/xlv3/openssl/0.9.7e-sgipl1/work/0.9.7e-sgipl1/openssl-
0.9.7e/doc/apps
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CA.PL(1) 11/Jan/2001 (0.9.7e) CA.PL(1)
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 line arguments to the openssl 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.
COMMAND OPTIONS
?, -h, -help
prints a usage message.
-newcert
creates a new self signed certificate. The private key
and certificate are written to the file "newreq.pem".
-newreq
creates a new certificate request. The private key and
request are written 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 -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.
-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
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list box), otherwise the name "My Certificate" is used.
-sign, -signreq, -xsign
calls the ca program 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 -signreq 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.
-signcert
this option is the same as -sign except it expects a
self signed certificate to be present in the file
"newreq.pem".
-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".
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, sign the 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 to use it with DSA certificates and requests using
the req(1) command directly. The following example shows the
steps that would typically be taken.
Create some DSA parameters:
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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 parameters can 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 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 demoCA
directory if it already exists.
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 -SCA.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 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 command directly.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The variable OPENSSL_CONF if defined allows an alternative
configuration file location to be specified, it should
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contain the full path to the configuration file, not just
its directory.
SEE ALSO
x509(1), ca(1), req(1), pkcs12(1), config(5)
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