CERTTOOL(1) General Commands Manual CERTTOOL(1)
NAME
certtool - create key pairs, certificates and certificate signing requests for use with Keychains
SYNOPSIS
certtool command [command-args] [options] certtool c [options] certtool r outFileName [options] certtool v infileName [options] certtool C
domainName [options] certtool i inFileName [options] certtool d inFileName [options] certtool I inFileName [options] certtool D inFileName
[options] certtool y [options]
CERTTOOL COMMAND SUMMARY
c Create keypair and Certificate r Create CSR v Verify CSR C Create a System Identity i Import Certificate d Display Certificate I Import
CRL D Display CRL I Import a CRL y Display all certs and CRLs in keychain
CERTTOOL OPTION SUMMARY
c Create the keychain, if one is needed.
d Create a CSR in DER format; default is PEM
k=keychainName
Specify the Keychain to use for the operation. If keychainName starts with a '/', an absolute path is assumed; otherwise, the speci-
fied filename is relative to the user's Library/Keychains directory.
p=passphrase
Specify the keychain passphrase when creating
r=privateKeyFileName
Optional private key, for Import Certificate only
f=[18f]
Private Key Format = PKCS1/PKCS8/FIPS186; default is PKCS1 (openssl)
x=[aSsm]
Extended Key Usage: a=Any; s=SSL Client; S=SSL Server; m=SMIME
a Generate private key with default ACL
u Generate private key with ACL limiting access to current user
P Don't create System Identity if one already exists for specified domain
h Print usage message
v Execute in verbose mode.
DESCRIPTION
Certtool is a UNIX command-line program which is used to create key pairs, certificates, and certificate signing requests; to import exter-
nally generated certificates and Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) into a Keychain, and to display the contents of certificates and CRLs.
EXAMPLES
Generating a Self-Signed Certificate This command generates a key pair and a self-signed (root) certificate and places them in a keychain.
The root cert is signed by the private key generated during this command. The cert generated by this command is totally untrustworthy and
cannot be used in the "real world"; the primary use of this command is to facilitate early development of SSL server applications based on
SecureTransport. In particular, "real world" SSL clients (e.g., web browsers) will complain to varying degrees when they attempt to connect
to an SSL server which presents a cert which is generated by this command. Some broswers, after a fair amount of handholding, will allow
you to conditionally "trust" this cert.
# CertTool c [options]
The available options are:
k=keyChainName
Where "keyChainName" is the name of the keychain into which keys and the cert will be added. The specified keychain must exist. If it
doesn't exist and you want the keychain created for you, specify the 'c' option. If no keychain is specified, keys and certs are added to
the default keychain.
c
Specifies that the designated keychain is to be created.
x=[aSsm]
Specifies an optional Extended Key Usage extension. Values are 'a' for ExtendedKeyUseAny; 's' for SSL client (ClientAuth); 'S' for SSL
server (ServerAuth); and 'm' for S/MIME (EmailProtection).
a
Results the the private key being created with a default ACL. If not specified, the private key is created with no ACL.
u
Create the private key with an ACL limiting access to the current user. This is an interactive command; you will be prompted for a number
of different items which are used to generate the keypair and the cert. A sample session follows.
# CertTool k=certkc
Enter key and certificate label: testCert
Please specify parameters for the key pair you will generate.
r RSA
d DSA
f FEE
Select key algorithm by letter: r
Valid key sizes for RSA are 512..2048; default is 512
Enter key size in bits or CR for default: 512
You have selected algorithm RSA, key size 512 bits.
OK (y/anything)? y
Enter cert/key usage (s=signing, b=signing AND encrypting): b
...Generating key pair...
Note: you will be prompted for the Keychain's passphrase by the Keychain system at this point if the specified keychain is not open and you
have not specified the passphrase via the 'p' option.
Please specify the algorithm with which your certificate will be signed.
5 RSA with MD5
s RSA with SHA1
Select signature algorithm by letter: s
You have selected algorithm RSA with SHA1.
OK (y/anything)? y
You will now specify the various components of the certificate's Relative Distinguished Name (RDN). An RDN has a number of components, all
of which are optional, but at least one of which must be present. Note that if you are creating a certificate for use in an SSL/TLS
server, the Common Name component of the RDN must match exactly the host name of the server. This must not be an IP address, but the actual
domain name, e.g. www.apple.com. Entering a CR for a given RDN component results in no value for that component.
