Provided by: tpm2-tools_5.4-1_amd64 
NAME
tpm2_loadexternal(1) - Load an external object into the TPM.
SYNOPSIS
tpm2_loadexternal [OPTIONS]
DESCRIPTION
tpm2_loadexternal(1) - This command loads an external object into the TPM, forgoing TPM
protections. Ie, the key material is not protected by the parent object’s seed. It can
also be used to load TSS2 Private Keys in pem format. The command allows loading of just
the public portion of an object or both the public and private portions of an object. For
TSS2 Private Keys, only the public portion of the key is loaded.
The tool outputs the name of the loaded object in a YAML dictionary format with the key
name where the value for that key is the name of the object in hex format, for example:
name: 000bac25cb8743111c8e1f52f2ee7279d05d3902a18dd1af694db5d1afa7adf1c8b3
It also saves a context file for future interactions with the object.
OPTIONS
• -C, --hierarchy=OBJECT:
Hierarchy to use for the ticket, optional. Defaults to n, null. Supported options are:
• o for the owner hierarchy.
• p for the platform hierarchy.
• e for the endorsement hierarchy.
• n for the null hierarchy.
• -G, --key-algorithm=ALGORITHM:
The algorithm used by the key to be imported. Supports:
• aes - AES 128,192 or 256 key.
• rsa - RSA 1024 or 2048 key.
• ecc - ECC NIST P192, P224, P256, P384 or P521 public and private key.
• -u, --public=FILE:
The public portion of the object, this can be one of the following file formats:
• TSS - The TSS/TPM format. For example from option -u of command tpm2_create(1).
• RSA - OSSL PEM formats. For example public.pem from the command openssl rsa -in
private.pem -out public.pem -pubout
• ECC - OSSL PEM formats. For example public.pem from the command openssl ec -in
private.ecc.pem -out public.ecc.pem -pubout
• -r, --private=FILE:
The sensitive portion of the object, optional. If one wishes to use the private portion
of a key, this must be specified. Like option -u, this command takes files in the
following format:
• RSA - OSSL PEM formats. For example private.pem from the command openssl genrsa -out
private.pem 2048 Since an RSA public key can be derived from the private PEM file,
their is no need to specify -u for the public portion.
• TSS2 PrivateKey PEM formats.
Note: The private portion does not respect TSS formats as it’s impossible to get a
TPM2B_SENSITIVE output from a previous command. They are always protected by the TPM as
TPM2B_PRIVATE blobs.
• -p, --auth=AUTH:
The authorization value for the key, optional.
• -L, --policy=FILE or HEX_STRING:
The input policy file or hex string, optional. A file or hex string containing the hash
of a policy derived from tpm2_createpolicy or another policy digest generating source.
• -g, --hash-algorithm=ALGORITHM:
The hash algorithm for generating the objects name. This is optional and defaults to
sha256 when not specified. However, load external supports having a null name
algorithm. In this case, no cryptographic binding checks between the public and private
portions are performed.
• -a, --attributes=ATTRIBUTES:
The object attributes, optional. The default for created objects is:
TPMA_OBJECT_SIGN_ENCRYPT|TPMA_OBJECT_DECRYPT. Optionally, if -p is specified or no -p
or -L is specified then TPMA_OBJECT_USERWITHAUTH is added to the default attribute set.
Note: If specifying attributes, the TPM will reject certain attributes like
TPMA_OBJECT_FIXEDTPM, as those guarantees cannot be made.
• -c, --key-context=FILE
The file name to save the object context, required.
• -n, --name=FILE:
An optional file to save the object name, which is in a binary hash format. The size of
the hash is based on name algorithm or the -g option.
• --passin=OSSL_PEM_FILE_PASSWORD
An optional password for an Open SSL (OSSL) provided input file. It mirrors the -passin
option of OSSL and is known to support the pass, file, env, fd and plain password
formats of openssl. (see man(1) openssl) for more.
References
Context Object Format
The type of a context object, whether it is a handle or file name, is determined according
to the following logic in-order:
• If the argument is a file path, then the file is loaded as a restored TPM transient
object.
• If the argument is a prefix match on one of:
• owner: the owner hierarchy
• platform: the platform hierarchy
• endorsement: the endorsement hierarchy
• lockout: the lockout control persistent object
• If the argument argument can be loaded as a number it will be treat as a handle,
e.g. 0x81010013 and used directly._OBJECT_.
Authorization Formatting
Authorization for use of an object in TPM2.0 can come in 3 different forms: 1. Password
2. HMAC 3. Sessions
NOTE: “Authorizations default to the EMPTY PASSWORD when not specified”.
