man > OPENSSL-X509(1SSL)

OPENSSL-X509(1SSL)                             OpenSSL                            OPENSSL-X509(1SSL)

NAME
       openssl-x509 - Certificate display and signing command

SYNOPSIS
       openssl x509 [-help] [-in filename|uri] [-passin arg] [-new] [-x509toreq] [-req]
       [-copy_extensions arg] [-inform DER|PEM] [-vfyopt nm:v] [-key filename|uri] [-keyform
       DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE] [-signkey filename|uri] [-out filename] [-outform DER|PEM] [-nocert]
       [-noout] [-dateopt] [-text] [-certopt option] [-fingerprint] [-alias] [-serial] [-startdate]
       [-enddate] [-dates] [-subject] [-issuer] [-nameopt option] [-email] [-hash] [-subject_hash]
       [-subject_hash_old] [-issuer_hash] [-issuer_hash_old] [-ext extensions] [-ocspid] [-ocsp_uri]
       [-purpose] [-pubkey] [-modulus] [-checkend num] [-checkhost host] [-checkemail host]
       [-checkip ipaddr] [-set_serial n] [-next_serial] [-days arg] [-preserve_dates] [-subj arg]
       [-force_pubkey filename] [-clrext] [-extfile filename] [-extensions section] [-sigopt nm:v]
       [-badsig] [-digest] [-CA filename|uri] [-CAform DER|PEM|P12] [-CAkey filename|uri]
       [-CAkeyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE] [-CAserial filename] [-CAcreateserial] [-trustout] [-setalias
       arg] [-clrtrust] [-addtrust arg] [-clrreject] [-addreject arg] [-rand files] [-writerand
       file] [-engine id] [-provider name] [-provider-path path] [-propquery propq]

DESCRIPTION
       This command is a multi-purposes certificate handling command.  It can be used to print
       certificate information, convert certificates to various forms, edit certificate trust
       settings, generate certificates from scratch or from certificating requests and then self-
       signing them or signing them like a "micro CA".

       Since there are a large number of options they will split up into various sections.

OPTIONS
   Input, Output, and General Purpose Options
       -help
           Print out a usage message.

       -in filename|uri
           This  specifies  the  input  to  read  a certificate from or the input file for reading a
           certificate request if the -req flag is used.  In both cases this  defaults  to  standard
           input.

           This option cannot be combined with the -new flag.

       -passin arg
           The  key  and certificate file password source.  For more information about the format of
           arg see openssl-passphrase-options(1).

       -new
           Generate a certificate from scratch,  not  using  an  input  certificate  or  certificate
           request.  So  the  -in  option  must not be used in this case.  Instead, the -subj option
           needs to be given.  The public key to include can be given with the -force_pubkey  option
           and  defaults  to  the  key given with the -key (or -signkey) option, which implies self-
           signature.

       -x509toreq
           Output a PKCS#10 certificate request (rather than a certificate).  The -key (or -signkey)
           option must be used to provide the private key for self-signing; the corresponding public
           key is placed in the subjectPKInfo field.

           X.509 extensions included in a certificate  input  are  not  copied  by  default.   X.509
           extensions to be added can be specified using the -extfile option.

       -req
           By  default  a  certificate is expected on input.  With this option a PKCS#10 certificate
           request is expected instead, which must be correctly self-signed.

           X.509 extensions included in the request are not copied by default.  X.509 extensions  to
           be added can be specified using the -extfile option.

       -copy_extensions arg
           Determines how to handle X.509 extensions when converting from a certificate to a request
           using  the -x509toreq option or converting from a request to a certificate using the -req
           option.  If arg is none or this option is not present then extensions  are  ignored.   If
           arg is copy or copyall then all extensions are copied, except that subject identifier and
           authority  key  identifier  extensions  are  not  taken over when producing a certificate
           request.

           The -ext option can be used to further restrict which extensions to copy.

       -inform DER|PEM
           The input  file  format;  unspecified  by  default.   See  openssl-format-options(1)  for
           details.

       -vfyopt nm:v
           Pass  options  to  the signature algorithm during verify operations.  Names and values of
           these options are algorithm-specific.

       -key filename|uri
           This option provides the private  key  for  signing  a  new  certificate  or  certificate
           request.   Unless  -force_pubkey  is given, the corresponding public key is placed in the
           new certificate or certificate request, resulting in a self-signature.

           This option cannot be used in conjunction with the -CA option.

