1OPENSSL-X509(1ossl) OpenSSL OPENSSL-X509(1ossl)
2
6 openssl-x509 - Certificate display and signing command
7
9 openssl x509 [-help] [-in filename|uri] [-passin arg] [-new]
10 [-x509toreq] [-req] [-copy_extensions arg] [-inform DER|PEM] [-vfyopt
11 nm:v] [-key filename|uri] [-keyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE] [-signkey
12 filename|uri] [-out filename] [-outform DER|PEM] [-nocert] [-noout]
13 [-dateopt] [-text] [-certopt option] [-fingerprint] [-alias] [-serial]
14 [-startdate] [-enddate] [-dates] [-subject] [-issuer] [-nameopt option]
15 [-email] [-hash] [-subject_hash] [-subject_hash_old] [-issuer_hash]
16 [-issuer_hash_old] [-ext extensions] [-ocspid] [-ocsp_uri] [-purpose]
17 [-pubkey] [-modulus] [-checkend num] [-checkhost host] [-checkemail
18 host] [-checkip ipaddr] [-set_serial n] [-next_serial] [-days arg]
19 [-preserve_dates] [-subj arg] [-force_pubkey filename] [-clrext]
20 [-extfile filename] [-extensions section] [-sigopt nm:v] [-badsig]
21 [-digest] [-CA filename|uri] [-CAform DER|PEM|P12] [-CAkey
22 filename|uri] [-CAkeyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE] [-CAserial filename]
23 [-CAcreateserial] [-trustout] [-setalias arg] [-clrtrust] [-addtrust
24 arg] [-clrreject] [-addreject arg] [-rand files] [-writerand file]
25 [-engine id] [-provider name] [-provider-path path] [-propquery propq]
26
28 This command is a multi-purposes certificate handling command. It can
29 be used to print certificate information, convert certificates to
30 various forms, edit certificate trust settings, generate certificates
31 from scratch or from certificating requests and then self-signing them
32 or signing them like a "micro CA".
33 Since there are a large number of options they will split up into
35 various sections.
36
38 Input, Output, and General Purpose Options
39 -help
40 Print out a usage message.
41 -in filename|uri
43 This specifies the input to read a certificate from or the input
44 file for reading a certificate request if the -req flag is used.
45 In both cases this defaults to standard input.
46 This option cannot be combined with the -new flag.
48 -passin arg
50 The key and certificate file password source. For more information
51 about the format of arg see openssl-passphrase-options(1).
52 -new
54 Generate a certificate from scratch, not using an input certificate
55 or certificate request. So the -in option must not be used in this
56 case. Instead, the -subj option needs to be given. The public key
57 to include can be given with the -force_pubkey option and defaults
58 to the key given with the -key (or -signkey) option, which implies
59 self-signature.
60 -x509toreq
62 Output a PKCS#10 certificate request (rather than a certificate).
63 The -key (or -signkey) option must be used to provide the private
64 key for self-signing; the corresponding public key is placed in the
65 subjectPKInfo field.
66 X.509 extensions included in a certificate input are not copied by
68 default. X.509 extensions to be added can be specified using the
69 -extfile option.
70 -req
72 By default a certificate is expected on input. With this option a
73 PKCS#10 certificate request is expected instead, which must be
74 correctly self-signed.
75 X.509 extensions included in the request are not copied by default.
77 X.509 extensions to be added can be specified using the -extfile
78 option.
79 -copy_extensions arg
81 Determines how to handle X.509 extensions when converting from a
82 certificate to a request using the -x509toreq option or converting
83 from a request to a certificate using the -req option. If arg is
84 none or this option is not present then extensions are ignored. If
85 arg is copy or copyall then all extensions are copied, except that
86 subject identifier and authority key identifier extensions are not
87 taken over when producing a certificate request.
88 The -ext option can be used to further restrict which extensions to
90 copy.
91 -inform DER|PEM
93 The input file format; unspecified by default. See
94 openssl-format-options(1) for details.