Passwords
Passwords are interpreted in the following forms below using prefix identifiers.
Note: By default passwords are assumed to be in the string form when they do not have a
prefix.
String
A string password, specified by prefix “str:” or it’s absence (raw string without prefix)
is not interpreted, and is directly used for authorization.
Examples
foobar
str:foobar
Hex-string
A hex-string password, specified by prefix “hex:” is converted from a hexidecimal form
into a byte array form, thus allowing passwords with non-printable and/or terminal un-
friendly characters.
Example
hex:1122334455667788
File
A file based password, specified be prefix “file:” should be the path of a file containing
the password to be read by the tool or a “-” to use stdin. Storing passwords in files
prevents information leakage, passwords passed as options can be read from the process
list or common shell history features.
Examples
# to use stdin and be prompted
file:-
# to use a file from a path
file:path/to/password/file
# to echo a password via stdin:
echo foobar | tpm2_tool -p file:-
# to use a bash here-string via stdin:
tpm2_tool -p file:- <<< foobar
Sessions
When using a policy session to authorize the use of an object, prefix the option argument
with the session keyword. Then indicate a path to a session file that was created with
tpm2_startauthsession(1). Optionally, if the session requires an auth value to be sent
with the session handle (eg policy password), then append a + and a string as described in
the Passwords section.
Examples
To use a session context file called session.ctx.
session:session.ctx
To use a session context file called session.ctx AND send the authvalue mypassword.
session:session.ctx+mypassword
To use a session context file called session.ctx AND send the HEX authvalue 0x11223344.
session:session.ctx+hex:11223344
PCR Authorizations
You can satisfy a PCR policy using the “pcr:” prefix and the PCR minilanguage. The PCR
minilanguage is as follows: <pcr-spec>=<raw-pcr-file>
The PCR spec is documented in in the section “PCR bank specifiers”.
The raw-pcr-file is an optional argument that contains the output of the raw PCR contents
as returned by tpm2_pcrread(1).
PCR bank specifiers
Examples
To satisfy a PCR policy of sha256 on banks 0, 1, 2 and 3 use a specifier of:
pcr:sha256:0,1,2,3
specifying AUTH.
Algorithm Specifiers
Options that take algorithms support “nice-names”.
There are two major algorithm specification string classes, simple and complex. Only
certain algorithms will be accepted by the TPM, based on usage and conditions.
Simple specifiers
These are strings with no additional specification data. When creating objects, non-
specified portions of an object are assumed to defaults. You can find the list of known
“Simple Specifiers” below.
Asymmetric
• rsa
• ecc
Symmetric
• aes
• camellia
• sm4
Hashing Algorithms
• sha1
• sha256
• sha384
• sha512
• sm3_256
• sha3_256
• sha3_384
• sha3_512
Keyed Hash
• hmac
• xor
Signing Schemes
• rsassa
• rsapss
• ecdsa
• ecdaa
• ecschnorr
• sm2
Asymmetric Encryption Schemes
• oaep
• rsaes
• ecdh
Modes
• ctr
• ofb
• cbc
• cfb
• ecb
Misc
• null
Complex Specifiers
Objects, when specified for creation by the TPM, have numerous algorithms to populate in
the public data. Things like type, scheme and asymmetric details, key size, etc. Below
is the general format for specifying this data: <type>:<scheme>:<symmetric-details>
Type Specifiers
This portion of the complex algorithm specifier is required. The remaining scheme and
symmetric details will default based on the type specified and the type of the object
being created.
• aes - Default AES: aes128
• aes128<mode> - 128 bit AES with optional mode (ctr|ofb|cbc|cfb|ecb). If mode is not
specified, defaults to null.
• aes192<mode> - Same as aes128<mode>, except for a 192 bit key size.
• aes256<mode> - Same as aes128<mode>, except for a 256 bit key size.
• sm4 - Default SM4: sm4128
• sm4128 or sm4_128 <mode> - 128 bit SM4 with optional mode (ctr|ofb|cbc|cfb|ecb). If
mode is not specified, defaults to null.
• ecc - Elliptical Curve, defaults to ecc256.
• ecc192 or ecc_nist_p192 - 192 bit ECC NIST curve
• ecc224 or ecc_nist_p224 - 224 bit ECC NIST curve
• ecc256 or ecc_nist_p256 - 256 bit ECC NIST curve
• ecc384 or ecc_nist_p384 - 384 bit ECC NIST curve
• ecc521 or ecc_nist_p521 - 521 bit ECC NIST curve
• ecc_sm2 or ecc_sm2_p256 - 256 bit SM2 curve
• rsa - Default RSA: rsa2048
• rsa1024 - RSA with 1024 bit keysize.
