Provided by: gnutls-bin_3.8.1-4ubuntu1.3_amd64 
NAME
gnutls-cli - GnuTLS client
SYNOPSIS
gnutls-cli [-flags] [-flag [value]] [--option-name[[=| ]value]] [hostname]
Operands and options may be intermixed. They will be reordered.
DESCRIPTION
Simple client program to set up a TLS connection to some other computer. It sets up a TLS
connection and forwards data from the standard input to the secured socket and vice versa.
OPTIONS
-d num, --debug=num
Enable debugging. This option takes an integer number as its argument. The value
of num is constrained to being:
in the range 0 through 9999
Specifies the debug level.
-V, --verbose
More verbose output.
--tofu, --no-tofu
Enable trust on first use authentication. The no-tofu form will disable the
option.
This option will, in addition to certificate authentication, perform authentication
based on previously seen public keys, a model similar to SSH authentication. Note
that when tofu is specified (PKI) and DANE authentication will become advisory to
assist the public key acceptance process.
--strict-tofu, --no-strict-tofu
Fail to connect if a certificate is unknown or a known certificate has changed.
The no-strict-tofu form will disable the option.
This option will perform authentication as with option --tofu; however, no
questions shall be asked whatsoever, neither to accept an unknown certificate nor a
changed one.
--dane, --no-dane
Enable DANE certificate verification (DNSSEC). The no-dane form will disable the
option.
This option will, in addition to certificate authentication using the trusted CAs,
verify the server certificates using on the DANE information available via DNSSEC.
--local-dns, --no-local-dns
Use the local DNS server for DNSSEC resolving. The no-local-dns form will disable
the option.
This option will use the local DNS server for DNSSEC. This is disabled by default
due to many servers not allowing DNSSEC.
--ca-verification, --no-ca-verification
Enable CA certificate verification. The no-ca-verification form will disable the
option. This option is enabled by default.
This option can be used to enable or disable CA certificate verification. It is to
be used with the --dane or --tofu options.
--ocsp, --no-ocsp
Enable OCSP certificate verification. The no-ocsp form will disable the option.
This option will enable verification of the peer's certificate using ocsp
-r, --resume
Establish a session and resume.
Connect, establish a session, reconnect and resume.
--earlydata=str
Send early data on resumption from the specified file.
-e, --rehandshake
Establish a session and rehandshake.
Connect, establish a session and rehandshake immediately.
--sni-hostname=str
Server's hostname for server name indication extension.
Set explicitly the server name used in the TLS server name indication extension.
That is useful when testing with servers setup on different DNS name than the
intended. If not specified, the provided hostname is used. Even with this option
server certificate verification still uses the hostname passed on the main
commandline. Use --verify-hostname to change this.
--verify-hostname=str
Server's hostname to use for validation.
Set explicitly the server name to be used when validating the server's certificate.
-s, --starttls
Connect, establish a plain session and start TLS.
The TLS session will be initiated when EOF or a SIGALRM is received.
--app-proto
This is an alias for the --starttls-proto option.
--starttls-proto=str
The application protocol to be used to obtain the server's certificate (https, ftp,
smtp, imap, ldap, xmpp, lmtp, pop3, nntp, sieve, postgres). This option must not
appear in combination with any of the following options: starttls.
Specify the application layer protocol for STARTTLS. If the protocol is supported,
gnutls-cli will proceed to the TLS negotiation.
-u, --udp
Use DTLS (datagram TLS) over UDP.
--mtu=num
Set MTU for datagram TLS. This option takes an integer number as its argument.
The value of num is constrained to being:
in the range 0 through 17000
--crlf Send CR LF instead of LF.
--fastopen
Enable TCP Fast Open.
--x509fmtder
Use DER format for certificates to read from.
--print-cert
Print peer's certificate in PEM format.
--save-cert=str
Save the peer's certificate chain in the specified file in PEM format.
