CA.PL
Section: OpenSSL (1SSL)
Updated: 2024-03-03
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NAME
CA.pl - friendlier interface for OpenSSL certificate programs
SYNOPSIS
CA.pl
-? |
-h |
-help
CA.pl
-newcert |
-newreq |
-newreq-nodes |
-xsign |
-sign |
-signCA |
-signcert |
-crl |
-newca
[-extra-cmd parameter]
CA.pl -pkcs12 [certname]
CA.pl -verify certfile ...
CA.pl -revoke certfile [reason]
DESCRIPTION
The CA.pl script is a perl script that supplies the relevant command line
arguments to the openssl(1) command for some common certificate operations.
It is intended to simplify the process of certificate creation and management
by the use of some simple options.
The script is intended as a simple front end for the openssl(1) program for
use by a beginner. Its behaviour isn't always what is wanted. For more control
over the behaviour of the certificate commands call the openssl(1) command
directly.
Most of the filenames mentioned below can be modified by editing the
CA.pl script.
Under some environments it may not be possible to run the CA.pl script
directly (for example Win32) and the default configuration file location may
be wrong. In this case the command:
perl -S CA.pl
can be used and the OPENSSL_CONF environment variable can be set to point to
the correct path of the configuration file.
OPTIONS
- -?, -h, -help
-
Prints a usage message.
- -newcert
-
Creates a new self signed certificate. The private key is written to the file
newkey.pem and the request written to the file newreq.pem.
Invokes openssl-req(1).
- -newreq
-
Creates a new certificate request. The private key is written to the file
newkey.pem and the request written to the file newreq.pem.
Executes openssl-req(1) under the hood.
- -newreq-nodes
-
Is like -newreq except that the private key will not be encrypted.
Uses openssl-req(1).
- -newca
-
Creates a new CA hierarchy for use with the ca program (or the -signcert
and -xsign options). The user is prompted to enter the filename of the CA
certificates (which should also contain the private key) or by hitting ENTER
details of the CA will be prompted for. The relevant files and directories
are created in a directory called demoCA in the current directory.
Uses openssl-req(1) and openssl-ca(1).
If the demoCA directory already exists then the -newca command will not
overwrite it and will do nothing. This can happen if a previous call using
the -newca option terminated abnormally. To get the correct behaviour
delete the directory if it already exists.
- -pkcs12
-
Create a PKCS#12 file containing the user certificate, private key and CA
certificate. It expects the user certificate and private key to be in the
file newcert.pem and the CA certificate to be in the file demoCA/cacert.pem,
it creates a file newcert.p12. This command can thus be called after the
-sign option. The PKCS#12 file can be imported directly into a browser.
If there is an additional argument on the command line it will be used as the
``friendly name'' for the certificate (which is typically displayed in the browser
list box), otherwise the name ``My Certificate'' is used.
Delegates work to openssl-pkcs12(1).
- -sign, -signcert, -xsign
-
Calls the openssl-ca(1) command to sign a certificate request. It expects the
request to be in the file newreq.pem. The new certificate is written to the
file newcert.pem except in the case of the -xsign option when it is
written to standard output.
- -signCA
-
This option is the same as the -sign option except it uses the
configuration file section v3_ca and so makes the signed request a
valid CA certificate. This is useful when creating intermediate CA from
a root CA. Extra params are passed to openssl-ca(1).
- -signcert
-
This option is the same as -sign except it expects a self signed certificate
to be present in the file newreq.pem.
Extra params are passed to openssl-x509(1) and openssl-ca(1).
- -crl
-
Generate a CRL. Executes openssl-ca(1).
- -revoke certfile [reason]
-
Revoke the certificate contained in the specified certfile. An optional
reason may be specified, and must be one of: unspecified,
keyCompromise, CACompromise, affiliationChanged, superseded,
cessationOfOperation, certificateHold, or removeFromCRL.
Leverages openssl-ca(1).
- -verify
-
Verifies certificates against the CA certificate for demoCA. If no
certificates are specified on the command line it tries to verify the file
newcert.pem. Invokes openssl-verify(1).
- -extra-cmd parameter
-
For each option extra-cmd, pass parameter to the openssl(1)
sub-command with the same name as cmd, if that sub-command is invoked.
For example, if openssl-req(1) is invoked, the parameter given with
-extra-req will be passed to it.
For multi-word parameters, either repeat the option or quote the parameters
so it looks like one word to your shell.
See the individual command documentation for more information.
EXAMPLES
Create a CA hierarchy:
CA.pl -newca
Complete certificate creation example: create a CA, create a request, sign
the request and finally create a PKCS#12 file containing it.
CA.pl -newca
CA.pl -newreq
CA.pl -sign
CA.pl -pkcs12 "My Test Certificate"
ENVIRONMENT
The environment variable OPENSSL may be used to specify the name of
the OpenSSL program. It can be a full pathname, or a relative one.
The environment variable OPENSSL_CONFIG may be used to specify a
configuration option and value to the req and ca commands invoked by
this script. It's value should be the option and pathname, as in
"-config /path/to/conf-file".
SEE ALSO
openssl(1),
openssl-x509(1),
openssl-ca(1),
openssl-req(1),
openssl-pkcs12(1),
config(5)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2000-2021 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the ``License''). You may not use
this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
Index
- NAME
-
- SYNOPSIS
-
- DESCRIPTION
-
- OPTIONS
-
- EXAMPLES
-
- ENVIRONMENT
-
- SEE ALSO
-
- COPYRIGHT
-
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Time: 23:22:44 GMT, April 24, 2024