Apr 12, 2020 # openssl rsa -noout -text -in server-noenc.key # openssl req -noout -text -in server-noenc.csr # openssl x509 -noout -text -in server-noenc.crt Setup Apache with self signed certificate After you create self signed certificates, you can these certificate and key to set up Apache with SSL (although browser will complain of insecure connection).
Download and install the OpenSSL runtimes. If you are running Windows, grab the Cygwin package.
OpenSSL can generate several kinds of public/private keypairs.RSA is the most common kind of keypair generation.[1]
Other popular ways of generating RSA public key / private key pairs include PuTTYgen and ssh-keygen.[2][3]
Execute command: 'openssl genpkey -algorithm RSA -out private_key.pem -pkeyopt rsa_keygen_bits:2048'[4] (previously “openssl genrsa -out private_key.pem 2048”)
e.g.
Make sure to prevent other users from reading your key by executing chmod go-r private_key.pem afterward.
Execute command: 'openssl rsa -pubout -in private_key.pem -out public_key.pem'
e.g.
A new file is created, public_key.pem, with the public key.
It is relatively easy to do some cryptographic calculations to calculate the public key from the prime1 and prime2 values in the public key file.However, OpenSSL has already pre-calculated the public key and stored it in the private key file.So this command doesn't actually do any cryptographic calculation -- it merely copies the public key bytes out of the file and writes the Base64 PEM encoded version of those bytes into the output public key file.[5]
Execute command: 'openssl rsa -text -in private_key.pem'
All parts of private_key.pem are printed to the screen. This includes the modulus (also referred to as public key and n), public exponent (also referred to as e and exponent; default value is 0x010001), private exponent, and primes used to create keys (prime1, also called p, and prime2, also called q), a few other variables used to perform RSA operations faster, and the Base64 PEM encoded version of all that data.[6](The Base64 PEM encoded version of all that data is identical to the private_key.pem file).
Often a person will set up an automated backup process that periodically backs up all the content on one 'working' computer onto some other 'backup' computer.
Because that person wants this process to run every night, even if no human is anywhere near either one of these computers, using a 'password-protected' private key won't work -- that person wants the backup to proceed right away, not wait until some human walks by and types in the password to unlock the private key.Many of these people generate 'a private key with no password'.[7]Some of these people, instead, generate a private key with a password,and then somehow type in that password to 'unlock' the private key every time the server reboots so that automated toolscan make use of the password-protected keys.[8][3]
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Self-signed TLS certificates are suitable for personal use or for applications that are used internally within an organization. If you intend to use your SSL certificate on a website, see our guide on enabling TLS for NGINX once you’ve completed the process outlined in this guide.
Change to the root user and change to the directory in which you want to create the certificate and key pair. That location will vary depending on your needs. Here we’ll use /root/certs:
Create the certificate:
You will be prompted to add identifying information about your website or organization to the certificate. Since a self-signed certificate won’t be used publicly, this information isn’t necessary. If this certificate will be passed on to a certificate authority for signing, the information needs to be as accurate as possible.
The following is a breakdown of the OpenSSL options used in this command. There are many other options available, but these will create a basic certificate which will be good for a year. For more information, see man openssl in your terminal.
-newkey rsa:4096: Create a 4096 bit RSA key for use with the certificate. RSA 2048 is the default on more recent versions of OpenSSL but to be sure of the key size, you should specify it during creation.
-x509: Create a self-signed certificate.
-sha256: Generate the certificate request using 265-bit SHA (Secure Hash Algorithm).
-days: Determines the length of time in days that the certificate is being issued for. For a self-signed certificate, this value can be increased as necessary.
-nodes: Create a certificate that does not require a passphrase. If this option is excluded, you will be required to enter the passphrase in the console each time the application using it is restarted.
Here is an example of the output:
Restrict the key’s permissions so that only root can access it:
Back up your certificate and key to external storage. This is an important step. Do not skip it!
This guide is published under a CC BY-ND 4.0 license.