95 -vfyopt nm:v
97 Pass options to the signature algorithm during verify operations.
98 Names and values of these options are algorithm-specific.
99 -key filename|uri
101 This option provides the private key for signing a new certificate
102 or certificate request. Unless -force_pubkey is given, the
103 corresponding public key is placed in the new certificate or
104 certificate request, resulting in a self-signature.
105 This option cannot be used in conjunction with the -CA option.
107 It sets the issuer name to the subject name (i.e., makes it self-
109 issued) and changes the public key to the supplied value (unless
110 overridden by -force_pubkey). Unless the -preserve_dates option is
111 supplied, it sets the validity start date to the current time and
112 the end date to a value determined by the -days option.
113 -signkey filename|uri
115 This option is an alias of -key.
116 -keyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE
118 The key input format; unspecified by default. See
119 openssl-format-options(1) for details.
120 -out filename
122 This specifies the output filename to write to or standard output
123 by default.
124 -outform DER|PEM
126 The output format; the default is PEM. See
127 openssl-format-options(1) for details.
128 -nocert
130 Do not output a certificate (except for printing as requested by
131 below options).
132 -noout
134 This option prevents output except for printing as requested by
135 below options.
136 Certificate Printing Options
138 Note: the -alias and -purpose options are also printing options but are
139 described in the "Trust Settings" section.
140 -dateopt
142 Specify the date output format. Values are: rfc_822 and iso_8601.
143 Defaults to rfc_822.
144 -text
146 Prints out the certificate in text form. Full details are printed
147 including the public key, signature algorithms, issuer and subject
148 names, serial number any extensions present and any trust settings.
149 -certopt option
151 Customise the print format used with -text. The option argument can
152 be a single option or multiple options separated by commas. The
153 -certopt switch may be also be used more than once to set multiple
154 options. See the "Text Printing Flags" section for more
155 information.
156 -fingerprint
158 Calculates and prints the digest of the DER encoded version of the
159 entire certificate (see digest options). This is commonly called a
160 "fingerprint". Because of the nature of message digests, the
161 fingerprint of a certificate is unique to that certificate and two
162 certificates with the same fingerprint can be considered to be the
163 same.
164 -alias
166 Prints the certificate "alias" (nickname), if any.
167 -serial
169 Prints the certificate serial number.
170 -startdate
172 Prints out the start date of the certificate, that is the notBefore
173 date.
174 -enddate
176 Prints out the expiry date of the certificate, that is the notAfter
177 date.
178 -dates
180 Prints out the start and expiry dates of a certificate.
181 -subject
183 Prints the subject name.
184 -issuer
186 Prints the issuer name.
187 -nameopt option
189 This specifies how the subject or issuer names are displayed. See
190 openssl-namedisplay-options(1) for details.
191 -email
193 Prints the email address(es) if any.
194 -hash
196 Synonym for "-subject_hash" for backward compatibility reasons.
197 -subject_hash
199 Prints the "hash" of the certificate subject name. This is used in
200 OpenSSL to form an index to allow certificates in a directory to be
201 looked up by subject name.
202 -subject_hash_old
204 Prints the "hash" of the certificate subject name using the older
205 algorithm as used by OpenSSL before version 1.0.0.
206 -issuer_hash
208 Prints the "hash" of the certificate issuer name.
209 -issuer_hash_old
211 Prints the "hash" of the certificate issuer name using the older
212 algorithm as used by OpenSSL before version 1.0.0.
213 -ext extensions
215 Prints out the certificate extensions in text form. Can also be
216 used to restrict which extensions to copy. Extensions are
217 specified with a comma separated string, e.g.,
218 "subjectAltName,subjectKeyIdentifier". See the x509v3_config(5)
219 manual page for the extension names.
220 -ocspid
222 Prints the OCSP hash values for the subject name and public key.
223 -ocsp_uri
225 Prints the OCSP responder address(es) if any.
226 -purpose
228 This option performs tests on the certificate extensions and
229 outputs the results. For a more complete description see
230 "Certificate Extensions" in openssl-verification-options(1).
231 -pubkey
233 Prints the certificate's SubjectPublicKeyInfo block in PEM format.
234 -modulus
236 This option prints out the value of the modulus of the public key
237 contained in the certificate.
