xenial (1) pkcs8.1ssl.gz

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NAME

       pkcs8 - PKCS#8 format private key conversion tool

SYNOPSIS

       openssl pkcs8 [-topk8] [-inform PEM|DER] [-outform PEM|DER] [-in filename] [-passin arg] [-out filename]
       [-passout arg] [-noiter] [-nocrypt] [-nooct] [-embed] [-nsdb] [-v2 alg] [-v2prf alg] [-v1 alg] [-engine
       id]

DESCRIPTION

       The pkcs8 command processes private keys in PKCS#8 format. It can handle both unencrypted PKCS#8
       PrivateKeyInfo format and EncryptedPrivateKeyInfo format with a variety of PKCS#5 (v1.5 and v2.0) and
       PKCS#12 algorithms.

COMMAND OPTIONS

       -topk8
           Normally a PKCS#8 private key is expected on input and a traditional format private key will be
           written. With the -topk8 option the situation is reversed: it reads a traditional format private key
           and writes a PKCS#8 format key.

       -inform DER|PEM
           This specifies the input format. If a PKCS#8 format key is expected on input then either a DER or PEM
           encoded version of a PKCS#8 key will be expected. Otherwise the DER or PEM format of the traditional
           format private key is used.

       -outform DER|PEM
           This specifies the output format, the options have the same meaning as the -inform option.

       -in filename
           This specifies the input filename to read a key from or standard input if this option is not
           specified. If the key is encrypted a pass phrase will be prompted for.

       -passin arg
           the input file password source. For more information about the format of arg see the PASS PHRASE
           ARGUMENTS section in openssl(1).

       -out filename
           This specifies the output filename to write a key to or standard output by default. If any encryption
           options are set then a pass phrase will be prompted for. The output filename should not be the same
           as the input filename.

       -passout arg
           the output file password source. For more information about the format of arg see the PASS PHRASE
           ARGUMENTS section in openssl(1).

       -nocrypt
           PKCS#8 keys generated or input are normally PKCS#8 EncryptedPrivateKeyInfo structures using an
           appropriate password based encryption algorithm. With this option an unencrypted PrivateKeyInfo
           structure is expected or output.  This option does not encrypt private keys at all and should only be
           used when absolutely necessary. Certain software such as some versions of Java code signing software
           used unencrypted private keys.

       -nooct
           This option generates RSA private keys in a broken format that some software uses. Specifically the
           private key should be enclosed in a OCTET STRING but some software just includes the structure itself
           without the surrounding OCTET STRING.

       -embed
           This option generates DSA keys in a broken format. The DSA parameters are embedded inside the
           PrivateKey structure. In this form the OCTET STRING contains an ASN1 SEQUENCE consisting of two
           structures: a SEQUENCE containing the parameters and an ASN1 INTEGER containing the private key.

       -nsdb
           This option generates DSA keys in a broken format compatible with Netscape private key databases. The
           PrivateKey contains a SEQUENCE consisting of the public and private keys respectively.

       -v2 alg
           This option enables the use of PKCS#5 v2.0 algorithms. Normally PKCS#8 private keys are encrypted
           with the password based encryption algorithm called pbeWithMD5AndDES-CBC this uses 56 bit DES
           encryption but it was the strongest encryption algorithm supported in PKCS#5 v1.5. Using the -v2
           option PKCS#5 v2.0 algorithms are used which can use any encryption algorithm such as 168 bit triple
           DES or 128 bit RC2 however not many implementations support PKCS#5 v2.0 yet. If you are just using
           private keys with OpenSSL then this doesn't matter.

           The alg argument is the encryption algorithm to use, valid values include des, des3 and rc2. It is
           recommended that des3 is used.

       -v2prf alg
           This option sets the PRF algorithm to use with PKCS#5 v2.0. A typical value values would be
           hmacWithSHA256. If this option isn't set then the default for the cipher is used or hmacWithSHA1 if
           there is no default.

       -v1 alg
           This option specifies a PKCS#5 v1.5 or PKCS#12 algorithm to use. A complete list of possible
           algorithms is included below.

