6 req - PKCS#10 certificate request and certificate generating utility.
30 [B<-keygen_engine id>]
38 [B<-extensions section>]
51 The B<req> command primarily creates and processes certificate requests
52 in PKCS#10 format. It can additionally create self signed certificates
53 for use as root CAs for example.
55 =head1 COMMAND OPTIONS
59 =item B<-inform DER|PEM>
61 This specifies the input format. The B<DER> option uses an ASN1 DER encoded
62 form compatible with the PKCS#10. The B<PEM> form is the default format: it
63 consists of the B<DER> format base64 encoded with additional header and
66 =item B<-outform DER|PEM>
68 This specifies the output format, the options have the same meaning as the
73 This specifies the input filename to read a request from or standard input
74 if this option is not specified. A request is only read if the creation
75 options (B<-new> and B<-newkey>) are not specified.
79 the input file password source. For more information about the format of B<arg>
80 see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)>.
82 =item B<-out filename>
84 This specifies the output filename to write to or standard output by
89 the output file password source. For more information about the format of B<arg>
90 see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)>.
94 prints out the certificate request in text form.
98 prints out the request subject (or certificate subject if B<-x509> is
103 outputs the public key.
107 this option prevents output of the encoded version of the request.
111 this option prints out the value of the modulus of the public key
112 contained in the request.
116 verifies the signature on the request.
120 this option generates a new certificate request. It will prompt
121 the user for the relevant field values. The actual fields
122 prompted for and their maximum and minimum sizes are specified
123 in the configuration file and any requested extensions.
125 If the B<-key> option is not used it will generate a new RSA private
126 key using information specified in the configuration file.
128 =item B<-rand file(s)>
130 a file or files containing random data used to seed the random number
131 generator, or an EGD socket (see L<RAND_egd(3)>).
132 Multiple files can be specified separated by a OS-dependent character.
133 The separator is B<;> for MS-Windows, B<,> for OpenVMS, and B<:> for
138 this option creates a new certificate request and a new private
139 key. The argument takes one of several forms. B<rsa:nbits>, where
140 B<nbits> is the number of bits, generates an RSA key B<nbits>
141 in size. If B<nbits> is omitted, i.e. B<-newkey rsa> specified,
142 the default key size, specified in the configuration file is used.
144 All other algorithms support the B<-newkey alg:file> form, where file may be
145 an algorithm parameter file, created by the B<genpkey -genparam> command
146 or and X.509 certificate for a key with appropriate algorithm.
148 B<param:file> generates a key using the parameter file or certificate B<file>,
149 the algorithm is determined by the parameters. B<algname:file> use algorithm
150 B<algname> and parameter file B<file>: the two algorithms must match or an
151 error occurs. B<algname> just uses algorithm B<algname>, and parameters,
152 if necessary should be specified via B<-pkeyopt> parameter.
154 B<dsa:filename> generates a DSA key using the parameters
155 in the file B<filename>. B<ec:filename> generates EC key (usable both with
156 ECDSA or ECDH algorithms), B<gost2001:filename> generates GOST R
157 34.10-2001 key (requires B<ccgost> engine configured in the configuration
158 file). If just B<gost2001> is specified a parameter set should be
159 specified by B<-pkeyopt paramset:X>
162 =item B<-pkeyopt opt:value>
164 set the public key algorithm option B<opt> to B<value>. The precise set of
165 options supported depends on the public key algorithm used and its
166 implementation. See B<KEY GENERATION OPTIONS> in the B<genpkey> manual page
169 =item B<-key filename>
171 This specifies the file to read the private key from. It also
172 accepts PKCS#8 format private keys for PEM format files.
174 =item B<-keyform PEM|DER>
176 the format of the private key file specified in the B<-key>
177 argument. PEM is the default.
179 =item B<-keyout filename>
181 this gives the filename to write the newly created private key to.
182 If this option is not specified then the filename present in the
183 configuration file is used.
187 if this option is specified then if a private key is created it
188 will not be encrypted.
192 this specifies the message digest to sign the request.
193 Any digest supported by the OpenSSL B<dgst> command can be used.
194 This overrides the digest algorithm specified in
195 the configuration file.
