CERTUTIL

Name

certutil — Manage keys and certificate in both NSS databases and other NSS tokens

Synopsis

certutil [options] [[arguments]]

STATUS

This documentation is still work in progress. Please contribute to the initial review in Mozilla NSS bug 836477 +CERTUTIL

CERTUTIL

Name

certutil — Manage keys and certificate in both NSS databases and other NSS tokens

Synopsis

certutil [options] [[arguments]]

STATUS

This documentation is still work in progress. Please contribute to the initial review in Mozilla NSS bug 836477

Description

The Certificate Database Tool, certutil, is a command-line utility that can create and modify certificate and key databases. It can specifically list, generate, modify, or delete certificates, create or change the password, generate new public and private key pairs, display the contents of the key database, or delete key pairs within the key database.

Certificate issuance, part of the key and certificate management process, requires that keys and certificates be created in the key database. This document discusses certificate and key database management. For information on the security module database management, see the modutil manpage.

Command Options and Arguments

Running certutil always requires one and only one command option to specify the type of certificate operation. Each command option may take zero or more arguments. The command option -H will list all the command options and their relevant arguments.

Command Options

-A

Add an existing certificate to a certificate database. The certificate database should already exist; if one is not present, this command option will initialize one by default.

-B

Run a series of commands from the specified batch file. This requires the -i argument.

-C

Create a new binary certificate file from a binary certificate request file. Use the -i argument to specify the certificate request file. If this argument is not used, certutil prompts for a filename.

-D

Delete a certificate from the certificate database.

--rename

Change the database nickname of a certificate.

-E

Add an email certificate to the certificate database.

-F

Delete a private key from a key database. Specify the key to delete with the -n argument. Specify the database from which to delete the key with the -d argument. Use the -k argument to specify explicitly whether to delete a DSA, RSA, or ECC key. If you don't use the -k argument, the option looks for an RSA key matching the specified nickname.

@@ -20,26 +20,25 @@ Add one or multiple extensions that certutil cannot encode yet, by loading their duplicate nicknames. Giving a key type generates a new key pair; giving the ID of an existing key reuses that key pair (which is required to renew certificates). -

-l

Display detailed information when validating a certificate with the -V option.

-m serial-number

Assign a unique serial number to a certificate being created. This operation should be performed by a CA. If no serial number is provided a default serial number is made from the current time. Serial numbers are limited to integers

-n nickname

Specify the nickname of a certificate or key to list, create, add to a database, modify, or validate. Bracket the nickname string with quotation marks if it contains spaces.

-o output-file

Specify the output file name for new certificates or binary certificate requests. Bracket the output-file string with quotation marks if it contains spaces. If this argument is not used the output destination defaults to standard output.

-P dbPrefix

Specify the prefix used on the certificate and key database file. This argument is provided to support legacy servers. Most applications do not use a database prefix.

-p phone

Specify a contact telephone number to include in new certificates or certificate requests. Bracket this string with quotation marks if it contains spaces.

-q pqgfile or curve-name

Read an alternate PQG value from the specified file when generating DSA key pairs. If this argument is not used, certutil generates its own PQG value. PQG files are created with a separate DSA utility.

Elliptic curve name is one of the ones from nistp256, nistp384, nistp521, curve25519.

- If a token is available that supports more curves, the foolowing curves are supported as well: - sect163k1, nistk163, sect163r1, sect163r2, - nistb163, sect193r1, sect193r2, sect233k1, nistk233, - sect233r1, nistb233, sect239k1, sect283k1, nistk283, - sect283r1, nistb283, sect409k1, nistk409, sect409r1, - nistb409, sect571k1, nistk571, sect571r1, nistb571, - secp160k1, secp160r1, secp160r2, secp192k1, secp192r1, - nistp192, secp224k1, secp224r1, nistp224, secp256k1, - secp256r1, secp384r1, secp521r1, - prime192v1, prime192v2, prime192v3, - prime239v1, prime239v2, prime239v3, c2pnb163v1, - c2pnb163v2, c2pnb163v3, c2pnb176v1, c2tnb191v1, - c2tnb191v2, c2tnb191v3, - c2pnb208w1, c2tnb239v1, c2tnb239v2, c2tnb239v3, - c2pnb272w1, c2pnb304w1, - c2tnb359w1, c2pnb368w1, c2tnb431r1, secp112r1, - secp112r2, secp128r1, secp128r2, sect113r1, sect113r2, - sect131r1, sect131r2 -

-r

Display a certificate's binary DER encoding when listing information about that certificate with the -L option.

