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req - PKCS#10 certificate request and certificate generating utility.
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[B<-[md5|sha1|md2|mdc2]>]
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[B<-extensions section>]
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The B<req> command primarily creates and processes certificate requests
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in PKCS#10 format. It can additionally create self signed certificates
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for use as root CAs for example.
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=head1 COMMAND OPTIONS
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=item B<-inform DER|PEM>
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This specifies the input format. The B<DER> option uses an ASN1 DER encoded
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form compatible with the PKCS#10. The B<PEM> form is the default format: it
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consists of the B<DER> format base64 encoded with additional header and
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=item B<-outform DER|PEM>
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This specifies the output format, the options have the same meaning as the
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This specifies the input filename to read a request from or standard input
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if this option is not specified. A request is only read if the creation
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options (B<-new> and B<-newkey>) are not specified.
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the input file password source. For more information about the format of B<arg>
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see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)>.
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=item B<-out filename>
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This specifies the output filename to write to or standard output by
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the output file password source. For more information about the format of B<arg>
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see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)>.
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prints out the certificate request in text form.
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outputs the public key.
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this option prevents output of the encoded version of the request.
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this option prints out the value of the modulus of the public key
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contained in the request.
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verifies the signature on the request.
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this option generates a new certificate request. It will prompt
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the user for the relevant field values. The actual fields
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prompted for and their maximum and minimum sizes are specified
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in the configuration file and any requested extensions.
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If the B<-key> option is not used it will generate a new RSA private
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key using information specified in the configuration file.
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=item B<-rand file(s)>
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a file or files containing random data used to seed the random number
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generator, or an EGD socket (see L<RAND_egd(3)|RAND_egd(3)>).
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Multiple files can be specified separated by a OS-dependent character.
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The separator is B<;> for MS-Windows, B<,> for OpenVMS, and B<:> for
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this option creates a new certificate request and a new private
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key. The argument takes one of two forms. B<rsa:nbits>, where
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B<nbits> is the number of bits, generates an RSA key B<nbits>
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in size. B<dsa:filename> generates a DSA key using the parameters
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in the file B<filename>.
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=item B<-key filename>
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This specifies the file to read the private key from. It also
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accepts PKCS#8 format private keys for PEM format files.
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=item B<-keyform PEM|DER>
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the format of the private key file specified in the B<-key>
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argument. PEM is the default.
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=item B<-keyout filename>
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this gives the filename to write the newly created private key to.
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If this option is not specified then the filename present in the
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configuration file is used.
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if this option is specified then if a private key is created it
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will not be encrypted.
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=item B<-[md5|sha1|md2|mdc2]>
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this specifies the message digest to sign the request with. This
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overrides the digest algorithm specified in the configuration file.
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This option is ignored for DSA requests: they always use SHA1.
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=item B<-config filename>
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this allows an alternative configuration file to be specified,
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this overrides the compile time filename or any specified in
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the B<OPENSSL_CONF> environment variable.
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sets subject name for new request or supersedes the subject name
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when processing a request.
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The arg must be formatted as I</type0=value0/type1=value1/type2=...>,
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characters may be escaped by \ (backslash), no spaces are skipped.
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this option outputs a self signed certificate instead of a certificate
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request. This is typically used to generate a test certificate or
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a self signed root CA. The extensions added to the certificate
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(if any) are specified in the configuration file. Unless specified
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using the B<set_serial> option B<0> will be used for the serial
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when the B<-x509> option is being used this specifies the number of
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days to certify the certificate for. The default is 30 days.
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=item B<-set_serial n>
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serial number to use when outputting a self signed certificate. This
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may be specified as a decimal value or a hex value if preceded by B<0x>.
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It is possible to use negative serial numbers but this is not recommended.
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=item B<-extensions section>
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=item B<-reqexts section>
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these options specify alternative sections to include certificate
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extensions (if the B<-x509> option is present) or certificate
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request extensions. This allows several different sections to
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be used in the same configuration file to specify requests for
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a variety of purposes.
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this option causes field values to be interpreted as UTF8 strings, by
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default they are interpreted as ASCII. This means that the field
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values, whether prompted from a terminal or obtained from a
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configuration file, must be valid UTF8 strings.
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=item B<-nameopt option>
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option which determines how the subject or issuer names are displayed. The
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B<option> argument can be a single option or multiple options separated by
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commas. Alternatively the B<-nameopt> switch may be used more than once to
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set multiple options. See the L<x509(1)|x509(1)> manual page for details.
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=item B<-asn1-kludge>
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by default the B<req> command outputs certificate requests containing
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no attributes in the correct PKCS#10 format. However certain CAs will only
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accept requests containing no attributes in an invalid form: this
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option produces this invalid format.
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More precisely the B<Attributes> in a PKCS#10 certificate request
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are defined as a B<SET OF Attribute>. They are B<not OPTIONAL> so
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if no attributes are present then they should be encoded as an
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empty B<SET OF>. The invalid form does not include the empty
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B<SET OF> whereas the correct form does.