238 Certificate Checking Options
240 -checkend arg
241 Checks if the certificate expires within the next arg seconds and
242 exits nonzero if yes it will expire or zero if not.
243 -checkhost host
245 Check that the certificate matches the specified host.
246 -checkemail email
248 Check that the certificate matches the specified email address.
249 -checkip ipaddr
251 Check that the certificate matches the specified IP address.
252 Certificate Output Options
254 -set_serial n
255 Specifies the serial number to use. This option can be used with
256 the -key, -signkey, or -CA options. If used in conjunction with
257 the -CA option the serial number file (as specified by the
258 -CAserial option) is not used.
259 The serial number can be decimal or hex (if preceded by "0x").
261 -next_serial
263 Set the serial to be one more than the number in the certificate.
264 -days arg
266 Specifies the number of days until a newly generated certificate
267 expires. The default is 30. Cannot be used together with the
268 -preserve_dates option.
269 -preserve_dates
271 When signing a certificate, preserve "notBefore" and "notAfter"
272 dates of any input certificate instead of adjusting them to current
273 time and duration. Cannot be used together with the -days option.
274 -subj arg
276 When a certificate is created set its subject name to the given
277 value. When the certificate is self-signed the issuer name is set
278 to the same value.
279 The arg must be formatted as
281 "/type0=value0/type1=value1/type2=...". Special characters may be
282 escaped by "\" (backslash), whitespace is retained. Empty values
283 are permitted, but the corresponding type will not be included in
284 the certificate. Giving a single "/" will lead to an empty
285 sequence of RDNs (a NULL-DN). Multi-valued RDNs can be formed by
286 placing a "+" character instead of a "/" between the
287 AttributeValueAssertions (AVAs) that specify the members of the
288 set. Example:
289 "/DC=org/DC=OpenSSL/DC=users/UID=123456+CN=John Doe"
291 This option can be used in conjunction with the -force_pubkey
293 option to create a certificate even without providing an input
294 certificate or certificate request.
295 -force_pubkey filename
297 When a certificate is created set its public key to the key in
298 filename instead of the key contained in the input or given with
299 the -key (or -signkey) option.
300 This option is useful for creating self-issued certificates that
302 are not self-signed, for instance when the key cannot be used for
303 signing, such as DH. It can also be used in conjunction with -new
304 and -subj to directly generate a certificate containing any desired
305 public key.
306 -clrext
308 When transforming a certificate to a new certificate by default all
309 certificate extensions are retained.
310 When transforming a certificate or certificate request, the -clrext
312 option prevents taking over any extensions from the source. In any
313 case, when producing a certificate request, neither subject
314 identifier nor authority key identifier extensions are included.
315 -extfile filename
317 Configuration file containing certificate and request X.509
318 extensions to add.
319 -extensions section
321 The section in the extfile to add X.509 extensions from. If this
322 option is not specified then the extensions should either be
323 contained in the unnamed (default) section or the default section
324 should contain a variable called "extensions" which contains the
325 section to use. See the x509v3_config(5) manual page for details
326 of the extension section format.
327 -sigopt nm:v
329 Pass options to the signature algorithm during sign operations.
330 This option may be given multiple times. Names and values provided
331 using this option are algorithm-specific.
332 -badsig
334 Corrupt the signature before writing it; this can be useful for
335 testing.
336 -digest
338 The digest to use. This affects any signing or printing option
339 that uses a message digest, such as the -fingerprint, -key, and -CA
340 options. Any digest supported by the openssl-dgst(1) command can
341 be used. If not specified then SHA1 is used with -fingerprint or
342 the default digest for the signing algorithm is used, typically
343 SHA256.
344 Micro-CA Options
346 -CA filename|uri
347 Specifies the "CA" certificate to be used for signing. When
348 present, this behaves like a "micro CA" as follows: The subject
349 name of the "CA" certificate is placed as issuer name in the new
350 certificate, which is then signed using the "CA" key given as
351 detailed below.
352 This option cannot be used in conjunction with -key (or -signkey).
354 This option is normally combined with the -req option referencing a
355 CSR. Without the -req option the input must be an existing
356 certificate unless the -new option is given, which generates a
357 certificate from scratch.
