Ubuntu Manpage: pkcs11-provider - An OpenSSL provider that allows to directly interface with pkcs11

Provided by: pkcs11-provider_0.5-1_amd64

NAME

       pkcs11-provider  -  An  OpenSSL  provider  that  allows  to directly interface with pkcs11
       drivers.

DESCRIPTION

       Starting with version 3.0 the OpenSSL project introduced a new modular  system  to  extend
       OpenSSL that replaces the deprecated Engines modules.

       Providers(1) are loaded via configuration directives in the openssl configuration file (or
       directly loaded by applications).

       The pkcs11 provider allows applications linked to openssl to use  keys  and  cryptographic
       operations  from  a  hardware or software token via their PKCS#11(2) driver and the use of
       pkcs11 URIs(3).

       The pkcs11 provider can be configured to be automatically loaded via openssl.cnf

CONFIGURATION

       Configuration options recognized by the provider

   pkcs11-module-path
       A file path to the pkcs11 driver to be used

       Default: If compiled with p11-kit defaults to its proxy driver, otherwise none.

       NOTE: See also PKCS11_PROVIDER_MODULE in the environment variables section.

       Example:

       pkcs11-module-path = /usr/lib64/opensc-pkcs11.so

   pkcs11-module-init-args
       Non-standard initialization arguments some pkcs11 driver may need.   Generally  not  used,
       but some software tokens like NSS’s softokn require this.

       Default: None

       Example:

       pkcs11-module-init-args = configDir=/etc/pki/token

   pkcs11-module-token-pin
       The  user  PIN  to be used with the token.  If a PIN is not set in configuration it can be
       asked interactively (if the application uses prompters), or it can be  specified  together
       with  the  key  identifiers in the pkcs11 URI directly.  When a file is specified the file
       must be a text file containing just the PIN on the first line and a terminator.

       Default: None

       Example:

       pkcs11-module-token-pin = file:/etc/pki/pin.txt

              cat /etc/pki/pin.txt
              123456

   pkcs11-module-allow-export
       Whether the pkcs11 provider will allow to export public  keys  through  OpenSSL.   OpenSSL
       often  tries to export public keys from non-default providers to the default provider, and
       then use OpenSSL own functions to handle whatever operation is associated with the  public
       key.   This  option  can  be  useful  to force public key operations to be executed on the
       token, for example in case the pkcs11 is an accelerator that  has  better  performance  on
       signature checking or asymmetric encryption than OpenSSL’s code.

       Default: 0 (Allow Export)

       Example:

       pkcs11-module-allow-export = 1 (This disallows export of public keys)

   pkcs11-module-cache-keys
       Whether the pkcs11-provider should ask the token to cache token keys in the session.  This
       is used in some tokens as a performance optimizations.  For example software  tokens  that
       store  keys  encrypted  can  keep a copy of the key in the session to speed up access.  Or
       Networked HSMs that allow exporting key material can cache the key in the session  instead
       of re-requesting it over the network.

       Two options are available: * true * false

       Default:  true  (Note: if the token does not support session caching, then caching will be
       auto-disabled after the first attempt)

       Example:

       pkcs11-module-cache-keys = false (Disable any attempt of caching keys in the session)

   pkcs11-module-cache-pins
       Whether the pkcs11-provider should cache a pin entered interactively.  This is  useful  to
       allow  starting a service and providing the pin only manually, yet let the service perform
       multiple logins as needed, for example after forking.

       Only one option is currently available: * cache: Caches the PIN

       Default: unset (No caching)

       Example:

       pkcs11-module-cache-pins = cache (Will cache a pin that has been entered manually)

   pkcs11-module-cache-sessions
       Allows to tune how many pkcs11 sessions may be kept open and cached for rapid  use.   This
       parameter  is  adjusted  based  on  the  maximum  number of sessions the token declares as
       supported.  Note that the login session is always cached to keep the token operable.

       Default: 5

       Example:

       pkcs11-module-cache-sessions = 0 (Disables caching)

   pkcs11-module-login-behavior
       Whether the pkcs11 provider will attempt to login to the token when a public key is  being
       requested.

       Three options are available: * auto: Try without but fallback to login behavior if no keys
       are found * always: Always login before trying to load public keys (this  is  required  by
       some HSMs) * never: Never login for public keys

       Default: “auto”

       Example:

       pkcs11-module-login-behavior = always (Always tries to login before loading public keys)

   pkcs11-module-load-behavior
       Whether  the pkcs11-provider immediately loads an initializes the pkcs11 module as soon as
       OpenSSL loads the provider (generally at application  startup),  or  defer  initialization
       until  the first time a pkcs11 key is loaded (or some other operation explicitly requiring
       the pkcs11 provider is requested).

       Only one option is available: * early: Loads the pkcs11 module immediately

       Default: unset (Loads only at first use)

       Example:

       pkcs11-module-load-behavior =  early  (Loads  pkcs11  module  immediately  at  application
       startup)

   pkcs11-module-quirks
       Workarounds  that may be needed to deal with some tokens and cannot be autodetcted yet are
       not appropriate defaults.

   no-deinit
       It prevents de-initing when OpenSSL winds down the provider.  NOTE this  option  may  leak
       memory  and  may  cause some modules to misbehave if the application intentionally unloads
       and reloads them.

   no-operation-state
       OpenSSL by default assumes contexts with operations in flight can  be  easily  duplicated.
       That  is  only possible if the tokens support getting and setting the operation state.  If
       the quirk is enabled the context duplication is not performed.

       Default: none

       Example:

       pkcs11-module-quirks = no-deinit no-operation-state (Disables deinitialization)

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       Environment variables recognized by the provider

   PKCS11_PROVIDER_MODULE
       This variable can be used to set a different pkcs11 driver to be used.  It is useful  when
       an  application  needs  to  use  a  different  driver  than  the rest of the system.  This
       environment variable overrides the pkcs11-module-path option sets in openssl.cnf

       Example:

       PKCS11_PROVIDER_MODULE = /usr/lib64/opensc-pkcs11.so

   PKCS11_PROVIDER_DEBUG
       This variable can be set to obtain debug information.  Two sub-options can  be  specified:
       file, level

       The  normal  debug_level  is  1, if a higher level is provider then additional information
       (like all supported mechanism info for each slot) is printed in the specified debug  file.
       The  comma  character  separates  options,  and the colon character is used to separate an
       option and its value.  There is no escape character, therefore the characters `,' and  `:'
       cannot be used in values.

       Examples:

       PKCS11_PROVIDER_DEBUG=file:/tmp/debug.log

       PKCS11_PROVIDER_DEBUG=file:/dev/stderr,level:2

EXAMPLES

       openssl.cnf:

              HOME = .

              # Use this in order to automatically load providers.
              openssl_conf = openssl_init

              [openssl_init]
              providers = provider_sect

              [provider_sect]
              default = default_sect
              pkcs11 = pkcs11_sect

              [default_sect]
              activate = 1

              [pkcs11_sect]
              module = /usr/lib64/ossl-modules/pkcs11.so
              pkcs11-module-path = /usr/lib64/pkcs11/vendor_pkcs11.so
              pkcs11-module-token-pin = /etc/ssl/pinfile.txt
              activate = 1

NAME

DESCRIPTION

CONFIGURATION

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

EXAMPLES

SEE ALSO