NAME

       OpenDNSSEC - making DNSSEC easy for DNS administrators

SYNOPSIS

       ods-control start

       ods-control stop

       ods-ksmutil subcommand...

       ods-signer [subcommand...]

DESCRIPTION

       OpenDNSSEC is a complete DNSSEC zone signing system which maintains stability and security
       of signed domains. DNSSEC adds many cryptographic concerns to  DNS;  OpenDNSSEC  automates
       those to allow current DNS administrators to adopt DNSSEC.

       Domain  signing  is  done by placing OpenDNSSEC between the place where the zone files are
       edited and where they are published.  The current version of OpenDNSSEC supports files and
       AXFR  to  communicate  the zone data; effectively, OpenDNSSEC acts as a "bump in the wire"
       between editing and publishing a zone.

       OpenDNSSEC  has  two  daemons,  which  are  unitedly  started  and  stopped  through   the
       ods-control(8)  command.   The two daemons in turn invoke other programs to get their work
       done.

       One of the daemons is the KASP Enforcer, which enforces policies that define security  and
       timing  requirements  for  each individual zone.  Operators tend to interact with the KASP
       Enforcer a lot, through the ods-ksmutil(1) command.

       The other daemon is the Signer Engine, which in turn signs the zone content.  It retrieves
       that  content from a file or through AXFR, and publishes a signed version of the zone into
       a file or through AXFR.  Direct interaction with the Signer Engine, although not  normally
       necessary, is possible through the ods-signer(8) command.

       The  keys  that sign the zones are managed by an independent repository, which is accessed
       over a PKCS #11 interface.  The principle idea of this interface being to  unleash  access
       to  cryptographic  hardware, there are implementations in software.  Also, implementations
       range from open to commercial, and  from  very  simple  to  highly  secure.   By  default,
       OpenDNSSEC  is  configured  to  run on top of a SoftHSM, but a few other commands exist to
       test any Hardware Security Module that may sit under the PKCS #11 API.

OPERATIONAL PRACTICES

       The approach used by OpenDNSSEC follows the best current practice of two kinds of key  per
       zone:

       KSK or Key Signing Key
              This key belongs in the apex of a zone, and is referenced in the parent zone (quite
              possibly a registry) in the form of DS records alongside NS records.  These  parent
              references function as trust delegations.

              The  KSK  is  usually  a  longer  key,  and  it could harm the efficiency of secure
              resolvers if all individual resource records were signed with it.  This is  why  it
              is advisable to use the KSK only to sign the ZSK.

              In  DNS  records, the KSK can usually be recognised by having its SEP (Secure Entry
              Point) flag set.

       ZSK or Zone Signing Key
              This key also belongs in the apex of a zone, and  is  actually  used  to  sign  the
              resource records in a zone.  It is a shorter key for reasons of efficiency, that is
              rolled over on a fairly regular basis.  To detach these rollovers from the  parent,
              the  ZSK  is  not  directly  trusted  by  the parent zone, but instead its trust is
              established by way of a signature by the KSK on the ZSK.

       OpenDNSSEC is mindful about the period of validity of each key, and will rollover in  time
       to keep the domain signed, with new keys, without any downtime for the secure domain.  The
       only thing that is not standardised, and thus cannot be automated at  the  moment  is  the
       interface  between  a  zone  and  its parent, so this has to be done manually, or scripted
       around OpenDNSSEC.

SEE ALSO

       ods-control(8),  ods-enforcerd(8),  ods-hsmspeed(1),   ods-hsmutil(1),   ods-kaspcheck(1),
       ods-ksmutil(1), ods-signer(8), ods-signerd(8), ods-timing(5), http://www.opendnssec.org/

AUTHORS

       OpenDNSSEC was made by the OpenDNSSEC project, to be found on http://www.opendnssec.org/