2.3. Creating a private CA by using OpenSSL

Procedure

1. Generate a private key for your CA. For example, the following command creates a 256-bit Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) key:

   $ openssl genpkey -algorithm ec -pkeyopt ec_paramgen_curve:P-256 -out <ca.key>

   The time for the key-generation process depends on the hardware and entropy of the host, the selected algorithm, and the length of the key.

2. Create a certificate signed using the private key generated in the previous command:

   $ openssl req -key <ca.key> -new -x509 -days 3650 -addext keyUsage=critical,keyCertSign,cRLSign -subj "/CN=<example_CA>" -out <ca.crt>

   The generated ca.crt file is a self-signed CA certificate that you can use to sign other certificates for ten years. In the case of a private CA, you can replace <example_CA> with any string as the common name (CN).

3. Set secure permissions on the private key of your CA, for example:

   # chown <root>:<root> <ca.key>
   # chmod 600 <ca.key>

Verification

1. Create a certificate signing request (CSR), and use your CA to sign the request. The CA must successfully create a certificate based on the CSR, for example:

   $ openssl x509 -req -in <client-cert.csr> -CA <ca.crt> -CAkey <ca.key> -CAcreateserial -days 365 -extfile <openssl.cnf> -extensions <client-cert> -out <client-cert.crt>
   Signature ok
   subject=C = US, O = Example Organization, CN = server.example.com
   Getting CA Private Key

   See 2.6절. “Using a private CA to issue certificates for CSRs with OpenSSL” and the ca(1), genpkey(1), and req(1) man pages on your system for more information.

2. Display the basic information about your self-signed CA:

   $ openssl x509 -in <ca.crt> -text -noout
   Certificate:
   …
           X509v3 extensions:
               …
               X509v3 Basic Constraints: critical
                   CA:TRUE
               X509v3 Key Usage: critical
                   Certificate Sign, CRL Sign
   …

3. Verify the consistency of the private key:

   $ openssl pkey -check -in <ca.key>
   Key is valid
   -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
   MIGHAgEAMBMGByqGSM49AgEGCCqGSM49AwEHBG0wawIBAQQgcagSaTEBn74xZAwO
   18wRpXoCVC9vcPki7WlT+gnmCI+hRANCAARb9NxIvkaVjFhOoZbGp/HtIQxbM78E
   lwbDP0BI624xBJ8gK68ogSaq2x4SdezFdV1gNeKScDcU+Pj2pELldmdF
   -----END PRIVATE KEY-----