NAME

       CA.pl - friendlier interface for OpenSSL certificate programs

SYNOPSIS

       CA.pl -? | -h | -help

       CA.pl -newcert | -newreq | -newreq-nodes | -xsign | -sign | -signCA | -signcert | -crl |
       -newca [-extra-cmd extra-params]

       CA.pl -pkcs12 [-extra-pkcs12 extra-params] [certname]

       CA.pl -verify [-extra-verify extra-params] certfile...

       CA.pl -revoke [-extra-ca extra-params] certfile [reason]

DESCRIPTION

       The CA.pl script is a perl script that supplies the relevant command line arguments to the
       openssl command for some common certificate operations.  It is intended to simplify the
       process of certificate creation and management by the use of some simple options.

OPTIONS

       ?, -h, -help
           Prints a usage message.

       -newcert
           Creates a new self signed certificate. The private key is written to the file
           "newkey.pem" and the request written to the file "newreq.pem".  This argument invokes
           openssl req command.

       -newreq
           Creates a new certificate request. The private key is written to the file "newkey.pem"
           and the request written to the file "newreq.pem".  Executes openssl req command below
           the hood.

       -newreq-nodes
           Is like -newreq except that the private key will not be encrypted.  Uses openssl req
           command.

       -newca
           Creates a new CA hierarchy for use with the ca program (or the -signcert and -xsign
           options). The user is prompted to enter the filename of the CA certificates (which
           should also contain the private key) or by hitting ENTER details of the CA will be
           prompted for. The relevant files and directories are created in a directory called
           "demoCA" in the current directory.  openssl req and openssl ca commands are get
           invoked.

       -pkcs12
           Create a PKCS#12 file containing the user certificate, private key and CA certificate.
           It expects the user certificate and private key to be in the file "newcert.pem" and
           the CA certificate to be in the file demoCA/cacert.pem, it creates a file
           "newcert.p12". This command can thus be called after the -sign option. The PKCS#12
           file can be imported directly into a browser.  If there is an additional argument on
           the command line it will be used as the "friendly name" for the certificate (which is
           typically displayed in the browser list box), otherwise the name "My Certificate" is
           used.  Delegates work to openssl pkcs12 command.

       -sign, -signcert, -xsign
           Calls the ca program to sign a certificate request. It expects the request to be in
           the file "newreq.pem". The new certificate is written to the file "newcert.pem" except
           in the case of the -xsign option when it is written to standard output. Leverages
           openssl ca command.

       -signCA
           This option is the same as the -signreq option except it uses the configuration file
           section v3_ca and so makes the signed request a valid CA certificate. This is useful
           when creating intermediate CA from a root CA.  Extra params are passed on to openssl
           ca command.

       -signcert
           This option is the same as -sign except it expects a self signed certificate to be
           present in the file "newreq.pem".  Extra params are passed on to openssl x509 and
           openssl ca commands.

       -crl
           Generate a CRL. Executes openssl ca command.

       -revoke certfile [reason]
           Revoke the certificate contained in the specified certfile. An optional reason may be
           specified, and must be one of: unspecified, keyCompromise, CACompromise,
           affiliationChanged, superseded, cessationOfOperation, certificateHold, or
           removeFromCRL.  Leverages openssl ca command.

       -verify
           Verifies certificates against the CA certificate for "demoCA". If no certificates are
           specified on the command line it tries to verify the file "newcert.pem".  Invokes
           openssl verify command.

       -extra-req | -extra-ca | -extra-pkcs12 | -extra-x509 | -extra-verify <extra-params>
           The purpose of these parameters is to allow optional parameters to be supplied to
           openssl that this command executes. The -extra-cmd are specific to the option being
           used and the openssl command getting invoked. For example when this command invokes
           openssl req extra parameters can be passed on with the -extra-req parameter. The
           openssl commands being invoked per option are documented below.  Users should consult
           openssl command documentation for more information.

EXAMPLES

       Create a CA hierarchy:

        CA.pl -newca

       Complete certificate creation example: create a CA, create a request, sign the request and
       finally create a PKCS#12 file containing it.

        CA.pl -newca
        CA.pl -newreq
        CA.pl -signreq
        CA.pl -pkcs12 "My Test Certificate"

DSA CERTIFICATES

       Although the CA.pl creates RSA CAs and requests it is still possible to use it with DSA
       certificates and requests using the req(1) command directly. The following example shows
       the steps that would typically be taken.

       Create some DSA parameters:

        openssl dsaparam -out dsap.pem 1024

       Create a DSA CA certificate and private key:

        openssl req -x509 -newkey dsa:dsap.pem -keyout cacert.pem -out cacert.pem

       Create the CA directories and files:

        CA.pl -newca

       enter cacert.pem when prompted for the CA file name.

       Create a DSA certificate request and private key (a different set of parameters can
       optionally be created first):

        openssl req -out newreq.pem -newkey dsa:dsap.pem

       Sign the request:

        CA.pl -signreq

NOTES

       Most of the filenames mentioned can be modified by editing the CA.pl script.

       If the demoCA directory already exists then the -newca command will not overwrite it and
       will do nothing. This can happen if a previous call using the -newca option terminated
       abnormally. To get the correct behaviour delete the demoCA directory if it already exists.

       Under some environments it may not be possible to run the CA.pl script directly (for
       example Win32) and the default configuration file location may be wrong. In this case the
       command:

        perl -S CA.pl

       can be used and the OPENSSL_CONF environment variable changed to point to the correct path
       of the configuration file.

       The script is intended as a simple front end for the openssl program for use by a
       beginner. Its behaviour isn't always what is wanted. For more control over the behaviour
       of the certificate commands call the openssl command directly.

SEE ALSO

       x509(1), ca(1), req(1), pkcs12(1), config(5)

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2000-2017 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.

       Licensed under the OpenSSL license (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>.