Common Name (e.g. www.apple.com) : 10.0.61.5
Country (e.g. US) :
Organization (e.g. Apple Computer, Inc.) : Apple
Organization Unit (e.g. Apple Data Security) :
State/Province (e.g. California) : California
Email Address (e.g. johngalt@rand.com) :
You have specified:
Common Name : 10.0.61.5
Organization : Apple
State/Province : California
Is this OK (y/anything)? y
#
The "Common Name" portion of the RDN - in the above case, "10.0.61.5" - MUST match the host name of the machine you'll be running an
SSL/TLS server on. (In this case the test machine doesn't have an actual hostname; it's DHCP'd behind a firewall which is why "10.0.61.5"
was specified for Common Name.) This is part of SSL's certificate verification; it prevents an attack using DNS spoofing. A brief note
about cert/key usage: the normal configuration of SecureTransport is that the server cert specified in SSLSetCertificate() is capable of
both signing and encryption. If this cert is only capable of signing, you must create a second keychain containing a cert which is capable
of encryption, and pass that to SSLSetEncryptionCertificate(). Generating a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) A CSR is the standard means
by which an administrator of a web server provides information to a Certificate Authority (CA) in order to obtain a valid certificate which
is signed by the CA. This type of cert is used in the real world; certs signed by CAs such as Verisign and Thawte are recognized by most
web browsers when performing SSL transactions. The general procedure for obtaining a "real" cert is:
o Generate a key pair
o Generate a CSR
o Provide the CSR and some other information and/or documentation to the CA
o CA sends you a certificate which is signed by the CA.
o You import that certificate, obtained from the CA, into your keychain. The items in that keychain can now be used in SecureTrans-
port's SSLSetCertificate() call. This command performs the first two steps in the above procedure. See the section below entitled
"Importing a Certificate" for information on importing the resulting certificate into your keychain. The format of this command is
# CertTool r outFileName [options]
The resulting CSR will be written to "outFileName". The available options are:
k=keyChainName
Where "KeyChainName" is the name of the keychain into which keys and the cert will be added. If no keychain is specified, keys and
certs are added to the default keychain. The specified keychain must exist unless you specify the 'c' option.
d
The 'd' option tells CertTool to create the CSR in DER-encoded format. The default is PEM-encoded, which is what most CAs expect.
PEM encoded data consists of printable ASCII text which can, for example, be pasted into an email message. DER-encoded data is non-
printable binary data.
c
Specifies that the designated keychain is to be created.
a
Results the the private key being created with a default ACL. If not specified, the private key is created with no ACL.
u
Create the private key with an ACL limiting access to the current user. This is an interactive command; you will be prompted for a
number of different items which are used to generate the keypair and the CSR. The prompts given, and the format of the data you must
supply, are identical to the data shown in the sample session in Section 2. Verifying a CSR A CSR contains, among other things, the
public key which was generated in as described above. The CSR is signed with the associated private key. Thus the integrity of a CSR
can be verified by extracting its public key and verifying the signature of the CSR. This command performs this integrity check. The
format of this command is
# CertTool v inFileName [options]
The only available option is the 'd' flag, which as described above in the section entitled "Generating a Certificate Signing
Request", indiciates that the CSR is in DER format rather than the default PEM format. A typical (successful) run of this command
is like so:
# CertTool v myCsr.pem
...CSR verified successfully.
A large number of things can go wrong if the verification fails; suffice it to say that if you see anything other than the above
success message, you have a bad or corrupted CSR. Creating a System Identity This creates a key pair and a self-signed (root) cer-
tificate in the System keychain, and registers the result in the System Identity database as being the IDentity associated with the
specified domain name. The domain name is typically a string of the form "com.apple.somedomain...". You must be running as root to
execute this command. The format of this command is
# CertTool C domainName [options]
The available options are:
u
Create the private key with an ACL limiting access to the current user. If not specified, the private key wil be created with a
default ACL.