358 -CAform DER|PEM|P12,
360 The format for the CA certificate; unspecifed by default. See
361 openssl-format-options(1) for details.
362 -CAkey filename|uri
364 Sets the CA private key to sign a certificate with. The private
365 key must match the public key of the certificate given with -CA.
366 If this option is not provided then the key must be present in the
367 -CA input.
368 -CAkeyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE
370 The format for the CA key; unspecified by default. See
371 openssl-format-options(1) for details.
372 -CAserial filename
374 Sets the CA serial number file to use.
375 When creating a certificate with this option and with the -CA
377 option, the certificate serial number is stored in the given file.
378 This file consists of one line containing an even number of hex
379 digits with the serial number used last time. After reading this
380 number, it is incremented and used, and the file is updated.
381 The default filename consists of the CA certificate file base name
383 with .srl appended. For example if the CA certificate file is
384 called mycacert.pem it expects to find a serial number file called
385 mycacert.srl.
386 If the -CA option is specified and neither <-CAserial> or
388 <-CAcreateserial> is given and the default serial number file does
389 not exist, a random number is generated; this is the recommended
390 practice.
391 -CAcreateserial
393 With this option and the -CA option the CA serial number file is
394 created if it does not exist. A random number is generated, used
395 for the certificate, and saved into the serial number file
396 determined as described above.
397 Trust Settings
399 A trusted certificate is an ordinary certificate which has several
400 additional pieces of information attached to it such as the permitted
401 and prohibited uses of the certificate and possibly an "alias"
402 (nickname).
403 Normally when a certificate is being verified at least one certificate
405 must be "trusted". By default a trusted certificate must be stored
406 locally and must be a root CA: any certificate chain ending in this CA
407 is then usable for any purpose.
408 Trust settings currently are only used with a root CA. They allow a
410 finer control over the purposes the root CA can be used for. For
411 example, a CA may be trusted for SSL client but not SSL server use.
412 See openssl-verification-options(1) for more information on the meaning
414 of trust settings.
415 Future versions of OpenSSL will recognize trust settings on any
417 certificate: not just root CAs.
418 -trustout
420 Mark any certificate PEM output as <trusted> certificate rather
421 than ordinary. An ordinary or trusted certificate can be input but
422 by default an ordinary certificate is output and any trust settings
423 are discarded. With the -trustout option a trusted certificate is
424 output. A trusted certificate is automatically output if any trust
425 settings are modified.
426 -setalias arg
428 Sets the "alias" of the certificate. This will allow the
429 certificate to be referred to using a nickname for example "Steve's
430 Certificate".
431 -clrtrust
433 Clears all the permitted or trusted uses of the certificate.
434 -addtrust arg
436 Adds a trusted certificate use. Any object name can be used here
437 but currently only clientAuth, serverAuth, emailProtection, and
438 anyExtendedKeyUsage are defined. As of OpenSSL 1.1.0, the last of
439 these blocks all purposes when rejected or enables all purposes
440 when trusted. Other OpenSSL applications may define additional
441 uses.
442 -clrreject
444 Clears all the prohibited or rejected uses of the certificate.
445 -addreject arg
447 Adds a prohibited trust anchor purpose. It accepts the same values
448 as the -addtrust option.
449 Generic options
451 -rand files, -writerand file
452 See "Random State Options" in openssl(1) for details.
453 -engine id
455 See "Engine Options" in openssl(1). This option is deprecated.
456 -provider name
458 -provider-path path
459 -propquery propq
460 See "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7).
461 Text Printing Flags
463 As well as customising the name printing format, it is also possible to
464 customise the actual fields printed using the certopt option when the
465 text option is present. The default behaviour is to print all fields.
466 compatible
468 Use the old format. This is equivalent to specifying no printing
469 options at all.
470 no_header
472 Don't print header information: that is the lines saying
473 "Certificate" and "Data".
474 no_version
476 Don't print out the version number.
477 no_serial
479 Don't print out the serial number.
480 no_signame
482 Don't print out the signature algorithm used.
483 no_validity
485 Don't print the validity, that is the notBefore and notAfter
486 fields.