           It sets the issuer name to the subject name (i.e., makes it self-issued) and changes  the
           public  key  to  the  supplied  value  (unless  overridden by -force_pubkey).  Unless the
           -preserve_dates option is supplied, it sets the validity start date to the  current  time
           and the end date to a value determined by the -days option.

       -signkey filename|uri
           This option is an alias of -key.

       -keyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE
           The key input format; unspecified by default.  See openssl-format-options(1) for details.

       -out filename
           This specifies the output filename to write to or standard output by default.

       -outform DER|PEM
           The output format; the default is PEM.  See openssl-format-options(1) for details.

       -nocert
           Do not output a certificate (except for printing as requested by below options).

       -noout
           This option prevents output except for printing as requested by below options.

   Certificate Printing Options
       Note:  the  -alias  and  -purpose  options are also printing options but are described in the
       "Trust Settings" section.

       -dateopt
           Specify the date output format. Values are: rfc_822 and iso_8601.  Defaults to rfc_822.

       -text
           Prints out the certificate in text form. Full details are printed  including  the  public
           key, signature algorithms, issuer and subject names, serial number any extensions present
           and any trust settings.

       -certopt option
           Customise the print format used with -text. The option argument can be a single option or
           multiple  options separated by commas.  The -certopt switch may be also be used more than
           once to set multiple options. See the "Text Printing Flags" section for more information.

       -fingerprint
           Calculates and prints the digest of the DER encoded version  of  the  entire  certificate
           (see  digest options).  This is commonly called a "fingerprint". Because of the nature of
           message digests, the fingerprint of a certificate is unique to that certificate  and  two
           certificates with the same fingerprint can be considered to be the same.

       -alias
           Prints the certificate "alias" (nickname), if any.

       -serial
           Prints the certificate serial number.

       -startdate
           Prints out the start date of the certificate, that is the notBefore date.

       -enddate
           Prints out the expiry date of the certificate, that is the notAfter date.

       -dates
           Prints out the start and expiry dates of a certificate.

       -subject
           Prints the subject name.

       -issuer
           Prints the issuer name.

       -nameopt option
           This    specifies    how    the   subject   or   issuer   names   are   displayed.    See
           openssl-namedisplay-options(1) for details.

       -email
           Prints the email address(es) if any.

       -hash
           Synonym for "-subject_hash" for backward compatibility reasons.

       -subject_hash
           Prints the "hash" of the certificate subject name. This is used in  OpenSSL  to  form  an
           index to allow certificates in a directory to be looked up by subject name.

       -subject_hash_old
           Prints  the  "hash"  of the certificate subject name using the older algorithm as used by
           OpenSSL before version 1.0.0.

       -issuer_hash
           Prints the "hash" of the certificate issuer name.

       -issuer_hash_old
           Prints the "hash" of the certificate issuer name using the older  algorithm  as  used  by
           OpenSSL before version 1.0.0.

       -ext extensions
           Prints  out  the certificate extensions in text form.  Can also be used to restrict which
           extensions to copy.  Extensions are  specified  with  a  comma  separated  string,  e.g.,
           "subjectAltName,subjectKeyIdentifier".   See  the  x509v3_config(5)  manual  page for the
           extension names.

       -ocspid
           Prints the OCSP hash values for the subject name and public key.

       -ocsp_uri
           Prints the OCSP responder address(es) if any.

       -purpose
           This option performs tests on the certificate extensions and outputs the results.  For  a
           more       complete       description      see      "Certificate      Extensions"      in
           openssl-verification-options(1).

       -pubkey
           Prints the certificate's SubjectPublicKeyInfo block in PEM format.

       -modulus
           This option prints out the value of the modulus  of  the  public  key  contained  in  the
           certificate.

   Certificate Checking Options
       -checkend arg
           Checks if the certificate expires within the next arg seconds and exits nonzero if yes it
           will expire or zero if not.

       -checkhost host
           Check that the certificate matches the specified host.

       -checkemail email
           Check that the certificate matches the specified email address.

       -checkip ipaddr
           Check that the certificate matches the specified IP address.

   Certificate Output Options
       -set_serial n
           Specifies  the serial number to use.  This option can be used with the -key, -signkey, or
           -CA options.  If used in conjunction with the -CA  option  the  serial  number  file  (as
           specified by the -CAserial option) is not used.

           The serial number can be decimal or hex (if preceded by "0x").

