Table of Contents

Introduction

JS7 - Deployment of Scheduling Objects makes use of Signing Certificates to digitally sign workflows and other objects. Signing Certificates are deployed to Controllers and Agents. Use of certificates for signing is not related to use of certificates to secure connections using HTTPS.

...

HTTPS connections, see JS7 - How to create X.509 SSL TLS Certificates.

Users

...

Creating self-signed Certificates.
Creating CA-signed Certificates.

can choose one of the approachs specified with RFC5280:

Self-issued Certificates are created individually per user and are deployed from individual certificate files to Controllers and Agents.

Rollout of certificates to Controllers and Agents depends on the following choice:

Self-signed Certificates have to be deployed from individual certificate files made available to Controllers and Agents.
- There is no security gap in use of self-signed issued Certificates. When users store certificate files to Controllers and Agents then this proves that they trust the certificates.
Private CA-signed Certificates are issued by users who operate their own Private Certificate Authority (CA). Individual Signing Certficates on behalf of users are not deployed to Controllers and Agents. Instead, the CA Certificate is deployed that was used to sign individual certificatesSigning Certificates.
- The approach includes that any signing certificate Signing Certificate signed by the CA will be accepted for deployment of scheduling objects.
- For better control which certificates are made available for deplyoment, users might decide to use a specific Intermediate Private CA.

...

Public CA-signed Certificates

...

are issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) that validates the domain owner. Such certificates are not created by users but are purchased from the trusted CA and are not in scope of this article.

There is no difference in using a Private CA or Public CA concerning functionality of X.509 certificates, usage for Signing, or security of certificates. The only difference is that users trust the Private CA that they set up on their own instead of trusting an external Public CA.

Self-issued Certificates and Private CA Certificates are deployed to the <data>/config/private/trusted-x509-keys directory of Controller and Agent instances.

The article explains how to create Signing Certificates for use with JS7. Users who operate an existing Private Certificate Authority might find different approaches and different responsibilities for the indicated steps. There's more than one way how to do it.

Examples make use of JS7 Release 2.7.2, OpenSSL 1.1.1k FIPS 25 Mar 2021 for Unix and OpenSSL 3.1.4 24 Oct 2023 for Windows. OpenSSL ships with Linux & other Unix OS and is available for Windows.

Anchor
creating_self_issued_certificates
creating_self_issued_certificates
Creating self-issued Certificates

Users chose this approach if they intend to authorize specific users to deploy scheduling objects:

The approach is managable if the number of Controller and Agent instances that receive the certificate is within acceptable limits.
- Consider certificate renewal that includes to update the certificate file on related Controller and Agent instances.
- Consider certificate revocation that includes to remove the certificate file from related Controller and Agent instances.
The approach allows fine-grained control, but comes at a price of having to manage deployment of user certificates individually.

Anchor
creating_private_key_and_csr
creating_private_key_and_csr
Creating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

The steps to create a Private Key and Certificate Signing Request are similar for self-issued Certificates and Private CA-signed Certificates.

Users have the option to use ECDSA or RSA algorithms for encryption performed using the Private Key.

Users can run the following commands from the shell and replace the value of the key_name environment variable with a name of their choice that is used when creating related files.

Anchor
using_private_key_ecdsa
using_private_key_ecdsa
Using ECDSA

The step to create a Private Key and Certificate Signing Request is the same for use of self-signed Certificates and CA-signed Certificates. Users have the option to use ECDSA or RSA for the encryption type applied to the Private Key.

Users can run the following commands from a shell and replace the value of the key_name environment variable with a name of their choice that is used when creating related files.

...

