While Encrypting a File with a Password from the Command Line using OpenSSLis very useful in its own right, the real power of the OpenSSL library is itsability to support the use of public key cryptograph for encrypting orvalidating data in an unattended manner (where the password is not required toencrypt) is done with public keys.

While Encrypting a File with a Password from the Command Line using OpenSSL is very useful in its own right, the real power of the OpenSSL library is its ability to support the use of public key cryptograph for encrypting or validating data in an unattended manner (where the password is not required to encrypt) is done with public keys. The Commands to Run Generate a 2048 bit RSA Key. Aug 05, 2019 After you have created the OpenSSL configuration file, the next step is to create a self-signed root certificate that will be used to sign your localhost test certificate. Open a command prompt, change the directory to your folder with the configuration file and generate the private key for the certificate: openssl genrsa -out testCA.key 2048. Jun 19, 2015  Breaking down the command: openssl – the command for executing OpenSSL; pkcs12 – the file utility for PKCS#12 files in OpenSSL-export -out certificate.pfx – export and save the PFX file as certificate.pfx-inkey privateKey.key – use the private key file privateKey.key as the private key to combine with the certificate. Oct 09, 2019  OpenSSL has a variety of commands that can be used to operate on private key files, some of which are specific to RSA (e.g. Openssl rsa and openssl genrsa) or which have other limitations. Here we always use openssl pkey, openssl genpkey, and openssl pkcs8, regardless of the type of key. Generating a self-signed certificate using OpenSSL. OpenSSL is an open source implementation of the SSL and TLS protocols. It provides an encryption transport layer on top of the normal communications layer, allowing it to be intertwined with many network applications and services. May 22, 2019 It is advised to issue a new private key each time you generate a CSR. Hence, the steps below instruct on how to generate both the private key and the CSR. Openssl req -new -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout yourdomain.key -out yourdomain.csr. Make sure to replace yourdomain with the actual domain you’re generating a CSR for. How to Generate a Self-Signed Certificate and Private Key using OpenSSL Generating a private key and self-signed certificate can be accomplished in a few simple steps using OpenSSL. We provide here detailed instructions on how to create a private key and self-signed certificate valid for 365 days.

The Commands to Run

Generate a 2048 bit RSA Key

You can generate a public and private RSA key pair like this:

Openssl Command To Generate Certificate And Private Key

openssl genrsa -des3 -out private.pem 2048

That generates a 2048-bit RSA key pair, encrypts them with a password you provideand writes them to a file. You need to next extract the public key file. You willuse this, for instance, on your web server to encrypt content so that it canonly be read with the private key.

Export the RSA Public Key to a File

This is a command that is

openssl rsa -in private.pem -outform PEM -pubout -out public.pem

The -pubout flag is really important. Be sure to include it.

Next open the public.pem and ensure that it starts with-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----. This is how you know that this file is thepublic key of the pair and not a private key.

To check the file from the command line you can use the less command, like this:

less public.pem

Do Not Run This, it Exports the Private Key

A previous version of the post gave this example in error.

openssl rsa -in private.pem -out private_unencrypted.pem -outform PEM

The error is that the -pubout was dropped from the end of the command.That changes the meaning of the command from that of exporting the public keyto exporting the private key outside of its encrypted wrapper. Inspecting theoutput file, in this case private_unencrypted.pem clearly shows that the keyis a RSA private key as it starts with -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----.

Visually Inspect Your Key Files

It is important to visually inspect you private and public key files to makesure that they are what you expect. OpenSSL will clearly explain the nature ofthe key block with a -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY----- or -----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----.

Openssl Generate Public Private Key

Generate ssh keys mac gitlab. You can use less to inspect each of your two files in turn:

  • less private.pem to verify that it starts with a -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
  • less public.pem to verify that it starts with a -----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----

The next section shows a full example of what each key file should look like.

The Generated Key Files

The generated files are base64-encoded encryption keys in plain text format.If you select a password for your private key, its file will be encrypted withyour password. Be sure to remember this password or the key pair becomes useless.

The private.pem file looks something like this:

The public key, public.pem, file looks like:

Protecting Your Keys

Depending on the nature of the information you will protect, it’s important tokeep the private key backed up and secret. The public key can be distributedanywhere or embedded in your web application scripts, such as in your PHP,Ruby, or other scripts. Again, backup your keys!

Openssl Command To Generate Certificate And Private Key Software

Remember, if the key goes away the data encrypted to it is gone. Keeping aprinted copy of the key material in a sealed envelope in a bank safety depositbox is a good way to protect important keys against loss due to fire or harddrive failure.

Oh, and one last thing.

If you, dear reader, were planning any funny business with the private key that I have just published here. Know that they were made especially for this series of blog posts. I do not use them for anything else.

Found an issue?

Rietta plans, develops, and maintains applications.

Learn more about our services or drop us your email and we'll e-mail you back.

Other Blog Articles Published by Rietta.com

Openssl Command To Generate Certificate And Private Key

Generate CSR - OpenSSL

Introduction

This article provides step-by-step instructions for generating a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) in OpenSSL. This is most commonly required for web servers such as Apache HTTP Server and NGINX. If this is not the solution you are looking for, please search for your solution in the search bar above.

Switch to a working directory

GNU/Linux & Mac OS X users:
Open a terminal and browse to a folder where you would like to generate your keypair Generate new public key from private key.

Windows Users:
Navigate to your OpenSSL 'bin' directory and open a command prompt in the same location.

Generate a CSR & Private Key:
openssl req -out CSR.csr -new -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout privatekey.key

To generate a 4096-bit CSR you can replace the rsa:2048 syntax with rsa:4096 as shown below.
openssl req -out CSR.csr -new -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout privatekey.key

Note: You will be prompted to enter a password in order to proceed. Keep this password as you will need it to use the Certificate.

Fill out the following fields as prompted:
Note: The following characters can not be accepted: < > ~ ! @ # $ % ^ * / ( ) ?.,&

FieldExample
Country NameUS (2 Letter Code)
State or ProvinceNew Hampshire (Full State Name)
LocalityPortsmouth (Full City name)
OrganizationGMO GlobalSign Inc (Entity's Legal Name)
Organizational Unit Support (Optional, e.g. a department)
Common Namewww.globalsign.com (Domain or Entity name)

You should now have a Private Key (privatekey.key) which should stay on your computer, and a Certificate Signing Request (CSR.csr), which can be submitted to GlobalSign to sign your public key. Each of these files can be viewed in a plain text editor such as Notepad, TextEdit, Vi, Nano, and Notepad++.

Coments are closed
Scroll to top