EASY-RSA Version 2.0-rc1
This is a small RSA key management package, based on the openssl
command line tool, that can be found in the easy-rsa subdirectory
of the OpenVPN distribution.
These are reference notes. For step-by-step instructions, see the
HOWTO:
http://openvpn.net/howto.html
This package is based on the ./pkitool script. Run ./pkitool
without arguments for a detailed help message (which is also pasted
below).
Release Notes for easy-rsa-2.0
* Most functionality has been consolidated into the pkitool
script. For compatibility, all previous scripts from 1.0 such
as build-key and build-key-server are provided as stubs
which call pkitool to do the real work.
* pkitool has a --batch flag (enabled by default) which generates
keys/certs without needing any interactive input. pkitool
can still generate certs/keys using interactive prompting by
using the --interact flag.
* The inherit-inter script has been provided for creating
a new PKI rooted on an intermediate certificate built within a
higher-level PKI. See comments in the inherit-inter script
for more info.
* The openssl.cnf file has been modified. pkitool will not
work with the openssl.cnf file included with previous
easy-rsa releases.
* The vars file has been modified -- the following extra
variables have been added: EASY_RSA, CA_EXPIRE,
KEY_EXPIRE.
* The make-crl and revoke-crt scripts have been removed and
are replaced by the revoke-full script.
* The "Organizational Unit" X509 field can be set using
the KEY_OU environmental variable before calling pkitool.
* This release only affects the Linux/Unix version of easy-rsa.
The Windows version (written to use the Windows shell) is unchanged.
INSTALL easy-rsa
1. Edit vars.
2. Set KEY_CONFIG to point to the openssl.cnf file
included in this distribution.
3. Set KEY_DIR to point to a directory which will
contain all keys, certificates, etc. This
directory need not exist, and if it does,
it will be deleted with rm -rf, so BE
CAREFUL how you set KEY_DIR.
4. (Optional) Edit other fields in vars
per your site data. You may want to
increase KEY_SIZE to 2048 if you are
paranoid and don't mind slower key
processing, but certainly 1024 is
fine for testing purposes. KEY_SIZE
must be compatible across both peers
participating in a secure SSL/TLS
connection.
5 . vars
6. ./clean-all
7. As you create certificates, keys, and
certificate signing requests, understand that
only .key files should be kept confidential.
.crt and .csr files can be sent over insecure
channels such as plaintext email.
IMPORTANT
To avoid a possible Man-in-the-Middle attack where an authorized
client tries to connect to another client by impersonating the
server, make sure to enforce some kind of server certificate
verification by clients. There are currently four different ways
of accomplishing this, listed in the order of preference:
(1) Build your server certificates with the build-key-server
script, or using the --server option to pkitool.
This will designate the certificate as a
server-only certificate by setting nsCertType=server.
Now add the following line to your client configuration:
ns-cert-type server
This will block clients from connecting to any
server which lacks the nsCertType=server designation
in its certificate, even if the certificate has been
signed by the CA which is cited in the OpenVPN configuration
file (--ca directive).
(2) Use the --tls-remote directive on the client to
accept/reject the server connection based on the common
name of the server certificate.
(3) Use a --tls-verify script or plugin to accept/reject the
server connection based on a custom test of the server
certificate's embedded X509 subject details.
(4) Sign server certificates with one CA and client certificates
with a different CA. The client config "ca" directive should
reference the server-signing CA while the server config "ca"
directive should reference the client-signing CA.
NOTES
Show certificate fields:
openssl x509 -in cert.crt -text
PKITOOL documentation
pkitool 2.0
Usage: pkitool [options...] [common-name]
Options:
--batch : batch mode (default)
--interact : interactive mode
--server : build server cert
--initca : build root CA
--inter : build intermediate CA
--pass : encrypt private key with password
--csr : only generate a CSR, do not sign
--sign : sign an existing CSR
--pkcs12 : generate a combined pkcs12 file
Notes:
Please edit the vars script to reflect your configuration,
then source it with "source ./vars".
Next, to start with a fresh PKI configuration and to delete any
previous certificates and keys, run "./clean-all".
Finally, you can run this tool (pkitool) to build certificates/keys.
Generated files and corresponding OpenVPN directives:
(Files will be placed in the $KEY_DIR directory, defined in ./vars)
ca.crt -> root certificate (--ca)
ca.key -> root key, keep secure (not directly used by OpenVPN)
.crt files -> client/server certificates (--cert)
.key files -> private keys, keep secure (--key)
.csr files -> certificate signing request (not directly used by OpenVPN)
dh1024.pem or dh2048.pem -> Diffie Hellman parameters (--dh)
Examples:
pkitool --initca -> Build root certificate
pkitool --initca --pass -> Build root certificate with password-protected key
pkitool --server server1 -> Build "server1" certificate/key
pkitool client1 -> Build "client1" certificate/key
pkitool --pass client2 -> Build password-protected "client2" certificate/key
pkitool --pkcs12 client3 -> Build "client3" certificate/key in PKCS #12 format
pkitool --csr client4 -> Build "client4" CSR to be signed by another CA
pkitool --sign client4 -> Sign "client4" CSR
pkitool --inter interca -> Build an intermediate key-signing certificate/key
Also see ./inherit-inter script.
Typical usage for initial PKI setup. Build myserver, client1, and client2 cert/keys.
Protect client2 key with a password. Build DH parms. Generated files in ./keys :
[edit vars with your site-specific info]
source ./vars
./clean-all
./build-dh -> takes a long time, consider backgrounding
./pkitool --initca
./pkitool --server myserver
./pkitool client1
./pkitool --pass client2
Typical usage for adding client cert to existing PKI:
source ./vars
./pkitool client-new