       -engine id
           specifying an engine (by its unique id string) will cause pkcs8 to attempt to obtain a functional
           reference to the specified engine, thus initialising it if needed. The engine will then be set as the
           default for all available algorithms.

NOTES

       The encrypted form of a PEM encode PKCS#8 files uses the following headers and footers:

        -----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----

        -----END ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----
       The unencrypted form uses:

        -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----

        -----END PRIVATE KEY-----
       Private keys encrypted using PKCS#5 v2.0 algorithms and high iteration counts are more secure that those
       encrypted using the traditional SSLeay compatible formats. So if additional security is considered
       important the keys should be converted.

       The default encryption is only 56 bits because this is the encryption that most current implementations
       of PKCS#8 will support.

       Some software may use PKCS#12 password based encryption algorithms with PKCS#8 format private keys: these
       are handled automatically but there is no option to produce them.

       It is possible to write out DER encoded encrypted private keys in PKCS#8 format because the encryption
       details are included at an ASN1 level whereas the traditional format includes them at a PEM level.

PKCS#5 v1.5 and PKCS#12 algorithms.

       Various algorithms can be used with the -v1 command line option, including PKCS#5 v1.5 and PKCS#12. These
       are described in more detail below.

       PBE-MD2-DES PBE-MD5-DES
           These algorithms were included in the original PKCS#5 v1.5 specification.  They only offer 56 bits of
           protection since they both use DES.

       PBE-SHA1-RC2-64 PBE-MD2-RC2-64 PBE-MD5-RC2-64 PBE-SHA1-DES
           These algorithms are not mentioned in the original PKCS#5 v1.5 specification but they use the same
           key derivation algorithm and are supported by some software. They are mentioned in PKCS#5 v2.0. They
           use either 64 bit RC2 or 56 bit DES.

       PBE-SHA1-RC4-128 PBE-SHA1-RC4-40 PBE-SHA1-3DES PBE-SHA1-2DES PBE-SHA1-RC2-128 PBE-SHA1-RC2-40
           These algorithms use the PKCS#12 password based encryption algorithm and allow strong encryption
           algorithms like triple DES or 128 bit RC2 to be used.

EXAMPLES

       Convert a private from traditional to PKCS#5 v2.0 format using triple DES:

        openssl pkcs8 -in key.pem -topk8 -v2 des3 -out enckey.pem

       Convert a private from traditional to PKCS#5 v2.0 format using AES with 256 bits in CBC mode and
       hmacWithSHA256 PRF:

        openssl pkcs8 -in key.pem -topk8 -v2 aes-256-cbc -v2prf hmacWithSHA256 -out enckey.pem

       Convert a private key to PKCS#8 using a PKCS#5 1.5 compatible algorithm (DES):

        openssl pkcs8 -in key.pem -topk8 -out enckey.pem

       Convert a private key to PKCS#8 using a PKCS#12 compatible algorithm (3DES):

        openssl pkcs8 -in key.pem -topk8 -out enckey.pem -v1 PBE-SHA1-3DES

       Read a DER unencrypted PKCS#8 format private key:

        openssl pkcs8 -inform DER -nocrypt -in key.der -out key.pem

       Convert a private key from any PKCS#8 format to traditional format:

        openssl pkcs8 -in pk8.pem -out key.pem

STANDARDS

       Test vectors from this PKCS#5 v2.0 implementation were posted to the pkcs-tng mailing list using triple
       DES, DES and RC2 with high iteration counts, several people confirmed that they could decrypt the private
       keys produced and Therefore it can be assumed that the PKCS#5 v2.0 implementation is reasonably accurate
       at least as far as these algorithms are concerned.

       The format of PKCS#8 DSA (and other) private keys is not well documented: it is hidden away in PKCS#11
       v2.01, section 11.9. OpenSSL's default DSA PKCS#8 private key format complies with this standard.

BUGS

       There should be an option that prints out the encryption algorithm in use and other details such as the
       iteration count.

       PKCS#8 using triple DES and PKCS#5 v2.0 should be the default private key format for OpenSSL: for
       compatibility several of the utilities use the old format at present.

SEE ALSO

       dsa(1), rsa(1), genrsa(1), gendsa(1)