req - PKCS#10 certificate request and certificate generating utility.



  • REQ(1SSL)				     OpenSSL					REQ(1SSL)
    
    NAME
           req - PKCS#10 certificate request and certificate generating utility.
    
    SYNOPSIS
           openssl req [-inform PEM|DER] [-outform PEM|DER] [-in filename] [-passin arg] [-out
           filename] [-passout arg] [-text] [-pubkey] [-noout] [-verify] [-modulus] [-new] [-rand
           file(s)] [-newkey rsa:bits] [-newkey alg:file] [-nodes] [-key filename] [-keyform PEM|DER]
           [-keyout filename] [-keygen_engine id] [-[digest]] [-config filename] [-multivalue-rdn]
           [-x509] [-days n] [-set_serial n] [-asn1-kludge] [-no-asn1-kludge] [-newhdr] [-extensions
           section] [-reqexts section] [-utf8] [-nameopt] [-reqopt] [-subject] [-subj arg] [-batch]
           [-verbose] [-engine id]
    
    DESCRIPTION
           The req command primarily creates and processes certificate requests in PKCS#10 format. It
           can additionally create self signed certificates for use as root CAs for example.
    
    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 specified. 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).
    
           -text
    	   prints out the certificate request in text form.
    
           -subject
    	   prints out the request subject (or certificate subject if -x509 is specified)
    
           -pubkey
    	   outputs the public key.
    
           -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.
    
           -subj arg
    	   Replaces subject field of input request with specified data and outputs modified
    	   request. The arg must be formatted as /type0=value0/type1=value1/type2=..., characters
    	   may be escaped by \ (backslash), no spaces are skipped.
    
           -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 separated 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 several forms. rsa:nbits, where nbits is the number of bits, generates an
    	   RSA key nbits in size. If nbits is omitted, i.e. -newkey rsa specified, the default
    	   key size, specified in the configuration file is used.
    
    	   All other algorithms support the -newkey alg:file form, where file may be an algorithm
    	   parameter file, created by the genpkey -genparam command or and X.509 certificate for
    	   a key with approriate algorithm.
    
    	   param:file generates a key using the parameter file or certificate file, the algorithm
    	   is determined by the parameters. algname:file use algorithm algname and parameter file
    	   file: the two algorithms must match or an error occurs. algname just uses algorithm
    	   algname, and parameters, if neccessary should be specified via -pkeyopt parameter.
    
    	   dsa:filename generates a DSA key using the parameters in the file filename.
    	   ec:filename generates EC key (usable both with ECDSA or ECDH algorithms),
    	   gost2001:filename generates GOST R 34.10-2001 key (requires ccgost engine configured
    	   in the configuration file). If just gost2001 is specified a parameter set should be
    	   specified by -pkeyopt paramset:X
    
           -pkeyopt opt:value
    	   set the public key algorithm option opt to value. The precise set of options supported
    	   depends on the public key algorithm used and its implementation. See KEY GENERATION
    	   OPTIONS in the genpkey manual page for more details.
    
           -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.
    
           -nodes
    	   if this option is specified then if a private key is created it will not be encrypted.
    
           -[digest]
    	   this specifies the message digest to sign the request with (such as -md5, -sha1). This
    	   overrides the digest algorithm specified in the configuration file.
    
    	   Some public key algorithms may override this choice. For instance, DSA signatures
    	   always use SHA1, GOST R 34.10 signatures always use GOST R 34.11-94 (-md_gost94).
    
           -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 variable.
    
           -subj arg
    	   sets subject name for new request or supersedes the subject name when processing a
    	   request.  The arg must be formatted as /type0=value0/type1=value1/type2=...,
    	   characters may be escaped by \ (backslash), no spaces are skipped.
    
           -multivalue-rdn
    	   this option causes the -subj argument to be interpreted with full support for
    	   multivalued RDNs. Example:
    
    	   /DC=org/DC=OpenSSL/DC=users/UID=123456+CN=John Doe
    
    	   If -multi-rdn is not used then the UID value is 123456+CN=John Doe.
    
           -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.
    	   Unless specified using the set_serial option, a large random number will be used for
    	   the serial number.
    
           -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.
    
           -set_serial n
    	   serial number to use when outputting a self signed certificate. This may be specified
    	   as a decimal value or a hex value if preceded by 0x.  It is possible to use negative
    	   serial numbers but this is not recommended.
    
           -extensions section
           -reqexts section
    	   these options specify alternative sections to include certificate extensions (if the
    	   -x509 option is present) or certificate request extensions. This allows several
    	   different sections to be used in the same configuration file to specify requests for a
    	   variety of purposes.
    
