the case where there are multiple certificates without
543subjects this does not count as a duplicate.
544
545=item B<serial>
546
547A text file containing the next serial number to use in hex. Mandatory.
548This file must be present and contain a valid serial number.
549
550=item B<crlnumber>
551
552A text file containing the next CRL number to use in hex. The crl number
553will be inserted in the CRLs only if this file exists. If this file is
554present, it must contain a valid CRL number.
555
556=item B<x509_extensions>
557
558A fallback to the B<-extensions> option.
559
560=item B<crl_extensions>
561
562A fallback to the B<-crlexts> option.
563
564=item B<preserve>
565
566The same as B<-preserveDN>
567
568=item B<email_in_dn>
569
570The same as B<-noemailDN>. If you want the EMAIL field to be removed
571from the DN of the certificate simply set this to 'no'. If not present
572the default is to allow for the EMAIL filed in the certificate's DN.
573
574=item B<msie_hack>
575
576The same as B<-msie_hack>
577
578=item B<policy>
579
580The same as B<-policy>. Mandatory. See the B<POLICY FORMAT> section
581for more information.
582
583=item B<name_opt>, B<cert_opt>
584
585These options allow the format used to display the certificate details
586when asking the user to confirm signing. All the options supported by
587the B<x509> utilities B<-nameopt> and B<-certopt> switches can be used
588here, except the B<no_signame> and B<no_sigdump> are permanently set
589and cannot be disabled (this is because the certificate signature cannot
590be displayed because the certificate has not been signed at this point).
591
592For convenience the values B<ca_default> are accepted by both to produce
593a reasonable output.
594
595If neither option is present the format used in earlier versions of
596OpenSSL is used. Use of the old format is B<strongly> discouraged because
597it only displays fields mentioned in the B<policy> section, mishandles
598multicharacter string types and does not display extensions.
599
600=item B<copy_extensions>
601
602Determines how extensions in certificate requests should be handled.
603If set to B<none> or this option is not present then extensions are
604ignored and not copied to the certificate. If set to B<copy> then any
605extensions present in the request that are not already present are copied
606to the certificate. If set to B<copyall> then all extensions in the
607request are copied to the certificate: if the extension is already present
608in the certificate it is deleted first. See the B<WARNINGS> section before
609using this option.
610
611The main use of this option is to allow a certificate request to supply
612values for certain extensions such as subjectAltName.
613
614=back
615
616=head1 POLICY FORMAT
617
618The policy section consists of a set of variables corresponding to
619certificate DN fields. If the value is "match" then the field value
620must match the same field in the CA certificate. If the value is
621"supplied" then it must be present. If the value is "optional" then
622it may be present. Any fields not mentioned in the policy section
623are silently deleted, unless the B<-preserveDN> option is set but
624this can be regarded more of a quirk than intended behaviour.
625
626=head1 SPKAC FORMAT
627
628The input to the B<-spkac> command line option is a Netscape
629signed public key and challenge. This will usually come from
630the B<KEYGEN> tag in an HTML form to create a new private key.
631It is however possible to create SPKACs using L<openssl-spkac(1)>.
632
633The file should contain the variable SPKAC set to the value of
634the SPKAC and also the required DN components as name value pairs.
635If you need to include the same component twice then it can be
636preceded by a number and a '.'.
637
638When processing SPKAC format, the output is DER if the B<-out>
639flag is used, but PEM format if sending to stdout or the B<-outdir>
640flag is used.
641
642=head1 EXAMPLES
643
644Note: these examples assume that the directory structure this command
645assumes is already set up and the relevant files already exist. This
646usually involves creating a CA certificate and private key with
647L<openssl-req(1)>, a serial number file and an empty index file and
648placing them in the relevant directories.
649
650To use the sample configuration file below the directories F<demoCA>,
651F<demoCA/private> and F<demoCA/newcerts> would be created. The CA
652certificate would be copied to F<demoCA/cacert.pem> and its private
653key to F<demoCA/private/cakey.pem>. A file F<demoCA/serial> would be
654created containing for example "01" and the empty index file
655F<demoCA/index.txt>.
656
657
658Sign a certificate request:
659
660 openssl ca -in req.pem -out newcert.pem
661
662Sign an SM2 certificate request:
663
664 openssl ca -in sm2.csr -out sm2.crt -md sm3 \
665         -sigopt "distid:1234567812345678" \
666         -vfyopt "distid:1234567812345678"
667
668Sign a certificate request, using CA extensions:
669
670 openssl ca -in req.pem -extensions v3_ca -out newcert.pem
671
672Generate a CRL
673
674 openssl ca -gencrl -out crl.pem
675
676Sign several requests:
677
678 openssl ca -infiles req1.pem req2.pem req3.pem
679
680Certify a Netscape SPKAC:
681
682 openssl ca -spkac spkac.txt
683
684A sample SPKAC file (the SPKAC line has been truncated for clarity):
685
686 SPKAC=MIG0MGAwXDANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAANLADBIAkEAn7PDhCeV/xIxUg8V70YRxK2A5
687 CN=Steve Test
688 emailAddress=steve@openssl.org
689 0.OU=OpenSSL Group
690 1.OU=Another Group
691
692A sample configuration file with the relevant sections for this command:
693
694 [ ca ]
695 default_ca      = CA_default            # The default ca section
696
697 [ CA_default ]
698
699 dir            = ./demoCA              # top dir
700 database       = $dir/index.txt        # index file.