• rsa2048 - RSA with 2048 bit keysize.
• rsa3072 - RSA with 3072 bit keysize.
• rsa4096 - RSA with 4096 bit keysize.
Scheme Specifiers
Next, is an optional field, it can be skipped.
Schemes are usually Signing Schemes or Asymmetric Encryption Schemes. Most signing
schemes take a hash algorithm directly following the signing scheme. If the hash
algorithm is missing, it defaults to sha256. Some take no arguments, and some take
multiple arguments.
Hash Optional Scheme Specifiers
These scheme specifiers are followed by a dash and a valid hash algorithm, For example:
oaep-sha256.
• oaep
• ecdh
• rsassa
• rsapss
• ecdsa
• ecschnorr
• sm2
Multiple Option Scheme Specifiers
This scheme specifier is followed by a count (max size UINT16) then followed by a dash(-)
and a valid hash algorithm. * ecdaa For example, ecdaa4-sha256. If no count is
specified, it defaults to 4.
No Option Scheme Specifiers
This scheme specifier takes NO arguments. * rsaes
Symmetric Details Specifiers
This field is optional, and defaults based on the type of object being created and it’s
attributes. Generally, any valid Symmetric specifier from the Type Specifiers list should
work. If not specified, an asymmetric objects symmetric details defaults to aes128cfb.
Examples
Create an rsa2048 key with an rsaes asymmetric encryption scheme
tpm2_create -C parent.ctx -G rsa2048:rsaes -u key.pub -r key.priv
Create an ecc256 key with an ecdaa signing scheme with a count of 4 and sha384 hash
/tpm2_create -C parent.ctx -G ecc256:ecdaa4-sha384 -u key.pub -r key.priv cryptographic
algorithms ALGORITHM.
Object Attributes
Object Attributes are used to control various properties of created objects. When
specified as an option, either the raw bitfield mask or “nice-names” may be used. The
values can be found in Table 31 Part 2 of the TPM2.0 specification, which can be found
here:
<https://trustedcomputinggroup.org/wp-content/uploads/TPM-
Rev-2.0-Part-2-Structures-01.38.pdf>
Nice names are calculated by taking the name field of table 31 and removing the prefix
TPMA_OBJECT_ and lowercasing the result. Thus, TPMA_OBJECT_FIXEDTPM becomes fixedtpm.
Nice names can be joined using the bitwise or “|” symbol.
For instance, to set The fields TPMA_OBJECT_FIXEDTPM, TPMA_OBJECT_NODA, and
TPMA_OBJECT_SIGN_ENCRYPT, the argument would be:
fixedtpm|noda|sign specifying the object attributes ATTRIBUTES.
COMMON OPTIONS
This collection of options are common to many programs and provide information that many
users may expect.
• -h, --help=[man|no-man]: Display the tools manpage. By default, it attempts to invoke
the manpager for the tool, however, on failure will output a short tool summary. This
is the same behavior if the “man” option argument is specified, however if explicit
“man” is requested, the tool will provide errors from man on stderr. If the “no-man”
option if specified, or the manpager fails, the short options will be output to stdout.
To successfully use the manpages feature requires the manpages to be installed or on
MANPATH, See man(1) for more details.
• -v, --version: Display version information for this tool, supported tctis and exit.
• -V, --verbose: Increase the information that the tool prints to the console during its
execution. When using this option the file and line number are printed.
• -Q, --quiet: Silence normal tool output to stdout.
• -Z, --enable-errata: Enable the application of errata fixups. Useful if an errata fixup
needs to be applied to commands sent to the TPM. Defining the environment
TPM2TOOLS_ENABLE_ERRATA is equivalent. information many users may expect.
TCTI Configuration
The TCTI or “Transmission Interface” is the communication mechanism with the TPM. TCTIs
can be changed for communication with TPMs across different mediums.
To control the TCTI, the tools respect:
1. The command line option -T or --tcti
2. The environment variable: TPM2TOOLS_TCTI.
Note: The command line option always overrides the environment variable.
The current known TCTIs are:
• tabrmd - The resource manager, called tabrmd
(https://github.com/tpm2-software/tpm2-abrmd). Note that tabrmd and abrmd as a tcti
name are synonymous.
• mssim - Typically used for communicating to the TPM software simulator.
• device - Used when talking directly to a TPM device file.
