App::sslmaker - Be your own SSL certificate authority
0.16
App::sslmaker is a module that provide methods for acting as your own CA (certificate authority). It can creating SSL keys, certificates and signing requests. The methods should have good defaults and "just work", so you don't have to worry about the details. "Just work" depends on safe defaults, which will change when new and more secure standards come along.
The openssl commands are based on the instructions from https://jamielinux.com/docs/openssl-certificate-authority/.
This module is used by the sslmaker
command line application, but can also
act as a standalone toolkit.
This module is based on tips and tricks from online resources, and has been reviewed by security experts. Even so, the "AUTHOR" of this application or any parts involved cannot be held responsible for the security of your server, application or other parts that use the files generated by this library.
$ sslmaker <action> [options]
# 1. Initial CA setup
# 1a. The CA admin generates root CA key and certificate
$ sslmaker root --subject "/C=US/ST=Texas/L=Dallas/O=Company/OU=Department/CN=superduper"
# 1b. The CA admin generates intermediate CA key and certificate
# Uses the --subject from root CA by default
$ sslmaker intermediate
# 2. Client certificate setup
# 2a. The client generates a server key and certificate signing request
# Can be done on any other server
# Uses the --subject from intermediate CA if available
$ sslmaker generate <cn>
$ sslmaker generate www.example.com
# 2b. The client sends the signing request file to the CA admin
# 3. CA sign and revoke process
# 3a. The CA admin signs the certificate request
$ sslmaker sign www.example.com.csr.pem
$ sslmaker sign www.example.com.csr.pem [outfile]
# 3b. The CA admin sends back the signed certificate which the client can use
# 3c. The CA can revoke a certificate
$ sslmaker revoke <infile>
$ sslmaker revoke /etc/ssl/sslmaker/newcerts/1000.pem
# 4. Utility commands
# 4a. Create dhparam file
$ sslmaker dhparam
$ sslmaker dhparam /etc/ssl/sslmaker/dhparam.pem 2048
# 4b. Show the manual for App::sslmaker
$ sslmaker man
-
SSLMAKER_BITS
Default bits for a generated certificate. Default is 4096.
-
SSLMAKER_DAYS
Default days before expiring a generated certificate. Default is 365.
-
SSLMAKER_DEBUG
Setting this to "0" will output less debug information from
sslmaker
. -
SSLMAKER_HOME
Used by the
sslmaker
script as default home directory. Default is either "/etc/pki/sslmaker" or "/etc/ssl/sslmaker".Directory structure is:
# generated by "sslmaker root" $SSLMAKER_HOME/root/ca.cert.pem $SSLMAKER_HOME/root/ca.key.pem $SSLMAKER_HOME/root/crlnumber $SSLMAKER_HOME/root/index.txt $SSLMAKER_HOME/root/index.txt.attr $SSLMAKER_HOME/root/passphrase $SSLMAKER_HOME/root/serial # generated by "sslmaker intermediate" $SSLMAKER_HOME/certs/ca-chain.cert.pem $SSLMAKER_HOME/certs/ca.cert.pem $SSLMAKER_HOME/certs/ca.csr.pem $SSLMAKER_HOME/private/ca.key.pem $SSLMAKER_HOME/private/passphrase $SSLMAKER_HOME/root/newcerts/1000.pem $SSLMAKER_HOME/crlnumber $SSLMAKER_HOME/index.txt $SSLMAKER_HOME/index.txt.attr $SSLMAKER_HOME/serial # generated by "sslmaker sign" $SSLMAKER_HOME/newcerts/1000.pem # generated by "sslmaker dhparam" $SSLMAKER_HOME/dhparam.pem
NOTE! After running "sslmaker intermediate", then it is highly suggested to move "$SSLMAKER_HOME/root/" to a safe location, such as a memory stick. You can revoke any of the child certificates if they are compromised, but if you loose the root key, then all is lost.
-
SSLMAKER_OPENSSL
Default to "openssl". Can be set to a custom path if "openssl" is not in
PATH
. -
SSLMAKER_SUBJECT
Used as default subject, unless specified.
- https://jamielinux.com/docs/openssl-certificate-authority/
- https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/openssl-essentials-working-with-ssl-certificates-private-keys-and-csrs
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_authority
- Easy RSA
$asset = $self->make_cert({
key => "/path/to/private/input.key.pem",
passphrase => "/path/to/passphrase.txt",
days => $number_of_days, # default: 365
subject => '/C=NO/ST=Oslo', # optional
ext => ["subjectAltName = DNS:example.com"], # optional
});
This method will generate a SSL certificate using a key
generated by
"make_key". passphrase
should match the argument given to "make_key".
An optional subject
can be provided. The subject string will be merged with the
"subject" attribute. days
can be used to set how many days the certificate
should be valid.
The returned $asset
is a Path::Tiny object which holds the generated certificate
file. It is possible to specify the location of this object by passing on cert
to
this method.
$asset = $self->make_crl({
key => "/path/to/private/input.key.pem",
cert => "/path/to/cefrt/input.cert.pem",
passphrase => "/path/to/passphrase.txt", # optional
});
This method will generate a certificate revocation list (CRL) using a key
generated
by "make_key". passphrase
should match the argument given to "make_key".
