1DNSSEC-KEYGEN(8) BIND9 DNSSEC-KEYGEN(8)
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6 dnssec-keygen - DNSSEC key generation tool
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9 dnssec-keygen [-a algorithm] [-b keysize] [-n nametype] [-3]
10 [-A date/offset] [-C] [-c class] [-D date/offset]
11 [-D sync date/offset] [-E engine] [-f flag] [-G]
12 [-g generator] [-h] [-I date/offset] [-i interval]
13 [-K directory] [-k] [-L ttl] [-P date/offset]
14 [-P sync date/offset] [-p protocol] [-q] [-R date/offset]
15 [-r randomdev] [-S key] [-s strength] [-t type] [-V]
16 [-v level] [-z] {name}
17
19 dnssec-keygen generates keys for DNSSEC (Secure DNS), as defined in RFC
20 2535 and RFC 4034. It can also generate keys for use with TSIG
21 (Transaction Signatures) as defined in RFC 2845, or TKEY (Transaction
22 Key) as defined in RFC 2930.
23 The name of the key is specified on the command line. For DNSSEC keys,
25 this must match the name of the zone for which the key is being
26 generated.
27
29 -a algorithm
30 Selects the cryptographic algorithm. For DNSSEC keys, the value of
31 algorithm must be one of RSAMD5, RSASHA1, DSA, NSEC3RSASHA1,
32 NSEC3DSA, RSASHA256, RSASHA512, ECCGOST, ECDSAP256SHA256,
33 ECDSAP384SHA384, ED25519 or ED448. For TSIG/TKEY, the value must be
34 DH (Diffie Hellman), HMAC-MD5, HMAC-SHA1, HMAC-SHA224, HMAC-SHA256,
35 HMAC-SHA384, or HMAC-SHA512. These values are case insensitive.
36 If no algorithm is specified, then RSASHA1 will be used by default,
38 unless the -3 option is specified, in which case NSEC3RSASHA1 will
39 be used instead. (If -3 is used and an algorithm is specified, that
40 algorithm will be checked for compatibility with NSEC3.)
41 Note 1: that for DNSSEC, RSASHA1 is a mandatory to implement
43 algorithm, and DSA is recommended. For TSIG, HMAC-MD5 is mandatory.
44 Note 2: DH, HMAC-MD5, and HMAC-SHA1 through HMAC-SHA512
46 automatically set the -T KEY option.
47 -b keysize
49 Specifies the number of bits in the key. The choice of key size
50 depends on the algorithm used. RSA keys must be between 512 and
51 2048 bits. Diffie Hellman keys must be between 128 and 4096 bits.
52 DSA keys must be between 512 and 1024 bits and an exact multiple of
53 64. HMAC keys must be between 1 and 512 bits. Elliptic curve
54 algorithms don't need this parameter.
55 The key size does not need to be specified if using a default
57 algorithm. The default key size is 1024 bits for zone signing keys
58 (ZSKs) and 2048 bits for key signing keys (KSKs, generated with -f
59 KSK). However, if an algorithm is explicitly specified with the -a,
60 then there is no default key size, and the -b must be used.
61 -n nametype
63 Specifies the owner type of the key. The value of nametype must
64 either be ZONE (for a DNSSEC zone key (KEY/DNSKEY)), HOST or ENTITY
65 (for a key associated with a host (KEY)), USER (for a key
66 associated with a user(KEY)) or OTHER (DNSKEY). These values are
67 case insensitive. Defaults to ZONE for DNSKEY generation.
68 -3
70 Use an NSEC3-capable algorithm to generate a DNSSEC key. If this
71 option is used and no algorithm is explicitly set on the command
72 line, NSEC3RSASHA1 will be used by default. Note that RSASHA256,
73 RSASHA512, ECCGOST, ECDSAP256SHA256, ECDSAP384SHA384, ED25519 and
74 ED448 algorithms are NSEC3-capable.
75 -C
77 Compatibility mode: generates an old-style key, without any
78 metadata. By default, dnssec-keygen will include the key's creation
79 date in the metadata stored with the private key, and other dates
80 may be set there as well (publication date, activation date, etc).
