openssl_req(1)
- NetBSD Manual Pages
REQ(1) OpenSSL REQ(1)
NAME
req - PKCS#10 certificate and certificate generating util-
ity.
LIBRARY
libcrypto, -lcrypto
SYNOPSIS
openssl req [-inform PEM|DER] [-outform PEM|DER] [-in
filename] [-passin arg] [-out filename] [-passout arg]
[-text] [-noout] [-verify] [-modulus] [-new] [-rand
file(s)] [-newkey rsa:bits] [-newkey dsa:file] [-nodes]
[-key filename] [-keyform PEM|DER] [-keyout filename]
[-[md5|sha1|md2|mdc2]] [-config filename] [-x509] [-days
n] [-asn1-kludge] [-newhdr] [-extensions section]
[-reqexts section]
DESCRIPTION
The req command primarily creates and processes certifi-
cate requests in PKCS#10 format. It can additionally cre-
ate self signed certificates for use as root CAs for exam-
ple.
COMMAND OPTIONS
-inform DER|PEM
This specifies the input format. The DER option uses
an ASN1 DER encoded form compatible with the PKCS#10.
The PEM form is the default format: it consists of the
DER format base64 encoded with additional header and
footer lines.
-outform DER|PEM
This specifies the output format, the options have the
same meaning as the -inform option.
-in filename
This specifies the input filename to read a request
from or standard input if this option is not speci-
fied. A request is only read if the creation options
(-new and -newkey) are not specified.
-passin arg
the input file password source. For more information
about the format of arg see the PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS
section in openssl(1).
-out filename
This specifies the output filename to write to or
standard output by default.
-passout arg
the output file password source. For more information
about the format of arg see the PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS
section in openssl(1).
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REQ(1) OpenSSL REQ(1)
-text
prints out the certificate request in text form.
-noout
this option prevents output of the encoded version of
the request.
-modulus
this option prints out the value of the modulus of the
public key contained in the request.
-verify
verifies the signature on the request.
-new
this option generates a new certificate request. It
will prompt the user for the relevant field values.
The actual fields prompted for and their maximum and
minimum sizes are specified in the configuration file
and any requested extensions.
If the -key option is not used it will generate a new
RSA private key using information specified in the
configuration file.
-rand file(s)
a file or files containing random data used to seed
the random number generator, or an EGD socket (see
RAND_egd(3)). Multiple files can be specified sepa-
rated by a OS-dependent character. The separator is ;
for MS-Windows, , for OpenVMS, and : for all others.
-newkey arg
this option creates a new certificate request and a
new private key. The argument takes one of two forms.
rsa:nbits, where nbits is the number of bits, gener-
ates an RSA key nbits in size. dsa:filename generates
a DSA key using the parameters in the file filename.
-key filename
This specifies the file to read the private key from.
It also accepts PKCS#8 format private keys for PEM
format files.
-keyform PEM|DER
the format of the private key file specified in the
-key argument. PEM is the default.
-keyout filename
this gives the filename to write the newly created
private key to. If this option is not specified then
the filename present in the configuration file is
used.
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REQ(1) OpenSSL REQ(1)
-nodes
if this option is specified then if a private key is
created it will not be encrypted.
-[md5|sha1|md2|mdc2]
this specifies the message digest to sign the request
with. This overrides the digest algorithm specified in
the configuration file. This option is ignored for
DSA requests: they always use SHA1.
-config filename
this allows an alternative configuration file to be
specified, this overrides the compile time filename or
any specified in the OPENSSL_CONF environment vari-
able.
-x509
this option outputs a self signed certificate instead
of a certificate request. This is typically used to
generate a test certificate or a self signed root CA.
The extensions added to the certificate (if any) are
specified in the configuration file.
-days n
when the -x509 option is being used this specifies the
number of days to certify the certificate for. The
default is 30 days.
-extensions section
-reqexts section
these options specify alternative sections to include
certificate extensions (if the -x509 option is pre-
sent) or certificate request extensions. This allows
several different sections to be used in the same con-
figuration file to specify requests for a variety of
purposes.
-asn1-kludge
by default the req command outputs certificate
requests containing no attributes in the correct
PKCS#10 format. However certain CAs will only accept
requests containing no attributes in an invalid form:
this option produces this invalid format.
More precisely the Attributes in a PKCS#10 certificate
request are defined as a SET OF Attribute. They are
not OPTIONAL so if no attributes are present then they
should be encoded as an empty SET OF. The invalid form
does not include the empty SET OF whereas the correct
form does.
It should be noted that very few CAs still require the
use of this option.
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REQ(1) OpenSSL REQ(1)
-newhdr
Adds the word NEW to the PEM file header and footer
lines on the outputed request. Some software (Netscape
certificate server) and some CAs need this.
CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT
The configuration options are specified in the req section
of the configuration file. As with all configuration files
if no value is specified in the specific section (i.e.
req) then the initial unnamed or default section is
searched too.
The options available are described in detail below.
input_password output_password
The passwords for the input private key file (if pre-
sent) and the output private key file (if one will be
created). The command line options passin and passout
override the configuration file values.
default_bits
This specifies the default key size in bits. If not
specified then 512 is used. It is used if the -new
option is used. It can be overridden by using the
-newkey option.
default_keyfile
This is the default filename to write a private key
to. If not specified the key is written to standard
output. This can be overridden by the -keyout option.
oid_file
This specifies a file containing additional OBJECT
IDENTIFIERS. Each line of the file should consist of
the numerical form of the object identifier followed
by white space then the short name followed by white
space and finally the long name.
oid_section
This specifies a section in the configuration file
containing extra object identifiers. Each line should
consist of the short name of the object identifier
followed by = and the numerical form. The short and
long names are the same when this option is used.
RANDFILE
This specifies a filename in which random number seed
information is placed and read from, or an EGD socket
(see RAND_egd(3)). It is used for private key genera-
tion.
encrypt_key
If this is set to no then if a private key is gener-
ated it is not encrypted. This is equivalent to the
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REQ(1) OpenSSL REQ(1)
-nodes command line option. For compatibility
encrypt_rsa_key is an equivalent option.
default_md
This option specifies the digest algorithm to use.
Possible values include md5 sha1 mdc2. If not present
then MD5 is used. This option can be overridden on the
command line.
string_mask
This option masks out the use of certain string types
in certain fields. Most users will not need to change
this option.
It can be set to several values default which is also
the default option uses PrintableStrings, T61Strings
and BMPStrings if the pkix value is used then only
PrintableStrings and BMPStrings will be used. This
follows the PKIX recommendation in RFC2459. If the
utf8only option is used then only UTF8Strings will be
used: this is the PKIX recommendation in RFC2459 after
2003. Finally the nombstr option just uses Printa-
bleStrings and T61Strings: certain software has prob-
lems with BMPStrings and UTF8Strings: in particular
Netscape.
req_extensions
this specifies the configuration file section contain-
ing a list of extensions to add to the certificate
request. It can be overridden by the -reqexts command
line switch.
x509_extensions
this specifies the configuration file section contain-
ing a list of extensions to add to certificate gener-
ated when the -x509 switch is used. It can be overrid-
den by the -extensions command line switch.
prompt
if set to the value no this disables prompting of cer-
tificate fields and just takes values from the config
file directly. It also changes the expected format of
the distinguished_name and attributes sections.
attributes
this specifies the section containing any request
attributes: its format is the same as distin-
guished_name. Typically these may contain the chal-
lengePassword or unstructuredName types. They are cur-
rently ignored by OpenSSL's request signing utilities
but some CAs might want them.
distinguished_name
This specifies the section containing the
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REQ(1) OpenSSL REQ(1)
distinguished name fields to prompt for when generat-
ing a certificate or certificate request. The format
is described in the next section.
DISTINGUISHED NAME AND ATTRIBUTE SECTION FORMAT
There are two separate formats for the distinguished name
and attribute sections. If the prompt option is set to no
then these sections just consist of field names and val-
ues: for example,
CN=My Name
OU=My Organization
emailAddress=someone@somewhere.org
This allows external programs (e.g. GUI based) to generate
a template file with all the field names and values and
just pass it to req. An example of this kind of configura-
tion file is contained in the EXAMPLES section.
Alternatively if the prompt option is absent or not set to
no then the file contains field prompting information. It
consists of lines of the form:
fieldName="prompt"
fieldName_default="default field value"
fieldName_min= 2
fieldName_max= 4
"fieldName" is the field name being used, for example com-
monName (or CN). The "prompt" string is used to ask the
user to enter the relevant details. If the user enters
nothing then the default value is used if no default value
is present then the field is omitted. A field can still be
omitted if a default value is present if the user just
enters the '.' character.
The number of characters entered must be between the
fieldName_min and fieldName_max limits: there may be addi-
tional restrictions based on the field being used (for
example countryName can only ever be two characters long
and must fit in a PrintableString).
Some fields (such as organizationName) can be used more
than once in a DN. This presents a problem because config-
uration files will not recognize the same name occurring
twice. To avoid this problem if the fieldName contains
some characters followed by a full stop they will be
ignored. So for example a second organizationName can be
input by calling it "1.organizationName".
The actual permitted field names are any object identifier
short or long names. These are compiled into OpenSSL and
include the usual values such as commonName, countryName,
localityName, organizationName, organizationUnitName,
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REQ(1) OpenSSL REQ(1)
stateOrPrivinceName. Additionally emailAddress is include
as well as name, surname, givenName initials and dnQuali-
fier.