487 no_subject
489 Don't print out the subject name.
490 no_issuer
492 Don't print out the issuer name.
493 no_pubkey
495 Don't print out the public key.
496 no_sigdump
498 Don't give a hexadecimal dump of the certificate signature.
499 no_aux
501 Don't print out certificate trust information.
502 no_extensions
504 Don't print out any X509V3 extensions.
505 ext_default
507 Retain default extension behaviour: attempt to print out
508 unsupported certificate extensions.
509 ext_error
511 Print an error message for unsupported certificate extensions.
512 ext_parse
514 ASN1 parse unsupported extensions.
515 ext_dump
517 Hex dump unsupported extensions.
518 ca_default
520 The value used by openssl-ca(1), equivalent to no_issuer,
521 no_pubkey, no_header, and no_version.
522
524 Note: in these examples the '\' means the example should be all on one
525 line.
526 Print the contents of a certificate:
528 openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -text
530 Print the "Subject Alternative Name" extension of a certificate:
532 openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -ext subjectAltName
534 Print more extensions of a certificate:
536 openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -ext subjectAltName,nsCertType
538 Print the certificate serial number:
540 openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -serial
542 Print the certificate subject name:
544 openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -subject
546 Print the certificate subject name in RFC2253 form:
548 openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -subject -nameopt RFC2253
550 Print the certificate subject name in oneline form on a terminal
552 supporting UTF8:
553 openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -subject -nameopt oneline,-esc_msb
555 Print the certificate SHA1 fingerprint:
557 openssl x509 -sha1 -in cert.pem -noout -fingerprint
559 Convert a certificate from PEM to DER format:
561 openssl x509 -in cert.pem -inform PEM -out cert.der -outform DER
563 Convert a certificate to a certificate request:
565 openssl x509 -x509toreq -in cert.pem -out req.pem -key key.pem
567 Convert a certificate request into a self-signed certificate using
569 extensions for a CA:
570 openssl x509 -req -in careq.pem -extfile openssl.cnf -extensions v3_ca \
572 -key key.pem -out cacert.pem
573 Sign a certificate request using the CA certificate above and add user
575 certificate extensions:
576 openssl x509 -req -in req.pem -extfile openssl.cnf -extensions v3_usr \
578 -CA cacert.pem -CAkey key.pem -CAcreateserial
579 Set a certificate to be trusted for SSL client use and change set its
581 alias to "Steve's Class 1 CA"
582 openssl x509 -in cert.pem -addtrust clientAuth \
584 -setalias "Steve's Class 1 CA" -out trust.pem
585
587 The conversion to UTF8 format used with the name options assumes that
588 T61Strings use the ISO8859-1 character set. This is wrong but Netscape
589 and MSIE do this as do many certificates. So although this is incorrect
590 it is more likely to print the majority of certificates correctly.
591 The -email option searches the subject name and the subject alternative
593 name extension. Only unique email addresses will be printed out: it
594 will not print the same address more than once.
595
597 It is possible to produce invalid certificates or requests by
598 specifying the wrong private key, using unsuitable X.509 extensions, or
599 using inconsistent options in some cases: these should be checked.
600 There should be options to explicitly set such things as start and end
602 dates rather than an offset from the current time.
603
605 openssl(1), openssl-req(1), openssl-ca(1), openssl-genrsa(1),
606 openssl-gendsa(1), openssl-verify(1), x509v3_config(5)
607
609 The hash algorithm used in the -subject_hash and -issuer_hash options
610 before OpenSSL 1.0.0 was based on the deprecated MD5 algorithm and the
611 encoding of the distinguished name. In OpenSSL 1.0.0 and later it is
612 based on a canonical version of the DN using SHA1. This means that any
613 directories using the old form must have their links rebuilt using
614 openssl-rehash(1) or similar.
615 The -signkey option has been renamed to -key in OpenSSL 3.0, keeping
617 the old name as an alias.
618 The -engine option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.
620 The -C option was removed in OpenSSL 3.0.
622
624 Copyright 2000-2022 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
625 Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use
627 this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
628 in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
629 <https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
6303.0.9 2023-07-27 OPENSSL-X509(1ossl)