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It should be noted that very few CAs still require the use of this option.
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Adds the word B<NEW> to the PEM file header and footer lines on the outputed
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request. Some software (Netscape certificate server) and some CAs need this.
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non-interactive mode.
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print extra details about the operations being performed.
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specifying an engine (by it's unique B<id> string) will cause B<req>
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to attempt to obtain a functional reference to the specified engine,
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thus initialising it if needed. The engine will then be set as the default
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for all available algorithms.
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=head1 CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT
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The configuration options are specified in the B<req> section of
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the configuration file. As with all configuration files if no
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value is specified in the specific section (i.e. B<req>) then
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the initial unnamed or B<default> section is searched too.
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The options available are described in detail below.
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=item B<input_password output_password>
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The passwords for the input private key file (if present) and
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the output private key file (if one will be created). The
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command line options B<passin> and B<passout> override the
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configuration file values.
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=item B<default_bits>
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This specifies the default key size in bits. If not specified then
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512 is used. It is used if the B<-new> option is used. It can be
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overridden by using the B<-newkey> option.
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=item B<default_keyfile>
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This is the default filename to write a private key to. If not
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specified the key is written to standard output. This can be
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overridden by the B<-keyout> option.
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This specifies a file containing additional B<OBJECT IDENTIFIERS>.
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Each line of the file should consist of the numerical form of the
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object identifier followed by white space then the short name followed
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by white space and finally the long name.
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This specifies a section in the configuration file containing extra
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object identifiers. Each line should consist of the short name of the
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object identifier followed by B<=> and the numerical form. The short
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and long names are the same when this option is used.
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This specifies a filename in which random number seed information is
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placed and read from, or an EGD socket (see L<RAND_egd(3)|RAND_egd(3)>).
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It is used for private key generation.
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If this is set to B<no> then if a private key is generated it is
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B<not> encrypted. This is equivalent to the B<-nodes> command line
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option. For compatibility B<encrypt_rsa_key> is an equivalent option.
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This option specifies the digest algorithm to use. Possible values
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include B<md5 sha1 mdc2>. If not present then MD5 is used. This
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option can be overridden on the command line.
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This option masks out the use of certain string types in certain
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fields. Most users will not need to change this option.
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It can be set to several values B<default> which is also the default
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option uses PrintableStrings, T61Strings and BMPStrings if the
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B<pkix> value is used then only PrintableStrings and BMPStrings will
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be used. This follows the PKIX recommendation in RFC2459. If the
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B<utf8only> option is used then only UTF8Strings will be used: this
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is the PKIX recommendation in RFC2459 after 2003. Finally the B<nombstr>
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option just uses PrintableStrings and T61Strings: certain software has
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problems with BMPStrings and UTF8Strings: in particular Netscape.
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=item B<req_extensions>
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this specifies the configuration file section containing a list of
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extensions to add to the certificate request. It can be overridden
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by the B<-reqexts> command line switch.
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=item B<x509_extensions>
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this specifies the configuration file section containing a list of
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extensions to add to certificate generated when the B<-x509> switch
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is used. It can be overridden by the B<-extensions> command line switch.
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if set to the value B<no> this disables prompting of certificate fields
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and just takes values from the config file directly. It also changes the
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expected format of the B<distinguished_name> and B<attributes> sections.
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if set to the value B<yes> then field values to be interpreted as UTF8
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strings, by default they are interpreted as ASCII. This means that
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the field values, whether prompted from a terminal or obtained from a
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configuration file, must be valid UTF8 strings.
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this specifies the section containing any request attributes: its format
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is the same as B<distinguished_name>. Typically these may contain the
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challengePassword or unstructuredName types. They are currently ignored
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by OpenSSL's request signing utilities but some CAs might want them.
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=item B<distinguished_name>
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This specifies the section containing the distinguished name fields to
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prompt for when generating a certificate or certificate request. The format
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is described in the next section.
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=head1 DISTINGUISHED NAME AND ATTRIBUTE SECTION FORMAT
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There are two separate formats for the distinguished name and attribute
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sections. If the B<prompt> option is set to B<no> then these sections
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just consist of field names and values: for example,
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emailAddress=someone@somewhere.org
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This allows external programs (e.g. GUI based) to generate a template file
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with all the field names and values and just pass it to B<req>. An example
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of this kind of configuration file is contained in the B<EXAMPLES> section.
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Alternatively if the B<prompt> option is absent or not set to B<no> then the
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file contains field prompting information. It consists of lines of the form:
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fieldName_default="default field value"
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"fieldName" is the field name being used, for example commonName (or CN).
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The "prompt" string is used to ask the user to enter the relevant
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details. If the user enters nothing then the default value is used if no
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default value is present then the field is omitted. A field can
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still be omitted if a default value is present if the user just
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enters the '.' character.
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The number of characters entered must be between the fieldName_min and
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fieldName_max limits: there may be additional restrictions based
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on the field being used (for example countryName can only ever be
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two characters long and must fit in a PrintableString).
