man > CA.pl(1ssl)

CA.PL(1SSL)                                    OpenSSL                                   CA.PL(1SSL)

NAME
       CA.pl - friendlier interface for OpenSSL certificate programs

SYNOPSIS
       CA.pl -? | -h | -help

       CA.pl -newcert | -newreq | -newreq-nodes | -xsign | -sign | -signCA | -signcert | -crl |
       -newca [-extra-cmd parameter]

       CA.pl -pkcs12 [certname]

       CA.pl -verify certfile ...

       CA.pl -revoke certfile [reason]

DESCRIPTION
       The CA.pl script is a perl script that supplies the relevant command line arguments to the
       openssl(1) command for some common certificate operations.  It is intended to simplify the
       process of certificate creation and management by the use of some simple options.

       The script is intended as a simple front end for the openssl(1) program for use by a
       beginner. Its behaviour isn't always what is wanted. For more control over the behaviour of
       the certificate commands call the openssl(1) command directly.

       Most of the filenames mentioned below can be modified by editing the CA.pl script.

       Under some environments it may not be possible to run the CA.pl script directly (for example
       Win32) and the default configuration file location may be wrong. In this case the command:

        perl -S CA.pl

       can be used and the OPENSSL_CONF environment variable can be set to point to the correct path
       of the configuration file.

OPTIONS
       -?, -h, -help
           Prints a usage message.

       -newcert
           Creates  a new self signed certificate. The private key is written to the file newkey.pem
           and the request written to the file newreq.pem.  Invokes openssl-req(1).

       -newreq
           Creates a new certificate request. The private key is written to the file newkey.pem  and
           the request written to the file newreq.pem.  Executes openssl-req(1) under the hood.

       -newreq-nodes
           Is like -newreq except that the private key will not be encrypted.  Uses openssl-req(1).

       -newca
           Creates  a  new  CA  hierarchy  for  use with the ca program (or the -signcert and -xsign
           options). The user is prompted to enter the filename of the CA certificates (which should
           also contain the private key) or by hitting ENTER details of the CA will be prompted for.
           The relevant files and directories are created  in  a  directory  called  demoCA  in  the
           current directory.  Uses openssl-req(1) and openssl-ca(1).

           If  the demoCA directory already exists then the -newca command will not overwrite it and
           will do nothing. This can happen if a previous call using the  -newca  option  terminated
           abnormally. To get the correct behaviour delete the directory if it already exists.

       -pkcs12
           Create a PKCS#12 file containing the user certificate, private key and CA certificate. It
           expects  the  user  certificate  and private key to be in the file newcert.pem and the CA
           certificate to be in the file demoCA/cacert.pem, it  creates  a  file  newcert.p12.  This
           command  can  thus  be  called  after  the -sign option. The PKCS#12 file can be imported
           directly into a browser.  If there is an additional argument on the command line it  will
           be  used  as the "friendly name" for the certificate (which is typically displayed in the
           browser list box), otherwise the name  "My  Certificate"  is  used.   Delegates  work  to
           openssl-pkcs12(1).

       -sign, -signcert, -xsign
           Calls  the openssl-ca(1) command to sign a certificate request. It expects the request to
           be in the file newreq.pem. The new certificate is written to the file newcert.pem  except
           in the case of the -xsign option when it is written to standard output.

       -signCA
           This option is the same as the -sign option except it uses the configuration file section
           v3_ca  and  so  makes  the  signed  request  a  valid CA certificate. This is useful when
           creating intermediate CA from a root CA.  Extra params are passed to openssl-ca(1).

       -signcert
           This option is the same as -sign except it  expects  a  self  signed  certificate  to  be
           present  in  the  file  newreq.pem.   Extra  params  are  passed  to  openssl-x509(1) and
           openssl-ca(1).

       -crl
           Generate a CRL. Executes openssl-ca(1).

       -revoke certfile [reason]
           Revoke the certificate contained in the specified certfile. An  optional  reason  may  be
           specified,    and   must   be   one   of:   unspecified,   keyCompromise,   CACompromise,
           affiliationChanged, superseded, cessationOfOperation, certificateHold, or  removeFromCRL.
           Leverages openssl-ca(1).

       -verify
           Verifies  certificates  against  the  CA  certificate  for demoCA. If no certificates are
           specified on the  command  line  it  tries  to  verify  the  file  newcert.pem.   Invokes
           openssl-verify(1).

       -extra-cmd parameter
           For  each  option  extra-cmd,  pass parameter to the openssl(1) sub-command with the same
           name as cmd, if that sub-command is invoked.  For example, if openssl-req(1) is  invoked,
           the  parameter  given  with  -extra-req will be passed to it.  For multi-word parameters,
           either repeat the option or quote the parameters so it looks like one word to your shell.
           See the individual command documentation for more information.

EXAMPLES
       Create a CA hierarchy:

        CA.pl -newca

       Complete certificate creation example: create a CA, create a request, sign  the  request  and
       finally create a PKCS#12 file containing it.

        CA.pl -newca
        CA.pl -newreq
        CA.pl -sign
        CA.pl -pkcs12 "My Test Certificate"

ENVIRONMENT
       The  environment  variable OPENSSL may be used to specify the name of the OpenSSL program. It
       can be a full pathname, or a relative one.

       The environment variable OPENSSL_CONFIG may be used to specify  a  configuration  option  and
       value  to the req and ca commands invoked by this script. It's value should be the option and
       pathname, as in "-config /path/to/conf-file".

SEE ALSO
       openssl(1), openssl-x509(1), openssl-ca(1), openssl-req(1), openssl-pkcs12(1), config(5)

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright 2000-2021 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.

       Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License").  You may not use this file  except  in
       compliance  with  the  License.   You  can  obtain  a  copy in the file LICENSE in the source
       distribution or at <https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.

3.0.13                                       2026-07-29                                  CA.PL(1SSL)