CERTTOOL(1) 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] cert-tool certtool
tool 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 Cer-tificate Certificate
tificate 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 specified 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 certifi-cate certificate
cate signing requests; to import externally 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) cer-tificate certificate
tificate 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 appli-cations applications
cations 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 com-mand; command;
mand; 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 encryp-tion, encryption,
tion, 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 Cer-tificate Certificate
tificate 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 or Thawte are recognized by
most web browsers when performing SSL transactions. The general procedure for obtaining a "real"
cert is:
Generate a key pair
Generate a CSR
Provide the CSR and some other information and/or documentation to the CA
CA sends you a certificate which is signed by the CA.
You import that certificate, obtained from the CA, into your keychain. The items in that key-chain keychain
chain can now be used in SecureTransport's SSLSetCertificate() call. This command performs
the first two steps in the above procedure. See the section below entitled "Importing a Cer-tificate" Certificate"
tificate" for information on importing the resulting certificate into your keychain. The for-mat format
mat 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 exam-ple, example,
ple, be pasted into an email message. DER-encoded data is nonprintable 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 com-mand; command;
mand; 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 sig-nature signature
nature 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 "Generat-ing "Generating
ing 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) certificate in the System keychain, and
registers the result in the System Identity database as being the IDentity associated with the speci-fied specified
fied 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, documentation, 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 certificate into a keychain which does not
contain keys you generated but there will be no linkage between the imported certificate and a pri-vate private
vate key if you do this.) If the keychain is not open when this command is executed, you will be
prompted by the Keychain system 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 certificate, 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, speci-fying specifying
fying 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 certificate (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, speci-fying specifying
fying 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:
Generate a key pair
Generate a CSR
Provide the CSR and some other information and/or documentation to the CA
CA sends you a certificate which is signed by the CA.
You import that certificate, obtained from the CA, into your keychain. The items in that key-chain keychain
chain can now be used in SecureTranspoert's SSLSetCertificate() call. One CA with an excel-lent excellent
lent web-based interface for obtaining a cert is Verisign (http://www.verisign.com/prod-
ucts/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 certificate, which you
import into your keychain. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes. The free certificate
obtained in this manner 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
perform 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" certifi-
cate 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 key-
chain. 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.key-
chain System Keychain
SEE ALSO
openssl(1)
Apple Computer, Inc. March 19, 2003 CERTTOOL(1)
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