197 Some public key algorithms may override this choice. For instance, DSA
198 signatures always use SHA1, GOST R 34.10 signatures always use
199 GOST R 34.11-94 (B<-md_gost94>).
201 =item B<-config filename>
203 this allows an alternative configuration file to be specified,
204 this overrides the compile time filename or any specified in
205 the B<OPENSSL_CONF> environment variable.
209 sets subject name for new request or supersedes the subject name
210 when processing a request.
211 The arg must be formatted as I</type0=value0/type1=value1/type2=...>,
212 characters may be escaped by \ (backslash), no spaces are skipped.
214 =item B<-multivalue-rdn>
216 this option causes the -subj argument to be interpreted with full
217 support for multivalued RDNs. Example:
219 I</DC=org/DC=OpenSSL/DC=users/UID=123456+CN=John Doe>
221 If -multi-rdn is not used then the UID value is I<123456+CN=John Doe>.
225 this option outputs a self signed certificate instead of a certificate
226 request. This is typically used to generate a test certificate or
227 a self signed root CA. The extensions added to the certificate
228 (if any) are specified in the configuration file. Unless specified
229 using the B<set_serial> option, a large random number will be used for
234 when the B<-x509> option is being used this specifies the number of
235 days to certify the certificate for. The default is 30 days.
237 =item B<-set_serial n>
239 serial number to use when outputting a self signed certificate. This
240 may be specified as a decimal value or a hex value if preceded by B<0x>.
241 It is possible to use negative serial numbers but this is not recommended.
243 =item B<-extensions section>
245 =item B<-reqexts section>
247 these options specify alternative sections to include certificate
248 extensions (if the B<-x509> option is present) or certificate
249 request extensions. This allows several different sections to
250 be used in the same configuration file to specify requests for
251 a variety of purposes.
255 this option causes field values to be interpreted as UTF8 strings, by
256 default they are interpreted as ASCII. This means that the field
257 values, whether prompted from a terminal or obtained from a
258 configuration file, must be valid UTF8 strings.
260 =item B<-nameopt option>
262 option which determines how the subject or issuer names are displayed. The
263 B<option> argument can be a single option or multiple options separated by
264 commas. Alternatively the B<-nameopt> switch may be used more than once to
265 set multiple options. See the L<x509(1)> manual page for details.
269 customise the output format used with B<-text>. The B<option> argument can be
270 a single option or multiple options separated by commas.
272 See discussion of the B<-certopt> parameter in the L<x509(1)>
277 Adds the word B<NEW> to the PEM file header and footer lines on the outputted
278 request. Some software (Netscape certificate server) and some CAs need this.
282 non-interactive mode.
286 print extra details about the operations being performed.
290 specifying an engine (by its unique B<id> string) will cause B<req>
291 to attempt to obtain a functional reference to the specified engine,
292 thus initialising it if needed. The engine will then be set as the default
293 for all available algorithms.
295 =item B<-keygen_engine id>
297 specifies an engine (by its unique B<id> string) which would be used
298 for key generation operations.
302 =head1 CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT
304 The configuration options are specified in the B<req> section of
305 the configuration file. As with all configuration files if no
306 value is specified in the specific section (i.e. B<req>) then
307 the initial unnamed or B<default> section is searched too.
309 The options available are described in detail below.
313 =item B<input_password output_password>
315 The passwords for the input private key file (if present) and
316 the output private key file (if one will be created). The
317 command line options B<passin> and B<passout> override the
318 configuration file values.
320 =item B<default_bits>
322 This specifies the default key size in bits. If not specified then
323 512 is used. It is used if the B<-new> option is used. It can be
324 overridden by using the B<-newkey> option.
326 =item B<default_keyfile>
328 This is the default filename to write a private key to. If not
329 specified the key is written to standard output. This can be
330 overridden by the B<-keyout> option.
334 This specifies a file containing additional B<OBJECT IDENTIFIERS>.
335 Each line of the file should consist of the numerical form of the
336 object identifier followed by white space then the short name followed
337 by white space and finally the long name.
341 This specifies a section in the configuration file containing extra
342 object identifiers. Each line should consist of the short name of the
343 object identifier followed by B<=> and the numerical form. The short
344 and long names are the same when this option is used.
348 This specifies a filename in which random number seed information is
349 placed and read from, or an EGD socket (see L<RAND_egd(3)>).