--save-ocsp=str
Save the peer's OCSP status response in the provided file. This option must not
appear in combination with any of the following options: save-ocsp-multi.
--save-ocsp-multi=str
Save all OCSP responses provided by the peer in this file. This option must not
appear in combination with any of the following options: save-ocsp.
The file will contain a list of PEM encoded OCSP status responses if any were
provided by the peer, starting with the one for the peer's server certificate.
--save-server-trace=str
Save the server-side TLS message trace in the provided file.
--save-client-trace=str
Save the client-side TLS message trace in the provided file.
--dh-bits=num
The minimum number of bits allowed for DH. This option takes an integer number as
its argument.
This option sets the minimum number of bits allowed for a Diffie-Hellman key
exchange. You may want to lower the default value if the peer sends a weak prime
and you get an connection error with unacceptable prime.
--priority=str
Priorities string.
TLS algorithms and protocols to enable. You can use predefined sets of ciphersuites
such as PERFORMANCE, NORMAL, PFS, SECURE128, SECURE256. The default is NORMAL.
Check the GnuTLS manual on section “Priority strings” for more information on
the allowed keywords
--x509cafile=str
Certificate file or PKCS #11 URL to use.
--x509crlfile=file
CRL file to use.
--x509keyfile=str
X.509 key file or PKCS #11 URL to use.
--x509certfile=str
X.509 Certificate file or PKCS #11 URL to use. This option must appear in
combination with the following options: x509keyfile.
--rawpkkeyfile=str
Private key file (PKCS #8 or PKCS #12) or PKCS #11 URL to use.
In order to instruct the application to negotiate raw public keys one must enable
the respective certificate types via the priority strings (i.e. CTYPE-CLI-* and
CTYPE-SRV-* flags).
Check the GnuTLS manual on section “Priority strings” for more information on
how to set certificate types.
--rawpkfile=str
Raw public-key file to use. This option must appear in combination with the
following options: rawpkkeyfile.
In order to instruct the application to negotiate raw public keys one must enable
the respective certificate types via the priority strings (i.e. CTYPE-CLI-* and
CTYPE-SRV-* flags).
Check the GnuTLS manual on section “Priority strings” for more information on
how to set certificate types.
--srpusername=str
SRP username to use.
--srppasswd=str
SRP password to use.
--pskusername=str
PSK username to use.
--pskkey=str
PSK key (in hex) to use.
-p str, --port=str
The port or service to connect to.
--insecure
Don't abort program if server certificate can't be validated.
--verify-allow-broken
Allow broken algorithms, such as MD5 for certificate verification.
--ranges
Use length-hiding padding to prevent traffic analysis.
When possible (e.g., when using CBC ciphersuites), use length-hiding padding to
prevent traffic analysis.
NOTE: THIS OPTION IS DEPRECATED
--benchmark-ciphers
Benchmark individual ciphers.
By default the benchmarked ciphers will utilize any capabilities of the local CPU
to improve performance. To test against the raw software implementation set the
environment variable GNUTLS_CPUID_OVERRIDE to 0x1.
--benchmark-tls-kx
Benchmark TLS key exchange methods.
--benchmark-tls-ciphers
Benchmark TLS ciphers.
By default the benchmarked ciphers will utilize any capabilities of the local CPU
to improve performance. To test against the raw software implementation set the
environment variable GNUTLS_CPUID_OVERRIDE to 0x1.
-l, --list
Print a list of the supported algorithms and modes. This option must not appear in
combination with any of the following options: port.
Print a list of the supported algorithms and modes. If a priority string is given
then only the enabled ciphersuites are shown.
--priority-list
Print a list of the supported priority strings.
Print a list of the supported priority strings. The ciphersuites corresponding to
each priority string can be examined using -l -p.
--noticket
Don't allow session tickets.
Disable the request of receiving of session tickets under TLS1.2 or earlier
--srtp-profiles=str
Offer SRTP profiles.