           -utf8
    	   this option causes field values to be interpreted as UTF8 strings, by default they are
    	   interpreted as ASCII. This means that the field values, whether prompted from a
    	   terminal or obtained from a configuration file, must be valid UTF8 strings.
    
           -nameopt option
    	   option which determines how the subject or issuer names are displayed. The option
    	   argument can be a single option or multiple options separated by commas.
    	   Alternatively the -nameopt switch may be used more than once to set multiple options.
    	   See the x509(1) manual page for details.
    
           -reqopt
    	   customise the output format used with -text. The option argument can be a single
    	   option or multiple options separated by commas.
    
    	   See discission of the  -certopt parameter in the x509 command.
    
           -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.
    
           -no-asn1-kludge
    	   Reverses effect of -asn1-kludge
    
           -newhdr
    	   Adds the word NEW to the PEM file header and footer lines on the outputted request.
    	   Some software (Netscape certificate server) and some CAs need this.
    
           -batch
    	   non-interactive mode.
    
           -verbose
    	   print extra details about the operations being performed.
    
           -engine id
    	   specifying an engine (by its unique id string) will cause req to attempt to obtain a
    	   functional reference to the specified engine, thus initialising it if needed. The
    	   engine will then be set as the default for all available algorithms.
    
           -keygen_engine id
    	   specifies an engine (by its unique id string) which would be used for key generation
    	   operations.
    
    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 present) 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
    	   Specifies the default key size in bits.
    
    	   This option is used in conjunction with the -new option to generate a new key. It can
    	   be overridden by specifying an explicit key size in the -newkey option. The smallest
    	   accepted key size is 512 bits. If no key size is specified then 2048 bits is used.
    
           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 generation.
    
           encrypt_key
    	   If this is set to no then if a private key is generated it is not encrypted. This is
    	   equivalent to the -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
    	   PrintableStrings and T61Strings: certain software has problems with BMPStrings and
    	   UTF8Strings: in particular Netscape.
    
           req_extensions
    	   this specifies the configuration file section containing a list of extensions to add
    	   to the certificate request. It can be overridden by the -reqexts command line switch.
    	   See the x509v3_config(5) manual page for details of the extension section format.
    
           x509_extensions
    	   this specifies the configuration file section containing a list of extensions to add
    	   to certificate generated when the -x509 switch is used. It can be overridden by the
    	   -extensions command line switch.
    
           prompt
    	   if set to the value no this disables prompting of certificate fields and just takes
    	   values from the config file directly. It also changes the expected format of the
    	   distinguished_name and attributes sections.
    
           utf8
    	   if set to the value yes then field values to be interpreted as UTF8 strings, by
    	   default they are interpreted as ASCII. This means that the field values, whether
    	   prompted from a terminal or obtained from a configuration file, must be valid UTF8
    	   strings.
    
           attributes
    	   this specifies the section containing any request attributes: its format is the same
    	   as distinguished_name. Typically these may contain the challengePassword or
    	   unstructuredName types. They are currently ignored by OpenSSL's request signing
    	   utilities but some CAs might want them.
    
           distinguished_name
    	   This specifies the section containing the distinguished name fields to prompt for when
    	   generating 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 values: for
           example,
    
    	CN=My Name
    	OU=My Organization
    	[email protected]
    
           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 configuration
           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 commonName (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 additional 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 configuration 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, organizationalUnitName, stateOrProvinceName. Additionally
           emailAddress is include as well as name, surname, givenName initials and dnQualifier.
    
           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 2048
    	openssl req -new -key key.pem -out req.pem
    
           The same but just using req:
    
    	openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
    
           Generate a self signed root certificate:
    
    	openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -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	       = 2048
    	default_keyfile        = privkey.pem
    	distinguished_name     = req_distinguished_name
    	attributes	       = req_attributes
    	x509_extensions        = v3_ca
    
    	dirstring_type = nobmp
    
    	[ 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	       = 2048
    	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	       = [email protected]
    
    	[ req_attributes ]
    	challengePassword	       = A challenge password
    
    NOTES
           The header and footer lines in the PEM format are 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 general
           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.
    
    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 environment 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 available in PrintableStrings and you don't
           want to or can't use BMPStrings.
    
           As a consequence of the T61String handling the only correct 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 statically defined
           in the configuration file. Some of these: like an email address in subjectAltName should
           be input by the user.
    
    SEE ALSO
           x509(1), ca(1), genrsa(1), gendsa(1), config(5), x509v3_config(5)
    
    1.0.2g					    2016-03-01					REQ(1SSL)
    

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