350 It is used for private key generation.
354 If this is set to B<no> then if a private key is generated it is
355 B<not> encrypted. This is equivalent to the B<-nodes> command line
356 option. For compatibility B<encrypt_rsa_key> is an equivalent option.
360 This option specifies the digest algorithm to use.
361 Any digest supported by the OpenSSL B<dgst> command can be used.
362 If not present then MD5 is used.
363 This option can be overridden on the command line.
367 This option masks out the use of certain string types in certain
368 fields. Most users will not need to change this option.
370 It can be set to several values B<default> which is also the default
371 option uses PrintableStrings, T61Strings and BMPStrings if the
372 B<pkix> value is used then only PrintableStrings and BMPStrings will
373 be used. This follows the PKIX recommendation in RFC2459. If the
374 B<utf8only> option is used then only UTF8Strings will be used: this
375 is the PKIX recommendation in RFC2459 after 2003. Finally the B<nombstr>
376 option just uses PrintableStrings and T61Strings: certain software has
377 problems with BMPStrings and UTF8Strings: in particular Netscape.
379 =item B<req_extensions>
381 this specifies the configuration file section containing a list of
382 extensions to add to the certificate request. It can be overridden
383 by the B<-reqexts> command line switch. See the
384 L<x509v3_config(5)> manual page for details of the
385 extension section format.
387 =item B<x509_extensions>
389 this specifies the configuration file section containing a list of
390 extensions to add to certificate generated when the B<-x509> switch
391 is used. It can be overridden by the B<-extensions> command line switch.
395 if set to the value B<no> this disables prompting of certificate fields
396 and just takes values from the config file directly. It also changes the
397 expected format of the B<distinguished_name> and B<attributes> sections.
401 if set to the value B<yes> then field values to be interpreted as UTF8
402 strings, by default they are interpreted as ASCII. This means that
403 the field values, whether prompted from a terminal or obtained from a
404 configuration file, must be valid UTF8 strings.
408 this specifies the section containing any request attributes: its format
409 is the same as B<distinguished_name>. Typically these may contain the
410 challengePassword or unstructuredName types. They are currently ignored
411 by OpenSSL's request signing utilities but some CAs might want them.
413 =item B<distinguished_name>
415 This specifies the section containing the distinguished name fields to
416 prompt for when generating a certificate or certificate request. The format
417 is described in the next section.
421 =head1 DISTINGUISHED NAME AND ATTRIBUTE SECTION FORMAT
423 There are two separate formats for the distinguished name and attribute
424 sections. If the B<prompt> option is set to B<no> then these sections
425 just consist of field names and values: for example,
429 emailAddress=someone@somewhere.org
431 This allows external programs (e.g. GUI based) to generate a template file
432 with all the field names and values and just pass it to B<req>. An example
433 of this kind of configuration file is contained in the B<EXAMPLES> section.
435 Alternatively if the B<prompt> option is absent or not set to B<no> then the
436 file contains field prompting information. It consists of lines of the form:
439 fieldName_default="default field value"
443 "fieldName" is the field name being used, for example commonName (or CN).
444 The "prompt" string is used to ask the user to enter the relevant
445 details. If the user enters nothing then the default value is used if no
446 default value is present then the field is omitted. A field can
447 still be omitted if a default value is present if the user just
448 enters the '.' character.
450 The number of characters entered must be between the fieldName_min and
451 fieldName_max limits: there may be additional restrictions based
452 on the field being used (for example countryName can only ever be
453 two characters long and must fit in a PrintableString).
455 Some fields (such as organizationName) can be used more than once
456 in a DN. This presents a problem because configuration files will
457 not recognize the same name occurring twice. To avoid this problem
458 if the fieldName contains some characters followed by a full stop
459 they will be ignored. So for example a second organizationName can
460 be input by calling it "1.organizationName".
462 The actual permitted field names are any object identifier short or
463 long names. These are compiled into OpenSSL and include the usual
464 values such as commonName, countryName, localityName, organizationName,
465 organizationalUnitName, stateOrProvinceName. Additionally emailAddress
466 is include as well as name, surname, givenName initials and dnQualifier.
468 Additional object identifiers can be defined with the B<oid_file> or
469 B<oid_section> options in the configuration file. Any additional fields
470 will be treated as though they were a DirectoryString.
