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OPENSSL-REQ(1ossl)                  OpenSSL                 OPENSSL-REQ(1ossl)



NAME

       openssl-req - PKCS#10 certificate request and certificate generating
       command


SYNOPSIS

       openssl req [-help] [-inform DER|PEM] [-outform DER|PEM] [-in filename]
       [-passin arg] [-out filename] [-passout arg] [-text] [-pubkey] [-noout]
       [-verify] [-modulus] [-new] [-newkey arg] [-pkeyopt opt:value] [-noenc]
       [-nodes] [-key filename|uri] [-keyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE] [-keyout
       filename] [-keygen_engine id] [-digest] [-config filename] [-section
       name] [-x509] [-x509v1] [-CA filename|uri] [-CAkey filename|uri]
       [-not_before date] [-not_after date] [-days n] [-set_serial n]
       [-newhdr] [-copy_extensions arg] [-extensions section] [-reqexts
       section] [-addext ext] [-precert] [-utf8] [-reqopt] [-subject] [-subj
       arg] [-multivalue-rdn] [-sigopt nm:v] [-vfyopt nm:v] [-batch]
       [-verbose] [-quiet] [-nameopt option] [-rand files] [-writerand file]
       [-engine id] [-provider name] [-provider-path path] [-propquery propq]


DESCRIPTION

       This command primarily creates and processes certificate requests
       (CSRs) in PKCS#10 format. It can additionally create self-signed
       certificates for use as root CAs for example.


OPTIONS

       -help
           Print out a usage message.

       -inform DER|PEM
           The CSR input file format to use; by default PEM is tried first.
           See openssl-format-options(1) for details.

       -outform DER|PEM
           The output format; unspecified by default.  See
           openssl-format-options(1) for details.

           The data is a PKCS#10 object.

       -in filename
           This specifies the input filename to read a request from.  This
           defaults to standard input unless -x509 or -CA is specified.  A
           request is only read if the creation options (-new or -newkey or
           -precert) are not specified.

       -sigopt nm:v
           Pass options to the signature algorithm during sign operations.
           Names and values of these options are algorithm-specific.

       -vfyopt nm:v
           Pass options to the signature algorithm during verify operations.
           Names and values of these options are algorithm-specific.

       -passin arg
           The password source for private key and certificate input.  For
           more information about the format of arg see
           openssl-passphrase-options(1).

       -passout arg
           The password source for the output file.  For more information
           about the format of arg see openssl-passphrase-options(1).

       -out filename
           This specifies the output filename to write to or standard output
           by default.

       -text
           Prints out the certificate request in text form.

       -subject
           Prints out the certificate request subject (or certificate subject
           if -x509 is in use).

       -pubkey
           Prints out the public key.

       -noout
           This option prevents output of the encoded version of the
           certificate request.

       -modulus
           Prints out the value of the modulus of the public key contained in
           the request.

       -verify
           Verifies the self-signature on the request. If the verification
           fails, the program will immediately exit, i.e. further option
           processing (e.g. -text) is skipped.

       -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 given it will generate a new private key
           using information specified in the configuration file or given with
           the -newkey and -pkeyopt options, else by default an RSA key with
           2048 bits length.

       -newkey arg
           This option is used to generate a new private key unless -key is
           given.  It is subsequently used as if it was given using the -key
           option.

           This option implies the -new flag to create a new certificate
           request or a new certificate in case -x509 is used.

           The argument takes one of several forms.

           [rsa:]nbits generates an RSA key nbits in size.  If nbits is
           omitted, i.e., -newkey rsa is specified, the default key size
           specified in the configuration file with the default_bits option is
           used if present, else 2048.

           All other algorithms support the -newkey algname:file form, where
           file is an algorithm parameter file, created with "openssl genpkey
           -genparam" or an X.509 certificate for a key with appropriate
           algorithm.

           param:file generates a key using the parameter file or certificate
           file, the algorithm is determined by the parameters.

           algname[:file] generates a key using the given algorithm algname.
           If a parameter file file is given then the parameters specified
           there are used, where the algorithm parameters must match algname.
           If algorithm parameters are not given, any necessary parameters
           should be specified via the -pkeyopt option.

           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 gost 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
           openssl-genpkey(1) for more details.

       -key filename|uri
           This option provides the private key for signing a new certificate
           or certificate request.  Unless -in is given, the corresponding
           public key is placed in the new certificate or certificate request,
           resulting in a self-signature.

           For certificate signing this option is overridden by the -CA
           option.

           This option also accepts PKCS#8 format private keys for PEM format
           files.

       -keyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE
           The format of the private key; unspecified by default.  See
           openssl-format-options(1) for details.