701 new_certs_dir  = $dir/newcerts         # new certs dir
702
703 certificate    = $dir/cacert.pem       # The CA cert
704 serial         = $dir/serial           # serial no file
705 #rand_serial    = yes                  # for random serial#'s
706 private_key    = $dir/private/cakey.pem# CA private key
707
708 default_days   = 365                   # how long to certify for
709 default_crl_days= 30                   # how long before next CRL
710 default_md     = md5                   # md to use
711
712 policy         = policy_any            # default policy
713 email_in_dn    = no                    # Don't add the email into cert DN
714
715 name_opt       = ca_default            # Subject name display option
716 cert_opt       = ca_default            # Certificate display option
717 copy_extensions = none                 # Don't copy extensions from request
718
719 [ policy_any ]
720 countryName            = supplied
721 stateOrProvinceName    = optional
722 organizationName       = optional
723 organizationalUnitName = optional
724 commonName             = supplied
725 emailAddress           = optional
726
727=head1 FILES
728
729Note: the location of all files can change either by compile time options,
730configuration file entries, environment variables or command line options.
731The values below reflect the default values.
732
733 /usr/local/ssl/lib/openssl.cnf - master configuration file
734 ./demoCA                       - main CA directory
735 ./demoCA/cacert.pem            - CA certificate
736 ./demoCA/private/cakey.pem     - CA private key
737 ./demoCA/serial                - CA serial number file
738 ./demoCA/serial.old            - CA serial number backup file
739 ./demoCA/index.txt             - CA text database file
740 ./demoCA/index.txt.old         - CA text database backup file
741 ./demoCA/certs                 - certificate output file
742
743=head1 RESTRICTIONS
744
745The text database index file is a critical part of the process and
746if corrupted it can be difficult to fix. It is theoretically possible
747to rebuild the index file from all the issued certificates and a current
748CRL: however there is no option to do this.
749
750V2 CRL features like delta CRLs are not currently supported.
751
752Although several requests can be input and handled at once it is only
753possible to include one SPKAC or self-signed certificate.
754
755=head1 BUGS
756
757This command is quirky and at times downright unfriendly.
758
759The use of an in-memory text database can cause problems when large
760numbers of certificates are present because, as the name implies
761the database has to be kept in memory.
762
763This command really needs rewriting or the required functionality
764exposed at either a command or interface level so that a more user-friendly
765replacement could handle things properly. The script
766B<CA.pl> helps a little but not very much.
767
768Any fields in a request that are not present in a policy are silently
769deleted. This does not happen if the B<-preserveDN> option is used. To
770enforce the absence of the EMAIL field within the DN, as suggested by
771RFCs, regardless the contents of the request' subject the B<-noemailDN>
772option can be used. The behaviour should be more friendly and
773configurable.
774
775Canceling some commands by refusing to certify a certificate can
776create an empty file.
777
778=head1 WARNINGS
779
780This command was originally meant as an example of how to do things in a CA.
781Its code does not have production quality.
782It was not supposed to be used as a full blown CA itself,
783nevertheless some people are using it for this purpose at least internally.
784When doing so, specific care should be taken to
785properly secure the private key(s) used for signing certificates.
786It is advisable to keep them in a secure HW storage such as a smart card or HSM
787and access them via a suitable engine or crypto provider.
788
789This command is effectively a single user command: no locking
790is done on the various files and attempts to run more than one B<openssl ca>
791command on the same database can have unpredictable results.
792
793The B<copy_extensions> option should be used with caution. If care is
794not taken then it can be a security risk. For example if a certificate
795request contains a basicConstraints extension with CA:TRUE and the
796B<copy_extensions> value is set to B<copyall> and the user does not spot
797this when the certificate is displayed then this will hand the requester
798a valid CA certificate.
799This situation can be avoided by setting B<copy_extensions> to B<copy>
800and including basicConstraints with CA:FALSE in the configuration file.
801Then if the request contains a basicConstraints extension it will be
802ignored.
803
804It is advisable to also include values for other extensions such
805as B<keyUsage> to prevent a request supplying its own values.
806
807Additional restrictions can be placed on the CA certificate itself.
808For example if the CA certificate has:
809
810 basicConstraints = CA:TRUE, pathlen:0
811
812then even if a certificate is issued with CA:TRUE it will not be valid.
813
814=head1 HISTORY
815
816Since OpenSSL 1.1.1, the program follows RFC5280. Specifically,
817certificate validity period (specified by any of B<-startdate>,
818B<-enddate> and B<-days>) and CRL last/next update time (specified by
819any of B<-crl_lastupdate>, B<-crl_nextupdate>, B<-crldays>, B<-crlhours>
820and B<-crlsec>) will be encoded as UTCTime if the dates are
821earlier than year 2049 (included), and as GeneralizedTime if the dates
822are in year 2050 or later.
823
824OpenSSL 1.1.1 introduced a new random generator (CSPRNG) with an improved
825seeding mechanism. The new seeding mechanism makes it unnecessary to
826define a RANDFILE for saving and restoring randomness. This option is
827retained mainly for compatibility reasons.
828
829The B<-section> option was added in OpenSSL 3.0.0.
830
831The B<-multivalue-rdn> option has become obsolete in OpenSSL 3.0.0 and
832has no effect.
833
834The B<-engine> option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.
835
836=head1 SEE ALSO
837
838L<openssl(1)>,
839L<openssl-req(1)>,
840L<openssl-spkac(1)>,
841L<openssl-x509(1)>,
842L<CA.pl(1)>,
843L<config(5)>,
844L<x509v3_config(5)>
845
846=head1 COPYRIGHT
847
848Copyright 2000-2022 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
849
850Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License").  You may not use
851this file except in compliance with the License.  You can obtain a copy
852in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
853L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
854
855=cut
856