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request using ECDSA encryption
linenumbers	true

# Specify key name used for file names
key_name=signing

# Create Private Key
openssl ecparam -genkey -name secp384r1 -out "${key_name}".key

# Create Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
openssl req -new -sha512 -nodes \
    -key "${key_name}".key \
    -out "${key_name}".csr \
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=${key_name}"

Explanation:

Private Key
- Choice of algorithm such as secp256k1, secp384r1 is up to the user.
Certificare Signing Request
- The SHA option such as -sha256, -sha384 must match the algorithm.
- The -subj option specifies the Distinguished Name used for the subject of the CSR and Certificate.
  - The Distinguished Name is a unique identifier frequently using the hierarchy of Country C, State ST, Location L, Organization O, Organizational Unit OU and Common Name CN.
  - For self-signed Certificates the subject and issuer properties of the CSR/Certificate are the same. The minimum requirement is to specify the Common Name CN=<name> where <name> can freely be chosen.
  - For CA-signed Certificates the subject property holds the Certificate's Distinguished Name and the issuer property holds the CA Certificate's Distinguished Name. Both Distinguished Names should match except for the Common Name CN.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The <key_name>.key file will hold the Private Key.
- The <key_name>.csr file will hold the Certificate Signing Request.

...

Encryption

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request using RSA ECDSA encryption (Unix)
linenumbers	true

# Specify key name used for file names
key_name=signing

# Create Private Key and
openssl ecparam -genkey -name secp384r1 -out ${key_name}.key

# Create Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
openssl req -new -newkey rsa:4096sha512 -sha256 -nodes \
    -keyoutkey "${key_name}".key \
    -out "${key_name}".csr \
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=${key_name}"

Expand

Explanation:

In the example the Private Key is created using the specified key size 4096.
The SHA option such as -sha256, -sha384, -sha512 must match the algorithm.
For use of the -subj option see Using ECDSA Encryption.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The <key_name>.key file will hold the Private Key.
- The <key_name>.csr file will hold the Certificate Signing Request.

...

Users have the option to create self-signed Certificates or CA-signed Certificates.

...

Users can run the following commands from the shell and replace the value of the key_name environment variable with a name of their choice that is used when creating related files.

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create self-signed Certificate
linenumbers	true

# Specify key name used for file names
key_name=signing

# Create Certificate
openssl x509 -req -sha512 -days 3652 \
    -signkey "${key_name}".key \
    -in "${key_name}".csr \
    -out "${key_name}".crt \
    -extfile <(printf "keyUsage=critical,nonRepudiation,digitalSignature\nextendedKeyUsage=critical,codeSigning\n")

Explanation:

The SHA option such as -sha256, -sha384, -sha512 must match the value of the option used when creating the Private Key/Certificate Signing Request.
The -days argument optionally specifies the validity period of the Certificate.
The -signkey option specifies the location of the Private Key file created from the previous step.
The -in option specifies the location of the Certificate Signing Request file created from the previous step.
The -out option specifies the location of the resulting Certificate file.
The -extfile option specifies a number of extensions recommended for use with Signing Certificates.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The <key_name>.crt file will hold the self-signed Certificate.

Self-signed Certificates must be copied to the <data>/config/private/trusted-x509-keys directory of Controller and Agent instances.

...

For CA-signed Certificates a Certificate Authority (CA) is required owning a CA Private Key and CA Certificate. The CA Private Key and CA Certificate will be used to sign Certificates on behalf of users.

Setup of the Certificate Authority is performed once.
Signing is performed for each Certificate on behalf of users.

...

The steps to create the CA Private Key and CA Certificate are similar to Creating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request.

...

title	Windows version...

Code Block

language	text
title	Example how to create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request using ECDSA encryption (Windows)
linenumbers	true

@rem Specify key name used for file names
set key_name=signing
 
@rem Create Private Key
openssl ecparam -genkey -name secp384r1 -out %key_name%.key
 
@rem Create Certificate Signing Request
openssl req -new -sha512 -nodes ^
    -key %key_name%.key ^
    -out %key_name%.csr ^
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=%key_name%"

Expand

title	Explanations...