       -keyout filename
           This gives the filename to write any private key to that has been
           newly created or read from -key.  If neither the -keyout option nor
           the -key option are given then the filename specified in the
           configuration file with the default_keyfile option is used, if
           present.  Thus, if you want to write the private key and the -key
           option is provided, you should provide the -keyout option
           explicitly.  If a new key is generated and no filename is specified
           the key is written to standard output.

       -noenc
           If this option is specified then if a private key is created it
           will not be encrypted.

       -nodes
           This option is deprecated since OpenSSL 3.0; use -noenc instead.

       -digest
           This specifies the message digest to sign the request.  Any digest
           supported by the OpenSSL dgst command can be used.  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), Ed25519 and Ed448 never use any
           digest.

       -config filename
           This allows an alternative configuration file to be specified.
           Optional; for a description of the default value, see "COMMAND
           SUMMARY" in openssl(1).

       -section name
           Specifies the name of the section to use; the default is req.

       -subj arg
           Sets subject name for new request or supersedes the subject name
           when processing a certificate request.

           The arg must be formatted as
           "/type0=value0/type1=value1/type2=...".  Special characters may be
           escaped by "\" (backslash), whitespace is retained.  Empty values
           are permitted, but the corresponding type will not be included in
           the request.  Giving a single "/" will lead to an empty sequence of
           RDNs (a NULL-DN).  Multi-valued RDNs can be formed by placing a "+"
           character instead of a "/" between the AttributeValueAssertions
           (AVAs) that specify the members of the set.  Example:

           "/DC=org/DC=OpenSSL/DC=users/UID=123456+CN=John Doe"

       -multivalue-rdn
           This option has been deprecated and has no effect.

       -x509
           This option outputs a certificate instead of a certificate request.
           This is typically used to generate test certificates.  It is
           implied by the -CA option.

           This option implies the -new flag if -in is not given.

           If an existing request is specified with the -in option, it is
           converted to a certificate; otherwise a request is created from
           scratch.

           Unless specified using the -set_serial option, a large random
           number will be used for the serial number.

           Unless the -copy_extensions option is used, X.509 extensions are
           not copied from any provided request input file.

           X.509 extensions to be added can be specified in the configuration
           file, possibly using the -config and -extensions options, and/or
           using the -addext option.

           Unless -x509v1 is given, generated certificates bear X.509 version
           3.  Unless specified otherwise, key identifier extensions are
           included as described in x509v3_config(5).

       -x509v1
           Request generation of certificates with X.509 version 1.  This
           implies -x509.  If X.509 extensions are given, anyway X.509 version
           3 is set.

       -CA filename|uri
           Specifies the "CA" certificate to be used for signing a new
           certificate and implies use of -x509.  When present, this behaves
           like a "micro CA" as follows: The subject name of the "CA"
           certificate is placed as issuer name in the new certificate, which
           is then signed using the "CA" key given as specified below.

       -CAkey filename|uri
           Sets the "CA" private key to sign a certificate with.  The private
           key must match the public key of the certificate given with -CA.
           If this option is not provided then the key must be present in the
           -CA input.

       -not_before date
           When -x509 is in use this allows the start date to be explicitly
           set, otherwise it is ignored. The format of date is YYMMDDHHMMSSZ
           (the same as an ASN1 UTCTime structure), or YYYYMMDDHHMMSSZ (the
           same as an ASN1 GeneralizedTime structure). In both formats,
           seconds SS and timezone Z must be present.  Alternatively, you can
           also use "today".

       -not_after date
           When -x509 is in use this allows the expiry date to be explicitly
           set, otherwise it is ignored. The format of date is YYMMDDHHMMSSZ
           (the same as an ASN1 UTCTime structure), or YYYYMMDDHHMMSSZ (the
           same as an ASN1 GeneralizedTime structure). In both formats,
           seconds SS and timezone Z must be present.  Alternatively, you can
           also use "today".

           This overrides the -days option.

       -days n
           When -x509 is in use this specifies the number of days from today
           to certify the certificate for, otherwise it is ignored. n should
           be a positive integer. The default is 30 days.

           Regardless of the option -not_before, the days are always counted
           from today.  When used together with the option -not_after, the
           explicit expiry date takes precedence.

       -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".  If not given, a large random number will be used.

       -copy_extensions arg
           Determines how X.509 extensions in certificate requests should be
           handled when -x509 is in use.  If arg is none or this option is not
           present then extensions are ignored.  If arg is copy or copyall
           then all extensions in the request are copied to the certificate.

           The main use of this option is to allow a certificate request to
           supply values for certain extensions such as subjectAltName.

       -extensions section, -reqexts section
           Can be used to override the name of the configuration file section
           from which X.509 extensions are included in the certificate (when
           -x509 is in use) or certificate request.  This allows several
           different sections to be used in the same configuration file to
           specify requests for a variety of purposes.