81 Keys that include this data may be incompatible with older versions
82 of BIND; the -C option suppresses them.
83 -c class
85 Indicates that the DNS record containing the key should have the
86 specified class. If not specified, class IN is used.
87 -E engine
89 Specifies the cryptographic hardware to use, when applicable.
90 When BIND is built with OpenSSL PKCS#11 support, this defaults to
92 the string "pkcs11", which identifies an OpenSSL engine that can
93 drive a cryptographic accelerator or hardware service module. When
94 BIND is built with native PKCS#11 cryptography
95 (--enable-native-pkcs11), it defaults to the path of the PKCS#11
96 provider library specified via "--with-pkcs11".
97 -f flag
99 Set the specified flag in the flag field of the KEY/DNSKEY record.
100 The only recognized flags are KSK (Key Signing Key) and REVOKE.
101 -G
103 Generate a key, but do not publish it or sign with it. This option
104 is incompatible with -P and -A.
105 -g generator
107 If generating a Diffie Hellman key, use this generator. Allowed
108 values are 2 and 5. If no generator is specified, a known prime
109 from RFC 2539 will be used if possible; otherwise the default is 2.
110 -h
112 Prints a short summary of the options and arguments to
113 dnssec-keygen.
114 -K directory
116 Sets the directory in which the key files are to be written.
117 -k
119 Deprecated in favor of -T KEY.
120 -L ttl
122 Sets the default TTL to use for this key when it is converted into
123 a DNSKEY RR. If the key is imported into a zone, this is the TTL
124 that will be used for it, unless there was already a DNSKEY RRset
125 in place, in which case the existing TTL would take precedence. If
126 this value is not set and there is no existing DNSKEY RRset, the
127 TTL will default to the SOA TTL. Setting the default TTL to 0 or
128 none is the same as leaving it unset.
129 -p protocol
131 Sets the protocol value for the generated key. The protocol is a
132 number between 0 and 255. The default is 3 (DNSSEC). Other possible
133 values for this argument are listed in RFC 2535 and its successors.
134 -q
136 Quiet mode: Suppresses unnecessary output, including progress
137 indication. Without this option, when dnssec-keygen is run
138 interactively to generate an RSA or DSA key pair, it will print a
139 string of symbols to stderr indicating the progress of the key
140 generation. A '.' indicates that a random number has been found
141 which passed an initial sieve test; '+' means a number has passed a
142 single round of the Miller-Rabin primality test; a space means that
143 the number has passed all the tests and is a satisfactory key.
144 -r randomdev
146 Specifies the source of randomness. If the operating system does
147 not provide a /dev/random or equivalent device, the default source
148 of randomness is keyboard input. randomdev specifies the name of a
149 character device or file containing random data to be used instead
150 of the default. The special value keyboard indicates that keyboard
151 input should be used.
152 -S key
154 Create a new key which is an explicit successor to an existing key.
155 The name, algorithm, size, and type of the key will be set to match
156 the existing key. The activation date of the new key will be set to
157 the inactivation date of the existing one. The publication date
158 will be set to the activation date minus the prepublication
159 interval, which defaults to 30 days.
160 -s strength
162 Specifies the strength value of the key. The strength is a number
163 between 0 and 15, and currently has no defined purpose in DNSSEC.
164 -T rrtype
166 Specifies the resource record type to use for the key. rrtype must
167 be either DNSKEY or KEY. The default is DNSKEY when using a DNSSEC
168 algorithm, but it can be overridden to KEY for use with SIG(0).
169 Using any TSIG algorithm (HMAC-* or DH) forces this option to KEY.
170 -t type
172 Indicates the use of the key. type must be one of AUTHCONF,
173 NOAUTHCONF, NOAUTH, or NOCONF. The default is AUTHCONF. AUTH refers
174 to the ability to authenticate data, and CONF the ability to
175 encrypt data.