Private Key
- Choice of algorithm such as secp256k1, secp384r1 depends on support by the Java version used with JS7.
Certificare Signing Request
- The hash algorithm such as -sha256, -sha512 can be freely chosen.
- The -subj option specifies the Distinguished Name used for the subject of the CSR and resulting Certificate.
  - The Distinguished Name is a unique identifier frequently using the hierarchy of Country C, State ST, Location L, Organization O, Organizational Unit OU and Common Name CN.
  - For self-issued Certificates the subject and issuer properties of the CSR/Certificate are the same. The minimum requirement is to specify the Common Name CN=<name> where <name> can freely be chosen.
  - For Private CA-signed Certificates the subject property holds the certificate's Distinguished Name and the issuer property holds the Private CA Certificate's Distinguished Name that must be different.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The signing.key file will hold the Private Key.
- The signing.csr file will hold the Certificate Signing Request.

Anchor
using_private_key_rsa
using_private_key_rsa
Using RSA Encryption

Expand

title	Click to expand/collapse...

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request using RSA encryption (Unix)
linenumbers	true

# Specify key name used for file names
key_name=signing

# Create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request
openssl req -new -newkey rsa:4096 -sha256 -nodes \
    -keyout ${key_name}.key \
    -out ${key_name}.csr \
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=${key_name}"

Expand

title	Windows version...

Code Block

language	text
title	Example how to create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request using RSA encryption (Windows)
linenumbers	true

@rem

Steps include to create the signing-ca.key CA Private Key file and signing-ca.csr CA Certificate Signing Request file both in PEM format.

Users can run the following commands from the shell and replace the value of the ca_key_name environment variable with a name of their choice that is used when creating related files.

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create CA Private Key and Certificate Signing Request
linenumbers	true

#

 Specify key name used for file names

ca_

set key_name=signing

-ca

#

@rem Create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

(CSR)


openssl req -new -newkey

ec -pkeyopt ec_paramgen_curve:secp256k1

rsa:4096 -sha256 -nodes

\

-keyout

"${ca_key_name}"

%key_name%.key

\

^
    -out

"${ca_key_name}"

%key_name%.csr

\

^
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=

${ca_key_name}" oder: # Create Private Key openssl ecparam -genkey -name secp384r1 -out "${ca_key_name}".key # Create Certificate Signing Request (CSR) openssl req -new -sha512 -nodes \ -key "${ca_key_name}".key \ -out "${ca_key_name}".csr \ -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=${ca_key_name}"

Explanation:

Explanations are the same as for Creating Private Key and Certificate Signing Request.
Users can choose Using ECDSA Encryption or Using RSA Encryption.

...

%key_name%"

Expand

title	Explanations...

In the example the Private Key is created using the specified key size 4096.
For use of the SHA hash algorithm -sha256 and the -subj option see Using ECDSA Encryption.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The signing.key file will hold the Private Key.
- The signing.csr file will hold the Certificate Signing Request.

Anchor
creating_self_signed_certificates
creating_self_signed_certificates
Creating the Signing Certificate

Users can

...

Steps include to create the signing-ca.crt CA-signed Certificate file in PEM format.

Users can run the following commands from the shell and replace the value of the ca_key_name environment variable with a name of their choice that is used when creating related files.

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create CA Certificateself-issued Certificate (Unix)
linenumbers	true

# Specify key name used for file names
ca_key_name=signing-ca

# Create Certificate
openssl x509 -req -sha512 -days 73053652 \
    -signkey "${ca_key_name}".key \
    -in "${ca_key_name}".csr \
    -out "${ca_key_name}".crt \
    -extfile <(printf "basicConstraints=CA:TRUE\nkeyUsage=keyUsage=critical,nonRepudiation,keyCertSign,cRLSigndigitalSignature\nextendedKeyUsage=critical,codeSigning\n")

Explanation:

Explanations are similar to Creating self-signed Certificates with a few exceptions.
- The -days option specifying the validity period of the CA Certificate should be longer than the validity period of individual certificates.
- The -extfile option specifies the Basic Constraint CA:TRUE which is required for a CA Certificate. Key Usage is limited to signing certificates.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The signing-ca.crt file will hold the CA Certificate.

