Provided by: openssl_3.0.10-1ubuntu2.3_amd64 bug

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] [-CA filename|uri] [-CAkey filename|uri] [-days n] [-set_serial n]
       [-newhdr] [-copy_extensions arg] [-addext ext] [-extensions section] [-reqexts section]
       [-precert] [-utf8] [-reqopt] [-subject] [-subj arg] [-multivalue-rdn] [-sigopt nm:v]
       [-vfyopt nm:v] [-batch] [-verbose] [-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, -outform DER|PEM
           The input and output formats; 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.

       -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 given.

           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 the 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 or using the
           -addext option.

       -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.

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

       -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.

           This option can be given multiple times.

       -extensions section
       -reqexts section
           These options specify alternative sections to include certificate extensions (if -x509
           is in use) 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.

       -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.

       -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 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 -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.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2000-2021 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>.