-s subject

Identify a particular certificate owner for new certificates or certificate requests. Bracket this string with quotation marks if it contains spaces. The subject identification format follows RFC #1485.

-t trustargs

Specify the trust attributes to modify in an existing certificate or to apply to a certificate when creating it or adding it to a database. There are three available trust categories for each certificate, expressed in the order SSL, email, object signing for each trust setting. In each category position, use none, any, or all +

-l

Display detailed information when validating a certificate with the -V option.

-m serial-number

-n nickname

Specify the nickname of a certificate or key to list, create, add to a database, modify, or validate. Bracket the nickname string with quotation marks if it contains spaces.

-o output-file

-P dbPrefix

Specify the prefix used on the certificate and key database file. This argument is provided to support legacy servers. Most applications do not use a database prefix.

-p phone

Specify a contact telephone number to include in new certificates or certificate requests. Bracket this string with quotation marks if it contains spaces.

-q pqgfile or curve-name

Elliptic curve name is one of the ones from nistp256, nistp384, nistp521, curve25519.

If a token is available that supports more curves, the foolowing curves are supported as well: + sect163k1, nistk163, sect163r1, sect163r2, + nistb163, sect193r1, sect193r2, sect233k1, nistk233, + sect233r1, nistb233, sect239k1, sect283k1, nistk283, + sect283r1, nistb283, sect409k1, nistk409, sect409r1, + nistb409, sect571k1, nistk571, sect571r1, nistb571, + secp160k1, secp160r1, secp160r2, secp192k1, secp192r1, + nistp192, secp224k1, secp224r1, nistp224, secp256k1, + secp256r1, secp384r1, secp521r1, + prime192v1, prime192v2, prime192v3, + prime239v1, prime239v2, prime239v3, c2pnb163v1, + c2pnb163v2, c2pnb163v3, c2pnb176v1, c2tnb191v1, + c2tnb191v2, c2tnb191v3, + c2pnb208w1, c2tnb239v1, c2tnb239v2, c2tnb239v3, + c2pnb272w1, c2pnb304w1, + c2tnb359w1, c2pnb368w1, c2tnb431r1, secp112r1, + secp112r2, secp128r1, secp128r2, sect113r1, sect113r2, + sect131r1, sect131r2

-r

Display a certificate's binary DER encoding when listing information about that certificate with the -L option.

-s subject

-t trustargs

p - Valid peer @@ -60,7 +59,7 @@ of the attribute codes: the certificate or adding it to a database. Express the offset in integers, using a minus sign (-) to indicate a negative offset. If this argument is not used, the validity period begins at the current system time. The length - of the validity period is set with the -v argument.

-X

Force the key and certificate database to open in read-write mode. This is used with the -U and -L command options.

-x

Use certutil to generate the signature for a certificate being created or added to a database, rather than obtaining a signature from a separate CA.

-y exp

Set an alternate exponent value to use in generating a new RSA public key for the database, instead of the default value of 65537. The available alternate values are 3 and 17.

--pss

Restrict the generated certificate (with the -S option) or certificate request (with the -R option) to be used with the RSA-PSS signature scheme. This only works when the private key of the certificate or certificate request is RSA.

--pss-sign

Sign the generated certificate with the RSA-PSS signature scheme (with the -C or -S option). This only works when the private key of the signer's certificate is RSA. If the signer's certificate is restricted to RSA-PSS, it is not necessary to specify this option.

-z noise-file

Read a seed value from the specified file to generate a new private and public key pair. This argument makes it possible to use hardware-generated seed values or manually create a value from the keyboard. The minimum file size is 20 bytes.

-Z hashAlg

Specify the hash algorithm to use with the -C, -S or -R command options. Possible keywords:

MD2
MD4
MD5
SHA1
SHA224
SHA256
SHA384
SHA512

-0 SSO_password

Set a site security officer password on a token.

-1 | --keyUsage keyword,keyword

Set an X.509 V3 Certificate Type Extension in the certificate. There are several available keywords:

+ of the validity period is set with the -v argument.