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Some fields (such as organizationName) can be used more than once
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in a DN. This presents a problem because configuration files will
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not recognize the same name occurring twice. To avoid this problem
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if the fieldName contains some characters followed by a full stop
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they will be ignored. So for example a second organizationName can
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be input by calling it "1.organizationName".
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The actual permitted field names are any object identifier short or
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long names. These are compiled into OpenSSL and include the usual
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values such as commonName, countryName, localityName, organizationName,
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organizationUnitName, stateOrProvinceName. Additionally emailAddress
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is include as well as name, surname, givenName initials and dnQualifier.
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Additional object identifiers can be defined with the B<oid_file> or
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B<oid_section> options in the configuration file. Any additional fields
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will be treated as though they were a DirectoryString.
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Examine and verify certificate request:
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openssl req -in req.pem -text -verify -noout
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Create a private key and then generate a certificate request from it:
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openssl genrsa -out key.pem 1024
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openssl req -new -key key.pem -out req.pem
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The same but just using req:
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openssl req -newkey rsa:1024 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
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Generate a self signed root certificate:
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openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:1024 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
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Example of a file pointed to by the B<oid_file> option:
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1.2.3.4 shortName A longer Name
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1.2.3.6 otherName Other longer Name
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Example of a section pointed to by B<oid_section> making use of variable
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testoid2=${testoid1}.6
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Sample configuration file prompting for field values:
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default_keyfile = privkey.pem
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distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
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attributes = req_attributes
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x509_extensions = v3_ca
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dirstring_type = nobmp
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[ req_distinguished_name ]
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countryName = Country Name (2 letter code)
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countryName_default = AU
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localityName = Locality Name (eg, city)
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organizationalUnitName = Organizational Unit Name (eg, section)
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commonName = Common Name (eg, YOUR name)
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emailAddress = Email Address
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emailAddress_max = 40
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challengePassword = A challenge password
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challengePassword_min = 4
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challengePassword_max = 20
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subjectKeyIdentifier=hash
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authorityKeyIdentifier=keyid:always,issuer:always
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basicConstraints = CA:true
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Sample configuration containing all field values:
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RANDFILE = $ENV::HOME/.rnd
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default_keyfile = keyfile.pem
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distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
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attributes = req_attributes
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output_password = mypass
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[ req_distinguished_name ]
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ST = Test State or Province
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O = Organization Name
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OU = Organizational Unit Name
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emailAddress = test@email.address
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challengePassword = A challenge password
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The header and footer lines in the B<PEM> format are normally:
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-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
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-----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
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some software (some versions of Netscape certificate server) instead needs:
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-----BEGIN NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
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-----END NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
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which is produced with the B<-newhdr> option but is otherwise compatible.
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Either form is accepted transparently on input.
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The certificate requests generated by B<Xenroll> with MSIE have extensions
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added. It includes the B<keyUsage> extension which determines the type of
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key (signature only or general purpose) and any additional OIDs entered
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by the script in an extendedKeyUsage extension.
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The following messages are frequently asked about:
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Using configuration from /some/path/openssl.cnf
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Unable to load config info
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This is followed some time later by...
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unable to find 'distinguished_name' in config
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problems making Certificate Request
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The first error message is the clue: it can't find the configuration
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file! Certain operations (like examining a certificate request) don't
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need a configuration file so its use isn't enforced. Generation of
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certificates or requests however does need a configuration file. This
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could be regarded as a bug.
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Another puzzling message is this:
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this is displayed when no attributes are present and the request includes
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the correct empty B<SET OF> structure (the DER encoding of which is 0xa0
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0x00). If you just see:
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then the B<SET OF> is missing and the encoding is technically invalid (but
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it is tolerated). See the description of the command line option B<-asn1-kludge>
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for more information.
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=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
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The variable B<OPENSSL_CONF> if defined allows an alternative configuration
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file location to be specified, it will be overridden by the B<-config> command
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line switch if it is present. For compatibility reasons the B<SSLEAY_CONF>
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environment variable serves the same purpose but its use is discouraged.
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OpenSSL's handling of T61Strings (aka TeletexStrings) is broken: it effectively
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treats them as ISO-8859-1 (Latin 1), Netscape and MSIE have similar behaviour.
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This can cause problems if you need characters that aren't available in
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PrintableStrings and you don't want to or can't use BMPStrings.
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As a consequence of the T61String handling the only correct way to represent
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accented characters in OpenSSL is to use a BMPString: unfortunately Netscape
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currently chokes on these. If you have to use accented characters with Netscape
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and MSIE then you currently need to use the invalid T61String form.
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The current prompting is not very friendly. It doesn't allow you to confirm what
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you've just entered. Other things like extensions in certificate requests are
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statically defined in the configuration file. Some of these: like an email
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address in subjectAltName should be input by the user.
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L<x509(1)|x509(1)>, L<ca(1)|ca(1)>, L<genrsa(1)|genrsa(1)>,
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L<gendsa(1)|gendsa(1)>, L<config(5)|config(5)>
added
removed
doc/apps/req.pod
