GENKEY(1)                                            Cryptography Utilities                                            GENKEY(1)



NAME
       genkey - generate SSL certificates and certificate requests

SYNOPSIS
       genkey [--test] [--days count] [[--genreq] | [--makeca] | [--nss] | [--renew] | [--cacert]] {hostname}

DESCRIPTION
       genkey is an interactive command-line tool which can be used to generate SSL certificates or Certificate Signing Requests
       (CSR). Generated certificates are stored in the directory /etc/pki/tls/certs/, and the corresponding private key in
       /etc/pki/tls/private/.

       When using mod_nss the private key is stored in the nss database. Consult the nss.conf file in /etc/httpd/conf.d/ for the
       location of the database.

       genkey will prompt for the size of key desired; whether or not to generate a CSR; whether or not an encrypted private key
       is desired; the certificate subject DN details.

       genkey generates random data for the private key using the truerand library and also by prompting the user for entry of
       random text.

       nss indicates that mod_nss database should be used to store keys and certificates.

OPTIONS
       --makeca
           Generate a Certificate Authority keypair and certificate.

       --genreq
           Generate a Certificate Signing Request for an existing private key, which can be submitted to a CA (for example, for
           renewal).

       --renew
           Used with --genreq to indicate a renewal, the existing keypair will be used. Certs and keys must reside in the nss
           database, therefore --nss is also required. Pem file based cert renewal is not currently supported.

       --cacert
           The certificate renewal is for a CA, needed for openssl certs only.

       --days count
           When generating a self-signed certificate, specify that the number of days for which the certificate is valid be
           count rather than the default value of 30.

       --test
           For test purposes only; omit the slow process of generating random data.

EXAMPLES
       The following example will create a self-signed certificate and private key for the hostname www.example.com:

                   # genkey --days 120 www.example.com


       The following example will create a self-signed certificate and private key for the hostname www.nssexample.com which
       will be stored in cert and key in the nss database. If no nickname is given the tool will extract it from mod_nss's nss
       configuration file.

                   # genkey --days --nss 120 www.nssexample.com


       The following example will generate a certificate signing request for a new mod_nss style cert specified by its nickname,
       Server-Cert:

                   # genkey --genreq --nss --days 120 Server-Cert


       The following example will generate a certificate signing request for the renewal of an existing mod_nss cert specified
       by its nickname, Server-Cert:

                   # genkey --genreq --renew --nss --days 120 Server-Cert



FILES
       /etc/pki/tls/openssl.cnf

SEE ALSO
       certwatch(1), keyrand(1)



crypto-utils 2.4.1                                         1 June 2010                                                 GENKEY(1)