MAN page from Trustix openssl-0.9.7c-3tr.i586.rpm

CA.PL

Section: OpenSSL (1)
Updated: 2001-01-11
Index

NAME

CA.pl - friendlier interface for OpenSSL certificate programs

SYNOPSIS

CA.pl[-?][-h][-help][-newcert][-newreq][-newreq-nodes][-newca][-xsign][-sign][-signreq][-signcert][-verify][files]

DESCRIPTION

The CA.pl script is a perl script that supplies the relevant command linearguments to the openssl command for some common certificate operations.It is intended to simplify the process of certificate creation and managementby the use of some simple options.

COMMAND OPTIONS

?, -h, -help: prints a usage message.
-newcert: creates a new self signed certificate. The private key and certificate arewritten to the file ``newreq.pem''.
-newreq: creates a new certificate request. The private key and request arewritten to the file ``newreq.pem''.
-newreq-nowdes: is like -newreq except that the private key will not be encrypted.
-newca: creates a new CA hierarchy for use with the ca program (or the -signcertand -xsign options). The user is prompted to enter the filename of the CAcertificates (which should also contain the private key) or by hitting ENTERdetails of the CA will be prompted for. The relevant files and directoriesare created in a directory called ``demoCA'' in the current directory.
-pkcs12: create a PKCS#12 file containing the user certificate, private key and CAcertificate. It expects the user certificate and private key to be in thefile ``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 browserlist box), otherwise the name ``My Certificate'' is used.
-sign, -signreq, -xsign: calls the ca program to sign a certificate request. It expects the requestto 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 writtento standard output.
-signCA: this option is the same as the -signreq option except it uses the configurationfile section v3_ca and so makes the signed request a valid CA certificate. Thisis useful when creating intermediate CA from a root CA.
-signcert: this option is the same as -sign except it expects a self signed certificateto be present in the file ``newreq.pem''.
-verify: verifies certificates against the CA certificate for ``demoCA''. If no certificatesare specified on the command line it tries to verify the file ``newcert.pem''.
files: one or more optional certificate file names for use with the -verify command.

EXAMPLES

Create a CA hierarchy:

 CA.pl -newca

Complete certificate creation example: create a CA, create a request, signthe request and finally create a PKCS#12 file containing it.

 CA.pl -newca CA.pl -newreq CA.pl -signreq CA.pl -pkcs12 "My Test Certificate"

DSA CERTIFICATES

Although the CA.pl creates RSA CAs and requests it is still possible touse it with DSA certificates and requests using the req(1) commanddirectly. The following example shows the steps that would typically be taken.

Create some DSA parameters:

 openssl dsaparam -out dsap.pem 1024

Create a DSA CA certificate and private key:

 openssl req -x509 -newkey dsa:dsap.pem -keyout cacert.pem -out cacert.pem

Create the CA directories and files:

 CA.pl -newca

enter cacert.pem when prompted for the CA file name.

Create a DSA certificate request and private key (a different set of parameterscan optionally be created first):

 openssl req -out newreq.pem -newkey dsa:dsap.pem

Sign the request:

 CA.pl -signreq

NOTES

Most of the filenames mentioned can be modified by editing the CA.pl script.

If the demoCA directory already exists then the -newca command will notoverwrite it and will do nothing. This can happen if a previous call usingthe -newca option terminated abnormally. To get the correct behaviourdelete the demoCA directory if it already exists.

Under some environments it may not be possible to run the CA.pl scriptdirectly (for example Win32) and the default configuration file location maybe wrong. In this case the command:

 perl -S CA.pl

can be used and the OPENSSL_CONF environment variable changed to point to the correct path of the configuration file ``openssl.cnf''.

The script is intended as a simple front end for the openssl program for useby a beginner. Its behaviour isn't always what is wanted. For more control over thebehaviour of the certificate commands call the openssl command directly.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

The variable OPENSSL_CONF if defined allows an alternative configurationfile location to be specified, it should contain the full path to theconfiguration file, not just its directory.

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