Additional object identifiers can be defined with the
oid_file or oid_section options in the configuration file.
Any additional fields will be treated as though they were
a DirectoryString.
EXAMPLES
Examine and verify certificate request:
openssl req -in req.pem -text -verify -noout
Create a private key and then generate a certificate
request from it:
openssl genrsa -out key.pem 1024
openssl req -new -key key.pem -out req.pem
The same but just using req:
openssl req -newkey rsa:1024 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
Generate a self signed root certificate:
openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:1024 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
Example of a file pointed to by the oid_file option:
1.2.3.4 shortName A longer Name
1.2.3.6 otherName Other longer Name
Example of a section pointed to by oid_section making use
of variable expansion:
testoid1=1.2.3.5
testoid2=${testoid1}.6
Sample configuration file prompting for field values:
[ req ]
default_bits = 1024
default_keyfile = privkey.pem
distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
attributes = req_attributes
x509_extensions = v3_ca
dirstring_type = nobmp
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REQ(1) OpenSSL REQ(1)
[ req_distinguished_name ]
countryName = Country Name (2 letter code)
countryName_default = AU
countryName_min = 2
countryName_max = 2
localityName = Locality Name (eg, city)
organizationalUnitName = Organizational Unit Name (eg, section)
commonName = Common Name (eg, YOUR name)
commonName_max = 64
emailAddress = Email Address
emailAddress_max = 40
[ req_attributes ]
challengePassword = A challenge password
challengePassword_min = 4
challengePassword_max = 20
[ v3_ca ]
subjectKeyIdentifier=hash
authorityKeyIdentifier=keyid:always,issuer:always
basicConstraints = CA:true
Sample configuration containing all field values:
RANDFILE = $ENV::HOME/.rnd
[ req ]
default_bits = 1024
default_keyfile = keyfile.pem
distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
attributes = req_attributes
prompt = no
output_password = mypass
[ req_distinguished_name ]
C = GB
ST = Test State or Province
L = Test Locality
O = Organization Name
OU = Organizational Unit Name
CN = Common Name
emailAddress = test@email.address
[ req_attributes ]
challengePassword = A challenge password
NOTES
The header and footer lines in the PEM format are
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REQ(1) OpenSSL REQ(1)
normally:
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST----
-----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST----
some software (some versions of Netscape certificate
server) instead needs:
-----BEGIN NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST----
-----END NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST----
which is produced with the -newhdr option but is otherwise
compatible. Either form is accepted transparently on
input.
The certificate requests generated by Xenroll with MSIE
have extensions added. It includes the keyUsage extension
which determines the type of key (signature only or gen-
eral purpose) and any additional OIDs entered by the
script in an extendedKeyUsage extension.
DIAGNOSTICS
The following messages are frequently asked about:
Using configuration from /some/path/openssl.cnf
Unable to load config info
This is followed some time later by...
unable to find 'distinguished_name' in config
problems making Certificate Request
The first error message is the clue: it can't find the
configuration file! Certain operations (like examining a
certificate request) don't need a configuration file so
its use isn't enforced. Generation of certificates or
requests however does need a configuration file. This
could be regarded as a bug.
Another puzzling message is this:
Attributes:
a0:00
this is displayed when no attributes are present and the
request includes the correct empty SET OF structure (the
DER encoding of which is 0xa0 0x00). If you just see:
Attributes:
then the SET OF is missing and the encoding is technically
invalid (but it is tolerated). See the description of the
command line option -asn1-kludge for more information.
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REQ(1) OpenSSL REQ(1)
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The variable OPENSSL_CONF if defined allows an alternative
configuration file location to be specified, it will be
overridden by the -config command line switch if it is
present. For compatibility reasons the SSLEAY_CONF envi-
ronment variable serves the same purpose but its use is
discouraged.
BUGS
OpenSSL's handling of T61Strings (aka TeletexStrings) is
broken: it effectively treats them as ISO-8859-1 (Latin
1), Netscape and MSIE have similar behaviour. This can
cause problems if you need characters that aren't avail-
able in PrintableStrings and you don't want to or can't
use BMPStrings.
As a consequence of the T61String handling the only cor-
rect way to represent accented characters in OpenSSL is to
use a BMPString: unfortunately Netscape currently chokes
on these. If you have to use accented characters with
Netscape and MSIE then you currently need to use the
invalid T61String form.
The current prompting is not very friendly. It doesn't
allow you to confirm what you've just entered. Other
things like extensions in certificate requests are stati-
cally defined in the configuration file. Some of these:
like an email address in subjectAltName should be input by
the user.
SEE ALSO
openssl_x509(1), openssl_ca(1), openssl_genrsa(1),
openssl_gendsa(1), openssl.cnf(5)
2001-04-12 0.9.6g 10
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