       -next_serial
           Set the serial to be one more than the number in the certificate.

       -days arg
           Specifies the number of days until a newly generated certificate expires.  The default is
           30.  Cannot be used together with the -preserve_dates option.

       -preserve_dates
           When  signing  a  certificate,  preserve  "notBefore"  and  "notAfter" dates of any input
           certificate instead of adjusting them to current  time  and  duration.   Cannot  be  used
           together with the -days option.

       -subj arg
           When  a  certificate  is  created  set  its  subject  name  to the given value.  When the
           certificate is self-signed the issuer name is set to the same value.

           The arg must be formatted as "/type0=value0/type1=value1/type2=...".  Special  characters
           may  be  escaped by "\" (backslash), whitespace is retained.  Empty values are permitted,
           but the corresponding type will not be included in the certificate.  Giving a single  "/"
           will  lead  to an empty sequence of RDNs (a NULL-DN).  Multi-valued RDNs can be formed by
           placing a "+" character instead of a "/" between the AttributeValueAssertions (AVAs) that
           specify the members of the set.  Example:

           "/DC=org/DC=OpenSSL/DC=users/UID=123456+CN=John Doe"

           This option can be used  in  conjunction  with  the  -force_pubkey  option  to  create  a
           certificate even without providing an input certificate or certificate request.

       -force_pubkey filename
           When  a  certificate  is created set its public key to the key in filename instead of the
           key contained in the input or given with the -key (or -signkey) option.

           This option is useful for creating self-issued certificates that are not self-signed, for
           instance when the key cannot be used for signing, such as DH.  It can  also  be  used  in
           conjunction with -new and -subj to directly generate a certificate containing any desired
           public key.

       -clrext
           When  transforming  a  certificate  to  a  new  certificate  by  default  all certificate
           extensions are retained.

           When transforming a certificate or  certificate  request,  the  -clrext  option  prevents
           taking  over  any  extensions from the source.  In any case, when producing a certificate
           request, neither subject identifier nor authority key identifier extensions are included.

       -extfile filename
           Configuration file containing certificate and request X.509 extensions to add.

       -extensions section
           The section in the extfile to add X.509 extensions from.  If this option is not specified
           then the extensions should either be contained in the unnamed (default)  section  or  the
           default  section should contain a variable called "extensions" which contains the section
           to use.  See the x509v3_config(5) manual  page  for  details  of  the  extension  section
           format.

       -sigopt nm:v
           Pass options to the signature algorithm during sign operations.  This option may be given
           multiple times.  Names and values provided using this option are algorithm-specific.

       -badsig
           Corrupt the signature before writing it; this can be useful for testing.

       -digest
           The  digest  to  use.   This  affects  any signing or printing option that uses a message
           digest, such as the -fingerprint, -key, and -CA options.  Any  digest  supported  by  the
           openssl-dgst(1)  command  can  be  used.   If  not  specified  then  SHA1  is  used  with
           -fingerprint or the default digest for the signing algorithm is used, typically SHA256.

   Micro-CA Options
       -CA filename|uri
           Specifies the "CA" certificate to be used for signing.  When present, this behaves like a
           "micro CA" as follows: The subject name of the "CA" certificate is placed as issuer  name
           in the new certificate, which is then signed using the "CA" key given as detailed below.

           This  option  cannot  be  used  in  conjunction  with -key (or -signkey).  This option is
           normally combined with the -req option referencing a CSR.  Without the  -req  option  the
           input  must be an existing certificate unless the -new option is given, which generates a
           certificate from scratch.

       -CAform DER|PEM|P12,
           The format for the CA certificate; unspecified by default.  See openssl-format-options(1)
           for details.

       -CAkey filename|uri
           Sets the CA private key to sign a certificate with.   The  private  key  must  match  the
           public  key  of  the certificate given with -CA.  If this option is not provided then the
           key must be present in the -CA input.

       -CAkeyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE
           The format for the CA key; unspecified by  default.   See  openssl-format-options(1)  for
           details.

       -CAserial filename
           Sets the CA serial number file to use.

           When  creating  a  certificate  with this option and with the -CA option, the certificate
           serial number is stored in the given file.  This file consists of one line containing  an
           even  number  of  hex  digits  with the serial number used last time.  After reading this
           number, it is incremented and used, and the file is updated.

           The default filename consists of the CA certificate file base name  with  .srl  appended.
           For example if the CA certificate file is called mycacert.pem it expects to find a serial
           number file called mycacert.srl.

