CA.pl - friendlier interface for GmSSL certificate programs
CA.pl -? | -h | -help
CA.pl -newcert | -newreq | -newreq-nodes | -xsign | -sign | -signCA | -signcert | -crl | -newca [-extra-cmd extra-params]
CA.pl -pkcs12 [-extra-pkcs12 extra-params] [certname]
CA.pl -verify [-extra-verify extra-params] certfile...
CA.pl -revoke [-extra-ca extra-params] certfile [reason]
The CA.pl script is a perl script that supplies the relevant command line arguments to the gmssl command for some common certificate operations. It is intended to simplify the process of certificate creation and management by the use of some simple options.
prints a usage message.
creates a new self signed certificate. The private key is written to the file "newkey.pem" and the request written to the file "newreq.pem". This argument invokes gmssl req command.
creates a new certificate request. The private key is written to the file "newkey.pem" and the request written to the file "newreq.pem". Executes gmssl req command below the hood.
is like -newreq except that the private key will not be encrypted. Uses gmssl req command.
creates a new CA hierarchy for use with the ca program (or the -signcert and -xsign options). The user is prompted to enter the filename of the CA certificates (which should also contain the private key) or by hitting ENTER details of the CA will be prompted for. The relevant files and directories are created in a directory called "demoCA" in the current directory. gmssl req and gmssl ca commands are get invoked.
create a PKCS#12 file containing the user certificate, private key and CA certificate. It expects the user certificate and private key to be in the file "newcert.pem" and the CA certificate to be in the file demoCA/cacert.pem, it creates a file "newcert.p12". This command can thus be called after the -sign option. The PKCS#12 file can be imported directly into a browser. If there is an additional argument on the command line it will be used as the "friendly name" for the certificate (which is typically displayed in the browser list box), otherwise the name "My Certificate" is used. Delegates work to gmssl pkcs12 command.
calls the ca program to sign a certificate request. It expects the request to be in the file "newreq.pem". The new certificate is written to the file "newcert.pem" except in the case of the -xsign option when it is written to standard output. Leverages gmssl ca command.
this option is the same as the -signreq option except it uses the configuration file section v3_ca and so makes the signed request a valid CA certificate. This is useful when creating intermediate CA from a root CA. Extra params are passed on to gmssl ca command.
this option is the same as -sign except it expects a self signed certificate to be present in the file "newreq.pem". Extra params are passed on to gmssl x509 and gmssl ca commands.
generate a CRL. Executes gmssl ca command.
revoke the certificate contained in the specified certfile. An optional reason may be specified, and must be one of: unspecified, keyCompromise, CACompromise, affiliationChanged, superseded, cessationOfOperation, certificateHold, or removeFromCRL. Leverages gmssl ca command.
verifies certificates against the CA certificate for "demoCA". If no certificates are specified on the command line it tries to verify the file "newcert.pem". Invokes gmssl verify command.
The purpose of these parameters is to allow optional parameters to be supplied to gmssl that this command executes. The -extra-cmd are specific to the option being used and the gmssl command getting invoked. For example when this command invokes gmssl req extra parameters can be passed on with the -extra-req parameter. The gmssl commands being invoked per option are documented below. Users should consult gmssl command documentation for more information.
Create a CA hierarchy:
CA.pl -newcaComplete certificate creation example: create a CA, create a request, sign the request and finally create a PKCS#12 file containing it.
CA.pl -newca
CA.pl -newreq
CA.pl -signreq
CA.pl -pkcs12 "My Test Certificate"Although the CA.pl creates RSA CAs and requests it is still possible to use it with DSA certificates and requests using the req(1) command directly. The following example shows the steps that would typically be taken.
Create some DSA parameters:
gmssl dsaparam -out dsap.pem 1024Create a DSA CA certificate and private key:
gmssl req -x509 -newkey dsa:dsap.pem -keyout cacert.pem -out cacert.pemCreate the CA directories and files:
CA.pl -newcaenter cacert.pem when prompted for the CA file name.
Create a DSA certificate request and private key (a different set of parameters can optionally be created first):
gmssl req -out newreq.pem -newkey dsa:dsap.pemSign the request:
CA.pl -signreqMost of the filenames mentioned can be modified by editing the CA.pl script.
If the demoCA directory already exists then the -newca command will not overwrite it and will do nothing. This can happen if a previous call using the -newca option terminated abnormally. To get the correct behaviour delete the demoCA directory if it already exists.
Under some environments it may not be possible to run the CA.pl script directly (for example Win32) and the default configuration file location may be wrong. In this case the command:
perl -S CA.plcan be used and the OPENSSL_CONF environment variable changed to point to the correct path of the configuration file "openssl.cnf".
The script is intended as a simple front end for the gmssl program for use by a beginner. Its behaviour isn't always what is wanted. For more control over the behaviour of the certificate commands call the gmssl command directly.
The variable OPENSSL_CONF if defined allows an alternative configuration file location to be specified, it should contain the full path to the configuration file, not just its directory.
x509(1), ca(1), req(1), pkcs12(1), config(5)
Copyright 2000-2016 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
Licensed under the GmSSL license (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html.