The returned $asset
is a Path::Tiny object which holds the generated certificate
file. It is possible to specify the location of this object by passing on crl
to
this method.
You can inspect the generated asset using the command
openssl crl -in $crl_asset -text
.
See also "revoke_cert".
$asset = $self->make_csr({
key => "/path/to/private/input.key.pem",
passphrase => "/path/to/passphrase.txt",
subject => '/C=NO/ST=Oslo',
days => $number_of_days, # default: 365
ext => ["subjectAltName=DNS:example.com"], # optional
});
This method will generate a SSL certificate signing request using a key
generated by "make_key". passphrase
is only required if the key
was
generated with a passphrase
. An optional subject
can be provided.
The subject string will be merged with the "subject" attribute.
The returned $asset
is a Path::Tiny object which holds the generated
signing request file. It is possible to specify the location of this object
by passing on csr
to this method.
$self->make_directories({
home => "/path/to/pki",
templates => 1, # default: false
});
Used to generate a suitable file structure, which reflect what openssl.cnf
expects. Set $emplates
to a true value to generate files.
$home/ # need to be writable by current user
$home/certs/
$home/crl/
$home/newcerts/
$home/private/ # will have mode 700
# optional templates
$home/index.txt
$home/serial
$asset = $self->make_key({
passphrase => "/path/to/passphrase.txt", # optional
bits => 8192, # default: 4096
});
This method will generate a SSL key.
The key will be protected with passphrase
if given as input. In addition
if passphrase
does not exist, it will be created with a random passphrase.
The returned $asset
is a Path::Tiny object which holds the generated key.
It is possible to specify the location of this object by passing on key
to
this method.
$self = App::sslmaker->new(%args);
$self = App::sslmaker->new(\%args);
Object constructor.
$self->openssl(@args);
$self->openssl(@args, sub { ... });
App::sslmaker::openssl(@args);
App::sslmaker::openssl(@args, sub { ... });
Used to run the application openssl
. The callback defined at the end is
optional, but will be called with the complete output from the openssl
command. $?
is also available for inspection.
The openssl
application must exist in path or defined by setting the
SSLMAKER_OPENSSL
environment variable before loading this module.
$asset = $self->render_to_file($template, \%stash);
$asset = $self->render_to_file($template, $out_file, \%args);
This method can render a $template
to either a temp file or $out_file
.
The $template
will have access to %stash
and $self
.
See "TEMPLATES" for list of valid templates.
$self->with_config(
revoke_cert => {
key => "/path/to/private/ca.key.pem",
cert => "/path/to/certs/ca.cert.pem",
crl => "/path/to/crl.pem",
revoke => "/path/to/newcerts/1000.pem",
},
);
This method can revoke a certificate. It need to be run either with
OPENSSL_CONF
or inside "with_config".
$asset = $self->sign_csr({
csr => "/path/to/certs/input.csr.pem",
ca_key => "/path/to/private/ca.key.pem",
ca_cert => "/path/to/certs/ca.cert.pem",
passphrase => "/path/to/passphrase.txt",
extensions => "v3_ca", # default: usr_cert
});
This method will sign a csr
file generated by "make_csr". ca_key
and
passphrase
is the same values as you would provide "make_key" and
ca_cert
is the output from "make_cert".
The returned $asset
is a Path::Tiny object which holds the generated
certificate. It is possible to specify the location of this object by
passing on cert
to this method.
$self = $self->subject(@subjects);
$self = $self->subject("/C=NO/ST=Oslo/L=Oslo/O=Example/OU=Prime/emailAddress=admin@example.com", ...);
$str = $self->subject;
Holds the default subject field for the certificate. Can be set by passing in a list of subject strings, hashes or paths to certificate files. The list will get merged, soo the last one overrides the one before.
$any = $self->with_config($method => \%args);
Used to call a method with a temp "openssl.cnf"
file. The %stash
in the template will be constructed from the %args
,
which is also passed on to the next $method
. Example:
$asset = $self->with_config(make_key => {
home => "/path/to/pki",
passphrase => "/path/to/pki/private/passphrase.txt",
bits => 8192,
});
The config file will be removed when $self
go out of scope.
An alternative to this method is to set the OPENSSL_CONF
environment
variable before calling $method
:
local $ENV{OPENSSL_CONF} = "/path/to/openssl.cnf";
$asset = $self->make_key({...});
"render_to_file" can render these templates, which is bundled with this module:
-
crlnumber
Creates a file which stores the SSL CRL number. If
n
is present in%stash
, it will be used as the start number, which defaults to 1000. -
index.txt
This is currently just an empty file.
-
nginx.config
Used to render an example nginx config.
%stash
should containcert
,client_certificate
,crl
,key
,server_name
andverify_client
. -
openssl.cnf
Creates a config file for openssl. TODO: Descrive stash values.
-
serial
Creates a file which stores the SSL serial number. If
n
is present in%stash
, it will be used as the start number, which defaults to 1000.
Copyright (C) Jan Henning Thorsen
The code is free software, you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the Artistic License version 2.0.
Documentation is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.
The documentation is put together by Jan Henning Thorsen, with citations from Jamie Nguyen's website https://jamielinux.com/.
Jan Henning Thorsen - jhthorsen@cpan.org