176 -v level
178 Sets the debugging level.
179 -V
181 Prints version information.
182
184 Dates can be expressed in the format YYYYMMDD or YYYYMMDDHHMMSS. If the
185 argument begins with a '+' or '-', it is interpreted as an offset from
186 the present time. For convenience, if such an offset is followed by one
187 of the suffixes 'y', 'mo', 'w', 'd', 'h', or 'mi', then the offset is
188 computed in years (defined as 365 24-hour days, ignoring leap years),
189 months (defined as 30 24-hour days), weeks, days, hours, or minutes,
190 respectively. Without a suffix, the offset is computed in seconds. To
191 explicitly prevent a date from being set, use 'none' or 'never'.
192 -P date/offset
194 Sets the date on which a key is to be published to the zone. After
195 that date, the key will be included in the zone but will not be
196 used to sign it. If not set, and if the -G option has not been
197 used, the default is "now".
198 -P sync date/offset
200 Sets the date on which CDS and CDNSKEY records that match this key
201 are to be published to the zone.
202 -A date/offset
204 Sets the date on which the key is to be activated. After that date,
205 the key will be included in the zone and used to sign it. If not
206 set, and if the -G option has not been used, the default is "now".
207 If set, if and -P is not set, then the publication date will be set
208 to the activation date minus the prepublication interval.
209 -R date/offset
211 Sets the date on which the key is to be revoked. After that date,
212 the key will be flagged as revoked. It will be included in the zone
213 and will be used to sign it.
214 -I date/offset
216 Sets the date on which the key is to be retired. After that date,
217 the key will still be included in the zone, but it will not be used
218 to sign it.
219 -D date/offset
221 Sets the date on which the key is to be deleted. After that date,
222 the key will no longer be included in the zone. (It may remain in
223 the key repository, however.)
224 -D sync date/offset
226 Sets the date on which the CDS and CDNSKEY records that match this
227 key are to be deleted.
228 -i interval
230 Sets the prepublication interval for a key. If set, then the
231 publication and activation dates must be separated by at least this
232 much time. If the activation date is specified but the publication
233 date isn't, then the publication date will default to this much
234 time before the activation date; conversely, if the publication
235 date is specified but activation date isn't, then activation will
236 be set to this much time after publication.
237 If the key is being created as an explicit successor to another
239 key, then the default prepublication interval is 30 days; otherwise
240 it is zero.
241 As with date offsets, if the argument is followed by one of the
243 suffixes 'y', 'mo', 'w', 'd', 'h', or 'mi', then the interval is
244 measured in years, months, weeks, days, hours, or minutes,
245 respectively. Without a suffix, the interval is measured in
246 seconds.
247
249 When dnssec-keygen completes successfully, it prints a string of the
250 form Knnnn.+aaa+iiiii to the standard output. This is an identification
251 string for the key it has generated.
252 · nnnn is the key name.
254 · aaa is the numeric representation of the algorithm.
256 · iiiii is the key identifier (or footprint).
258 dnssec-keygen creates two files, with names based on the printed
260 string. Knnnn.+aaa+iiiii.key contains the public key, and
261 Knnnn.+aaa+iiiii.private contains the private key.
262 The .key file contains a DNS KEY record that can be inserted into a
264 zone file (directly or with a $INCLUDE statement).
265 The .private file contains algorithm-specific fields. For obvious
267 security reasons, this file does not have general read permission.
268 Both .key and .private files are generated for symmetric cryptography
270 algorithms such as HMAC-MD5, even though the public and private key are
271 equivalent.
272
274 To generate a 768-bit DSA key for the domain example.com, the following
275 command would be issued:
276 dnssec-keygen -a DSA -b 768 -n ZONE example.com
278 The command would print a string of the form:
280 Kexample.com.+003+26160
282 In this example, dnssec-keygen creates the files
284 Kexample.com.+003+26160.key and Kexample.com.+003+26160.private.
285
287 dnssec-signzone(8), BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual, RFC 2539,
288 RFC 2845, RFC 4034.
289
291 Internet Systems Consortium, Inc.
292
294 Copyright © 2000-2005, 2007-2012, 2014-2018 Internet Systems
295 Consortium, Inc. ("ISC")
296ISC August 21, 2015 DNSSEC-KEYGEN(8)