           If  the -CA option is specified and neither <-CAserial> or <-CAcreateserial> is given and
           the default serial number file does not exist, a random number is generated; this is  the
           recommended practice.

       -CAcreateserial
           With  this  option and the -CA option the CA serial number file is created if it does not
           exist.  A random number is generated, used for the certificate, and saved into the serial
           number file determined as described above.

   Trust Settings
       A trusted certificate is an ordinary certificate  which  has  several  additional  pieces  of
       information  attached  to it such as the permitted and prohibited uses of the certificate and
       possibly an "alias" (nickname).

       Normally when a certificate is being verified at least one certificate must be "trusted".  By
       default  a  trusted certificate must be stored locally and must be a root CA: any certificate
       chain ending in this CA is then usable for any purpose.

       Trust settings currently are only used with a root CA.  They allow a finer control  over  the
       purposes  the  root  CA can be used for.  For example, a CA may be trusted for SSL client but
       not SSL server use.

       See openssl-verification-options(1) for more information on the meaning of trust settings.

       Future versions of OpenSSL will recognize trust settings on any certificate:  not  just  root
       CAs.

       -trustout
           Mark  any  certificate  PEM  output  as  <trusted>  certificate rather than ordinary.  An
           ordinary or trusted certificate can be input but by default an  ordinary  certificate  is
           output  and  any  trust  settings  are  discarded.   With  the -trustout option a trusted
           certificate is output. A  trusted  certificate  is  automatically  output  if  any  trust
           settings are modified.

       -setalias arg
           Sets  the  "alias"  of the certificate. This will allow the certificate to be referred to
           using a nickname for example "Steve's Certificate".

       -clrtrust
           Clears all the permitted or trusted uses of the certificate.

       -addtrust arg
           Adds a trusted certificate use.  Any object name can be  used  here  but  currently  only
           clientAuth,  serverAuth,  emailProtection,  and  anyExtendedKeyUsage  are defined.  As of
           OpenSSL 1.1.0, the last of these  blocks  all  purposes  when  rejected  or  enables  all
           purposes when trusted.  Other OpenSSL applications may define additional uses.

       -clrreject
           Clears all the prohibited or rejected uses of the certificate.

       -addreject arg
           Adds  a  prohibited  trust  anchor  purpose.  It accepts the same values as the -addtrust
           option.

   Generic options
       -rand files, -writerand file
           See "Random State Options" in openssl(1) for details.

       -engine id
           See "Engine Options" in openssl(1).  This option is deprecated.

       -provider name
       -provider-path path
       -propquery propq
           See "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7).

   Text Printing Flags
       As well as customising the name printing format, it is also possible to customise the  actual
       fields  printed  using  the  certopt  option  when  the  text  option is present. The default
       behaviour is to print all fields.

       compatible
           Use the old format. This is equivalent to specifying no printing options at all.

       no_header
           Don't print header information: that is the lines saying "Certificate" and "Data".

       no_version
           Don't print out the version number.

       no_serial
           Don't print out the serial number.

       no_signame
           Don't print out the signature algorithm used.

       no_validity
           Don't print the validity, that is the notBefore and notAfter fields.

       no_subject
           Don't print out the subject name.

       no_issuer
           Don't print out the issuer name.

       no_pubkey
           Don't print out the public key.

       no_sigdump
           Don't give a hexadecimal dump of the certificate signature.

       no_aux
           Don't print out certificate trust information.

       no_extensions
           Don't print out any X509V3 extensions.

       ext_default
           Retain  default  extension  behaviour:  attempt  to  print  out  unsupported  certificate
           extensions.

       ext_error
           Print an error message for unsupported certificate extensions.

       ext_parse
           ASN1 parse unsupported extensions.

       ext_dump
           Hex dump unsupported extensions.

       ca_default
           The  value  used  by  openssl-ca(1),  equivalent  to no_issuer, no_pubkey, no_header, and
           no_version.

EXAMPLES
       Note: in these examples the '\' means the example should be all on one line.