--alpn=str
Application layer protocol. This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
This option will set and enable the Application Layer Protocol Negotiation (ALPN)
in the TLS protocol.
--compress-cert=str
Compress certificate. This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
This option sets a supported compression method for certificate compression.
-b, --heartbeat
Activate heartbeat support.
--recordsize=num
The maximum record size to advertise. This option takes an integer number as its
argument. The value of num is constrained to being:
in the range 0 through 4096
--disable-sni
Do not send a Server Name Indication (SNI).
--disable-extensions
Disable all the TLS extensions.
This option disables all TLS extensions. Deprecated option. Use the priority
string.
NOTE: THIS OPTION IS DEPRECATED
--single-key-share
Send a single key share under TLS1.3.
This option switches the default mode of sending multiple key shares, to send a
single one (the top one).
--post-handshake-auth
Enable post-handshake authentication under TLS1.3.
This option enables post-handshake authentication when under TLS1.3.
--inline-commands
Inline commands of the form ^<cmd>^.
Enable inline commands of the form ^<cmd>^. The inline commands are expected to be
in a line by themselves. The available commands are: resume, rekey1 (local rekey),
rekey (rekey on both peers) and renegotiate.
--inline-commands-prefix=str
Change the default delimiter for inline commands.
Change the default delimiter (^) used for inline commands. The delimiter is
expected to be a single US-ASCII character (octets 0 - 127). This option is only
relevant if inline commands are enabled via the inline-commands option
--provider=file
Specify the PKCS #11 provider library.
This will override the default options in /etc/gnutls/pkcs11.conf
--fips140-mode
Reports the status of the FIPS140-2 mode in gnutls library.
--list-config
Reports the configuration of the library.
--logfile=str
Redirect informational messages to a specific file.
Redirect informational messages to a specific file. The file may be /dev/null also
to make the gnutls client quiet to use it in piped server connections where only
the server communication may appear on stdout.
--keymatexport=str
Label used for exporting keying material.
--keymatexportsize=num
Size of the exported keying material. This option takes an integer number as its
argument.
--waitresumption
Block waiting for the resumption data under TLS1.3.
This option makes the client to block waiting for the resumption data under TLS1.3.
The option has effect only when --resume is provided.
--ca-auto-retrieve, --no-ca-auto-retrieve
Enable automatic retrieval of missing CA certificates. The no-ca-auto-retrieve
form will disable the option.
This option enables the client to automatically retrieve the missing intermediate
CA certificates in the certificate chain, based on the Authority Information Access
(AIA) extension.
--attime=timestamp
Perform validation at the timestamp instead of the system time.
timestamp is an instance in time encoded as Unix time or in a human
readable timestring such as "29 Feb 2004", "2004-02-29". Full documentation
available at
<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/Date-input-formats.html>
or locally via info '(coreutils) date invocation'.
-v arg, --version=arg
Output version of program and exit. The default mode is `v', a simple version.
The `c' mode will print copyright information and `n' will print the full copyright
notice.
-h, --help
Display usage information and exit.
-!, --more-help
Pass the extended usage information through a pager.
EXAMPLES
Connecting using PSK authentication
To connect to a server using PSK authentication, you need to enable the choice of PSK by
using a cipher priority parameter such as in the example below.
$ ./gnutls-cli -p 5556 localhost --pskusername psk_identity --pskkey 88f3824b3e5659f52d00e959bacab954b6540344 --priority NORMAL:-KX-ALL:+ECDHE-PSK:+DHE-PSK:+PSK
Resolving 'localhost'...
Connecting to '127.0.0.1:5556'...
- PSK authentication.
- Version: TLS1.1
- Key Exchange: PSK
- Cipher: AES-128-CBC
- MAC: SHA1
- Compression: NULL
- Handshake was completed
- Simple Client Mode:
By keeping the --pskusername parameter and removing the --pskkey parameter, it will query
only for the password during the handshake.
Connecting using raw public-key authentication
To connect to a server using raw public-key authentication, you need to enable the option
to negotiate raw public-keys via the priority strings such as in the example below.