475 Examine and verify certificate request:
477 openssl req -in req.pem -text -verify -noout
479 Create a private key and then generate a certificate request from it:
481 openssl genrsa -out key.pem 2048
482 openssl req -new -key key.pem -out req.pem
484 The same but just using req:
486 openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
488 Generate a self signed root certificate:
490 openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
492 Example of a file pointed to by the B<oid_file> option:
494 1.2.3.4 shortName A longer Name
495 1.2.3.6 otherName Other longer Name
497 Example of a section pointed to by B<oid_section> making use of variable
501 testoid2=${testoid1}.6
503 Sample configuration file prompting for field values:
507 default_keyfile = privkey.pem
508 distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
509 attributes = req_attributes
510 req_extensions = v3_ca
512 dirstring_type = nobmp
514 [ req_distinguished_name ]
515 countryName = Country Name (2 letter code)
516 countryName_default = AU
520 localityName = Locality Name (eg, city)
522 organizationalUnitName = Organizational Unit Name (eg, section)
524 commonName = Common Name (eg, YOUR name)
527 emailAddress = Email Address
528 emailAddress_max = 40
531 challengePassword = A challenge password
532 challengePassword_min = 4
533 challengePassword_max = 20
537 subjectKeyIdentifier=hash
538 authorityKeyIdentifier=keyid:always,issuer:always
539 basicConstraints = CA:true
541 Sample configuration containing all field values:
544 RANDFILE = $ENV::HOME/.rnd
548 default_keyfile = keyfile.pem
549 distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
550 attributes = req_attributes
552 output_password = mypass
554 [ req_distinguished_name ]
556 ST = Test State or Province
558 O = Organization Name
559 OU = Organizational Unit Name
561 emailAddress = test@email.address
564 challengePassword = A challenge password
569 The header and footer lines in the B<PEM> format are normally:
571 -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
572 -----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
574 some software (some versions of Netscape certificate server) instead needs:
576 -----BEGIN NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
577 -----END NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
579 which is produced with the B<-newhdr> option but is otherwise compatible.
580 Either form is accepted transparently on input.
582 The certificate requests generated by B<Xenroll> with MSIE have extensions
583 added. It includes the B<keyUsage> extension which determines the type of
584 key (signature only or general purpose) and any additional OIDs entered
585 by the script in an extendedKeyUsage extension.
589 The following messages are frequently asked about:
591 Using configuration from /some/path/openssl.cnf
592 Unable to load config info
594 This is followed some time later by...
596 unable to find 'distinguished_name' in config
597 problems making Certificate Request
599 The first error message is the clue: it can't find the configuration
600 file! Certain operations (like examining a certificate request) don't
601 need a configuration file so its use isn't enforced. Generation of
602 certificates or requests however does need a configuration file. This
603 could be regarded as a bug.
605 Another puzzling message is this:
610 this is displayed when no attributes are present and the request includes
611 the correct empty B<SET OF> structure (the DER encoding of which is 0xa0
612 0x00). If you just see:
616 then the B<SET OF> is missing and the encoding is technically invalid (but
617 it is tolerated). See the description of the command line option B<-asn1-kludge>
618 for more information.
620 =head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
622 The variable B<OPENSSL_CONF> if defined allows an alternative configuration
623 file location to be specified, it will be overridden by the B<-config> command
624 line switch if it is present. For compatibility reasons the B<SSLEAY_CONF>
625 environment variable serves the same purpose but its use is discouraged.
629 OpenSSL's handling of T61Strings (aka TeletexStrings) is broken: it effectively
630 treats them as ISO-8859-1 (Latin 1), Netscape and MSIE have similar behaviour.
631 This can cause problems if you need characters that aren't available in
632 PrintableStrings and you don't want to or can't use BMPStrings.
634 As a consequence of the T61String handling the only correct way to represent
635 accented characters in OpenSSL is to use a BMPString: unfortunately Netscape
636 currently chokes on these. If you have to use accented characters with Netscape
637 and MSIE then you currently need to use the invalid T61String form.
639 The current prompting is not very friendly. It doesn't allow you to confirm what
640 you've just entered. Other things like extensions in certificate requests are
641 statically defined in the configuration file. Some of these: like an email
642 address in subjectAltName should be input by the user.
646 L<x509(1)>, L<ca(1)>, L<genrsa(1)>,
647 L<gendsa(1)>, L<config(5)>,