       Print the contents of a certificate:

        openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -text

       Print the "Subject Alternative Name" extension of a certificate:

        openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -ext subjectAltName

       Print more extensions of a certificate:

        openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -ext subjectAltName,nsCertType

       Print the certificate serial number:

        openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -serial

       Print the certificate subject name:

        openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -subject

       Print the certificate subject name in RFC2253 form:

        openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -subject -nameopt RFC2253

       Print the certificate subject name in oneline form on a terminal supporting UTF8:

        openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -subject -nameopt oneline,-esc_msb

       Print the certificate SHA1 fingerprint:

        openssl x509 -sha1 -in cert.pem -noout -fingerprint

       Convert a certificate from PEM to DER format:

        openssl x509 -in cert.pem -inform PEM -out cert.der -outform DER

       Convert a certificate to a certificate request:

        openssl x509 -x509toreq -in cert.pem -out req.pem -key key.pem

       Convert a certificate request into a self-signed certificate using extensions for a CA:

        openssl x509 -req -in careq.pem -extfile openssl.cnf -extensions v3_ca \
               -key key.pem -out cacert.pem

       Sign a  certificate  request  using  the  CA  certificate  above  and  add  user  certificate
       extensions:

        openssl x509 -req -in req.pem -extfile openssl.cnf -extensions v3_usr \
               -CA cacert.pem -CAkey key.pem -CAcreateserial

       Set a certificate to be trusted for SSL client use and change set its alias to "Steve's Class
       1 CA"

        openssl x509 -in cert.pem -addtrust clientAuth \
               -setalias "Steve's Class 1 CA" -out trust.pem

NOTES
       The  conversion  to  UTF8  format  used with the name options assumes that T61Strings use the
       ISO8859-1 character set. This is wrong but Netscape and MSIE do this as do many certificates.
       So although this is incorrect it is  more  likely  to  print  the  majority  of  certificates
       correctly.

       The  -email option searches the subject name and the subject alternative name extension. Only
       unique email addresses will be printed out: it will not print  the  same  address  more  than
       once.

BUGS
       It  is  possible  to produce invalid certificates or requests by specifying the wrong private
       key, using unsuitable X.509 extensions, or using inconsistent options in  some  cases:  these
       should be checked.

       There  should  be options to explicitly set such things as start and end dates rather than an
       offset from the current time.

SEE ALSO
       openssl(1),    openssl-req(1),    openssl-ca(1),    openssl-genrsa(1),     openssl-gendsa(1),
       openssl-verify(1), x509v3_config(5)

HISTORY
       The  hash  algorithm  used in the -subject_hash and -issuer_hash options before OpenSSL 1.0.0
       was based on the deprecated MD5 algorithm and the encoding  of  the  distinguished  name.  In
       OpenSSL  1.0.0  and later it is based on a canonical version of the DN using SHA1. This means
       that any directories using the old form must have their links rebuilt using openssl-rehash(1)
       or similar.

       The -signkey option has been renamed to -key in OpenSSL 3.0,  keeping  the  old  name  as  an
       alias.

       The -engine option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.

       The -C option was removed in OpenSSL 3.0.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright 2000-2023 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                           OPENSSL-X509(1SSL)
OPENSSL-X509(1SSL)
NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION OPTIONS
Input, Output, and General Purpose Options -help -in filename|uri -passin arg -new -x509toreq -req -copy_extensions arg -inform DER|PEM -vfyopt nm:v -key filename|uri -signkey filename|uri -keyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE -out filename -outform DER|PEM -nocert -noout Certificate Printing Options -dateopt -text -certopt option -fingerprint -alias -serial -startdate -enddate -dates -subject -issuer -nameopt option -email -hash -subject_hash -subject_hash_old -issuer_hash -issuer_hash_old -ext extensions -ocspid -ocsp_uri -purpose -pubkey -modulus Certificate Checking Options -checkend arg -checkhost host -checkemail email -checkip ipaddr Certificate Output Options -set_serial n -next_serial -days arg -preserve_dates -subj arg -force_pubkey filename -clrext -extfile filename -extensions section -sigopt nm:v -badsig -digest Micro-CA Options -CA filename|uri -CAform DER|PEM|P12, -CAkey filename|uri -CAkeyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE -CAserial filename -CAcreateserial Trust Settings -trustout -setalias arg -clrtrust -addtrust arg -clrreject -addreject arg Generic options -rand files, -writerand file -engine id -provider name -provider-path path -propquery propq Text Printing Flags compatible no_header no_version no_serial no_signame no_validity no_subject no_issuer no_pubkey no_sigdump no_aux no_extensions ext_default ext_error ext_parse ext_dump ca_default
EXAMPLES NOTES BUGS SEE ALSO HISTORY COPYRIGHT

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