       -addext ext
           Add a specific extension to the certificate (if -x509 is in use) or
           certificate request.  The argument must have the form of a
           "key=value" pair as it would appear in a config file.

           If an extension is added using this option that has the same OID as
           one defined in the extension section of the config file, it
           overrides that one.

           This option can be given multiple times.  Doing so, the same key
           most not be given more than once.

       -precert
           A poison extension will be added to the certificate, making it a
           "pre-certificate" (see RFC6962). This can be submitted to
           Certificate Transparency logs in order to obtain signed certificate
           timestamps (SCTs).  These SCTs can then be embedded into the pre-
           certificate as an extension, before removing the poison and signing
           the certificate.

           This implies the -new flag.

       -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.

       -reqopt option
           Customise the printing format used with -text. The option argument
           can be a single option or multiple options separated by commas.

           See discussion of the  -certopt parameter in the openssl-x509(1)
           command.

       -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.

       -quiet
           Print fewer details about the operations being performed, which may
           be handy during batch scripts or pipelines (specifically "progress
           dots" during key generation are suppressed).

       -keygen_engine id
           Specifies an engine (by its unique id string) which would be used
           for key generation operations.

       -nameopt option
           This specifies how the subject or issuer names are displayed.  See
           openssl-namedisplay-options(1) for details.

       -rand files, -writerand file
           See "Random State Options" in openssl(1) for details.

       -engine id
           See "Engine Options" in openssl(1).  This option is deprecated.

       -provider name
       -provider-path path
       -propquery propq
           See "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7).


CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT

       The configuration options are specified in the req section of the
       configuration file. An alternate name be specified by using the
       -section option.  As with all configuration files, if no value is
       specified in the specific section 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 whitespace then the short name
           followed by whitespace 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
           At startup the specified file is loaded into the random number
           generator, and at exit 256 bytes will be written to it.  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 -noenc command line option.
           For compatibility encrypt_rsa_key is an equivalent option.

       default_md
           This option specifies the digest algorithm to use. Any digest
           supported by the OpenSSL dgst command can be used. This option can
           be overridden on the command line. Certain signing algorithms (i.e.
           Ed25519 and Ed448) will ignore any digest that has been set.

       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:

           utf8only - only UTF8Strings are used (this is the default value)
           pkix - any string type except T61Strings
           nombstr - any string type except BMPStrings and UTF8Strings
           default - any kind of string type

           Note that utf8only is the PKIX recommendation in RFC2459 after
           2003, and the default string_mask; default is not the default
           option. The nombstr value is a workaround for some software that
           has problems with variable-sized BMPStrings and UTF8Strings.

       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 (or -extensions) 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 -x509 is in use.
           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
        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 this
       command. 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 included 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

       Create an SM2 private key and then generate a certificate request from
       it:

        openssl ecparam -genkey -name SM2 -out sm2.key
        openssl req -new -key sm2.key -out sm2.csr -sm3 -sigopt "distid:1234567812345678"

       Examine and verify an SM2 certificate request:

        openssl req -verify -in sm2.csr -sm3 -vfyopt "distid:1234567812345678"

       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
        req_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 = critical, CA:true

       Sample configuration containing all field values:

        [ 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           = test@email.address

        [ req_attributes ]
        challengePassword              = A challenge password

       Example of giving the most common attributes (subject and extensions)
       on the command line:

        openssl req -new -subj "/C=GB/CN=foo" \
                         -addext "subjectAltName = DNS:foo.co.uk" \
                         -addext "certificatePolicies = 1.2.3.4" \
                         -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem


NOTES

       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.


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

       openssl(1), openssl-x509(1), openssl-ca(1), openssl-genrsa(1),
       openssl-gendsa(1), config(5), x509v3_config(5)


HISTORY

       The -section option was added in OpenSSL 3.0.0.

       The -multivalue-rdn option has become obsolete in OpenSSL 3.0.0 and has
       no effect.

       The -engine option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.  The <-nodes> option
       was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0, too; use -noenc instead.

       The -reqexts option has been made an alias of -extensions in OpenSSL
       3.2.

       Since OpenSSL 3.2, generated certificates bear X.509 version 3 unless
       -x509v1 is given, and key identifier extensions are included by
       default.

       Since OpenSSL 3.3, the -verify option will exit with 1 on failure.


COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2000-2024 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.

       Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License").  You may not use
       this file except in compliance with the License.  You can obtain a copy
       in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
       <https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.

3.4.0                             2024-10-29                OPENSSL-REQ(1ossl)

openssl 3.4.0 - Generated Wed Oct 30 18:07:17 CDT 2024
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