$ ./gnutls-cli -p 5556 localhost --priority NORMAL:-CTYPE-CLI-ALL:+CTYPE-CLI-RAWPK --rawpkkeyfile cli.key.pem --rawpkfile cli.rawpk.pem
Processed 1 client raw public key pair...
Resolving 'localhost'...
Connecting to '127.0.0.1:5556'...
- Successfully sent 1 certificate(s) to server.
- Server has requested a certificate.
- Certificate type: X.509
- Got a certificate list of 1 certificates.
- Certificate[0] info:
- skipped
- Description: (TLS1.3-Raw Public Key-X.509)-(ECDHE-SECP256R1)-(RSA-PSS-RSAE-SHA256)-(AES-256-GCM)
- Options:
- Handshake was completed
- Simple Client Mode:
Connecting to STARTTLS services
You could also use the client to connect to services with starttls capability.
$ gnutls-cli --starttls-proto smtp --port 25 localhost
Listing ciphersuites in a priority string
To list the ciphersuites in a priority string:
$ ./gnutls-cli --priority SECURE192 -l
Cipher suites for SECURE192
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA384 0xc0, 0x24 TLS1.2
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 0xc0, 0x2e TLS1.2
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 0xc0, 0x30 TLS1.2
TLS_DHE_RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA256 0x00, 0x6b TLS1.2
TLS_DHE_DSS_AES_256_CBC_SHA256 0x00, 0x6a TLS1.2
TLS_RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA256 0x00, 0x3d TLS1.2
Certificate types: CTYPE-X.509
Protocols: VERS-TLS1.2, VERS-TLS1.1, VERS-TLS1.0, VERS-SSL3.0, VERS-DTLS1.0
Compression: COMP-NULL
Elliptic curves: CURVE-SECP384R1, CURVE-SECP521R1
PK-signatures: SIGN-RSA-SHA384, SIGN-ECDSA-SHA384, SIGN-RSA-SHA512, SIGN-ECDSA-SHA512
Connecting using a PKCS #11 token
To connect to a server using a certificate and a private key present in a PKCS #11 token
you need to substitute the PKCS 11 URLs in the x509certfile and x509keyfile parameters.
Those can be found using "p11tool --list-tokens" and then listing all the objects in the
needed token, and using the appropriate.
$ p11tool --list-tokens
Token 0:
URL: pkcs11:model=PKCS15;manufacturer=MyMan;serial=1234;token=Test
Label: Test
Manufacturer: EnterSafe
Model: PKCS15
Serial: 1234
$ p11tool --login --list-certs "pkcs11:model=PKCS15;manufacturer=MyMan;serial=1234;token=Test"
Object 0:
URL: pkcs11:model=PKCS15;manufacturer=MyMan;serial=1234;token=Test;object=client;type=cert
Type: X.509 Certificate
Label: client
ID: 2a:97:0d:58:d1:51:3c:23:07:ae:4e:0d:72:26:03:7d:99:06:02:6a
$ MYCERT="pkcs11:model=PKCS15;manufacturer=MyMan;serial=1234;token=Test;object=client;type=cert"
$ MYKEY="pkcs11:model=PKCS15;manufacturer=MyMan;serial=1234;token=Test;object=client;type=private"
$ export MYCERT MYKEY
$ gnutls-cli www.example.com --x509keyfile $MYKEY --x509certfile $MYCERT
Notice that the private key only differs from the certificate in the type.
EXIT STATUS
One of the following exit values will be returned:
0 (EXIT_SUCCESS)
Successful program execution.
1 (EXIT_FAILURE)
The operation failed or the command syntax was not valid.
SEE ALSO
gnutls-cli-debug(1), gnutls-serv(1)
AUTHORS
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2020-2023 Free Software Foundation, and others all rights reserved. This
program is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later
BUGS
Please send bug reports to: bugs@gnutls.org