P
Don't create system identity if one already exists for specified domain. Importing a Certificate from a Certificate Authority Once
you have negotiated with your CA, and provided them with the CSR generated as described above as well as any other information, doc-
umentation, and payment they require, the CA will provide you with a certificate. Use this command to add that certificate to the
keychain containing the keypair you generated previously. The format of this command is
# CertTool i inFileName [options]
The cert to import is obtained from "inFileName". The available options are:
k=keyChainName
Where "keyChainName" is the name of the keychain to which the cert will be added. If no keychain is specified, the cert is added to
the default keychain. The specified keychain typically contains the keypair you generated previously. (Note you can import a cer-
tificate into a keychain which does not contain keys you generated but there will be no linkage between the imported certificate and
a private key if you do this.) If the keychain is not open when this command is executed, you will be prompted by the Keychain sys-
tem for its passphrase.
r=privateKeyFileName
Where "privateKeyFileName" is the name of the optional private key file to imported along with the certificate. This option is used
to import cert/key pairs which are generated by other means, such as OpenSSL.
f=privateKeyFormat
Where "privateKeyFormat" is the format of the private key specified with the 'r' option. The formats are: '1' for PKCS1 (OpenSSL
format), '8' (PKCS8), and 'f' (FIPS186, BSAFE format). The default is OpenSSL format for both RSA and DSA keys.
d
Specifies DER format as described above. The default is PEM format.
c
Specifies that the designated keychain is to be created. Displaying a Certificate This displays the contents of an existing cer-
tificate, obtained from a file. The format of this command is
# CertTool d inFileName [options]
The cert to display is obtained from "inFileName". The only available option is the 'd' flag, specifying DER format as described
above. The default is PEM format. Actually, in the absence of this option, certtool will correctly determine the format of the cer-
tificate (PEM or DER). Importing a CRL This command is used to add a Certificate Revocation List (CRL) to a keychain. The format
of this command is
# CertTool I inFileName [options]
The CRL to import is obtained from "inFileName". The available options are:
k=keyChainName
Where "KeyChainName" is the name of the keychain to which the CRL will be added. If no keychain is specified, the cert is added to
the default keychain. If the keychain is not open when this command is executed, you will be prompted by the Keychain system for
its passphrase.
d
Specifies DER format as described above. The default is PEM format.
c
Specifies that the designated keychain is to be created. Displaying a CRL This displays the contents of an existing Certificate
Revocation List (CRL), obtained from a file. The format of this command is
# CertTool D inFileName [options]
The cert to display is obtained from "inFileName". The only available option is the 'd' flag, specifying DER format as described
above. The default is PEM format. Displaying Certificates and CRLs in a keychain This displays the contents of all certificates and
CRLs in a keychain. The format of this command is
# CertTool y [options]
The available options are:
k=keyChainName
Where "KeyChainName" is the name of the keychain to display.
v
Specifies verbose mode. Certificate Authorities and CSRs As mentioned above, the general procedure for obtaining a "real" cert is:
o Generate a key pair
o Generate a CSR
o Provide the CSR and some other information and/or documentation to the CA
o CA sends you a certificate which is signed by the CA.
o You import that certificate, obtained from the CA, into your keychain. The items in that keychain can now be used in SecureTranspo-
ert's SSLSetCertificate() call. One CA with an excellent web-based interface for obtaining a cert is Verisign
(http://www.verisign.com/products/site/index.html). You can get a free 14-day trial certificate using nothing but CertTool,
Verisign's web site, and email. You need to provide some personal information. Paste the CSR generated as described in the section
entitled "Generating a Certificate Signing Request" into a form on the web site. A few minutes later Verisign emails you a certifi-
cate, which you import into your keychain. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes. The free certificate obtained in this man-
ner is signed by a temporary root cert which is not recognized by any browsers, but Verisign also provides a means of installing
this temporary root cert into your browser, directly from their web site. Typically one would use the free, temporary cert to per-
form initial configuration of a server and to ring out the general SSL infrastructure. Once you feel comfortable with the operation
of the server, then it's time to buy a "real" certificate which will allow your web server to be trusted by any browser. Thawte has
a similar, very friendly service at http://www.thawte.com/. Note that, for early web server development and/or testing, you can
skip the entire procedure described above and just generate your own self-signed root cert as described above. No CA is involved; no
CSR is generated; no cert needs to be imported - CertTool generates a cert for you and immediately adds it to your keychain. Bear in
mind that this option will require support from various SSL clients you'll be testing with, none of which recognize your root cert.
FILES
/System/Library/Keychains/X509Anchors System root certificate database /Library/Keychains/System.keychain System Keychain
SEE ALSO
openssl(1)
Apple Computer, Inc. March 19, 2003 CERTTOOL(1)