• none - Do not initalize a connection with the TPM. Some tools allow for off-tpm options
and thus support not using a TCTI. Tools that do not support it will error when
attempted to be used without a TCTI connection. Does not support ANY options and MUST
BE presented as the exact text of “none”.
The arguments to either the command line option or the environment variable are in the
form:
<tcti-name>:<tcti-option-config>
Specifying an empty string for either the <tcti-name> or <tcti-option-config> results in
the default being used for that portion respectively.
TCTI Defaults
When a TCTI is not specified, the default TCTI is searched for using dlopen(3) semantics.
The tools will search for tabrmd, device and mssim TCTIs IN THAT ORDER and USE THE FIRST
ONE FOUND. You can query what TCTI will be chosen as the default by using the -v option
to print the version information. The “default-tcti” key-value pair will indicate which
of the aforementioned TCTIs is the default.
Custom TCTIs
Any TCTI that implements the dynamic TCTI interface can be loaded. The tools internally
use dlopen(3), and the raw tcti-name value is used for the lookup. Thus, this could be a
path to the shared library, or a library name as understood by dlopen(3) semantics.
TCTI OPTIONS
This collection of options are used to configure the various known TCTI modules available:
• device: For the device TCTI, the TPM character device file for use by the device TCTI
can be specified. The default is /dev/tpm0.
Example: -T device:/dev/tpm0 or export TPM2TOOLS_TCTI=“device:/dev/tpm0”
• mssim: For the mssim TCTI, the domain name or IP address and port number used by the
simulator can be specified. The default are 127.0.0.1 and 2321.
Example: -T mssim:host=localhost,port=2321 or export
TPM2TOOLS_TCTI=“mssim:host=localhost,port=2321”
• abrmd: For the abrmd TCTI, the configuration string format is a series of simple key
value pairs separated by a `,' character. Each key and value string are separated by a
`=' character.
• TCTI abrmd supports two keys:
1. `bus_name' : The name of the tabrmd service on the bus (a string).
2. `bus_type' : The type of the dbus instance (a string) limited to `session' and
`system'.
Specify the tabrmd tcti name and a config string of bus_name=com.example.FooBar:
\--tcti=tabrmd:bus_name=com.example.FooBar
Specify the default (abrmd) tcti and a config string of bus_type=session:
\--tcti:bus_type=session
NOTE: abrmd and tabrmd are synonymous. the various known TCTI modules.
NOTES
• If the hierarchy is null or the name hashing algorithm is null, tickets produced using
the object will be NULL.
• If the private portion of an object is specified, the hierarchy must be null or the TPM
will reject loading it.
EXAMPLES
Load a TPM generated public key into the owner hierarchy
tpm2_createprimary -c primary.ctx
tpm2_create -C primary.ctx -u pub.dat -r priv.dat
tpm2_loadexternal -C o -u pub.dat -c pub.ctx
name: 000b9be4d7c6193a57e1bfc86a42a6b03856a91d2f9e77c6cbdb796a783d52d4b3b9
Load an RSA public key into the owner hierarchy
openssl genrsa -out private.pem 2048
openssl rsa -in private.pem -out public.pem -outform PEM -pubout
tpm2_loadexternal -C o -Grsa -u public.pem -c key.ctx
name: 000b7b91d304d16995d42792b57d0fb25df7abe5fdd8afe9950730e00dc5b934ddbc
Load an RSA key-pair into the null hierarchy
openssl genrsa -out private.pem 2048
tpm2_loadexternal -C n -Grsa -r private.pem -c key.ctx
name: 000b635ea220b6c62ec1d02343859dd203c8ac5dad82ebc5b124e407d2502f88691f
Load an AES key into the null hierarchy
dd if=/dev/urandom of=sym.key bs=1 count=16
tpm2_loadexternal -C n -Gaes -r sym.key -c key.ctx
name: 000bfc4d8dd7e4f921bcc9dca4b04f49564243cd9def129a3740002bfd4b9e966d34
Load TSS2 Private Key into the null hierarchy
tpm2_loadexternal -r tss_privkey.pem -c tss_privkey.ctx
name: 000bc5a216702aca9ba226af1214c50dc4dc33ce6269677aa581ea6d9eec7f27000d
Returns
Tools can return any of the following codes:
• 0 - Success.
• 1 - General non-specific error.
• 2 - Options handling error.
• 3 - Authentication error.
• 4 - TCTI related error.
• 5 - Non supported scheme. Applicable to tpm2_testparams.
BUGS
Github Issues (https://github.com/tpm2-software/tpm2-tools/issues)
HELP
See the Mailing List (https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/tpm2)