The CA Certificate must be copied to the <data>/config/private/trusted-x509-keys directory of Controller and Agent instances.

...

Expand

title	Windows version...

Code Block

language	text
title	Example how to create self-issued Certificate (Windows)
linenumbers	true

@rem Specify key name used for file names
set key_name=signing
 
@rem Create Certificate
set user_crt_tmp_file=user-crt-%RANDOM%.tmp
copy /Y NUL %user_crt_tmp_file%
echo keyUsage=critical,nonRepudiation,digitalSignature >> %user_crt_tmp_file%
echo extendedKeyUsage=critical,codeSigning >> %user_crt_tmp_file%

openssl x509 -req -sha512 -days 3652 ^
    -signkey %key_name%.key ^
    -in %key_name%.csr ^
    -out %key_name%.crt ^
    -extfile %user_crt_tmp_file%

del /q %user_crt_tmp_file%

Expand

title	Explanations...

The SHA option such as -sha256, -sha384, -sha512 can be freely chosen.
The -days argument optionally specifies the validity period of the resulting certificate.
The -signkey option specifies the location of the Private Key file created from the previous step.
The -in option specifies the location of the Certificate Signing Request file created from the previous step.
The -out option specifies the location of the resulting Certificate file.
The -extfile option specifies a number of extensions recommended for use with Signing Certificates.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The signing.crt file will hold the self-issued Certificate.

Self-issued Certificates must be copied to the <data>/config/private/trusted-x509-keys directory of Controller and Agent instances.

Anchor
creating_certificates
creating_certificates
Creating CA-signed Certificates

Users chose this approach if they intend to authorize users to deploy scheduling objects based on Signing Certificates issued by a specific CA.

Any certificates signed by the CA will be accepted by Controllers and Agents to which the CA Certificate is deployed.
The approach makes sense if users are in control of certificates created by the CA. Benefits include that a single CA Certificate is deployed to Controller and Agents instead of individual certificate files from self-issued Certificates.

Anchor
creating_ca
creating_ca
Setting up the Private CA

For Private CA-signed Certificates a Certificate Authority (CA) is required owning a CA Private Key and CA Certificate. The CA Private Key and CA Certificate will be used to sign certificates on behalf of users.

Setup of the Certificate Authority is performed once.
Signing is performed for each certificate on behalf of users.

The steps to create the CA Private Key and CA Certificate are similar to Creating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request for self-issued Certificates.

Anchor
creating_ca_private_key
creating_ca_private_key
Creating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

Steps include to create the signing-ca.key CA Private Key file and signing-ca.csr CA Certificate Signing Request file both in PEM format.

Users have the option to use ECDSA or RSA algorithms for encryption performed using the Private Key.

Users can run the following commands from the shell and replace the value of the ca_key_name environment variable with a name of their choice that is used when creating related files.

Anchor
using_private_key_ecdsa
using_private_key_ecdsa
Using ECDSA Encryption

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request using ECDSA encryption (Unix)
linenumbers	true

# Specify key name used for file names
ca_key_name=signing-ca

# Create Private Key
openssl ecparam -genkey -name secp384r1 -out ${ca_key_name}.key

# Create Certificate Signing Request
openssl req -new -sha512 -nodes \
    -key ${ca_key_name}.key \
    -out ${ca_key_name}.csr \
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=${ca_key_name}"

Expand

title	Windows version...

Code Block

language	text
title	Example how to create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request using ECDSA encryption (Windows)
linenumbers	true

@rem Specify key name used for file names
set ca_key_name=signing-ca
 
@rem Create Private Key
openssl ecparam -genkey -name secp384r1 -out %ca_key_name%.key
 
@rem Create Certificate Signing Request
openssl req -new -sha512 -nodes ^
    -key %ca_key_name%.key ^
    -out %ca_key_name%.csr ^
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=%ca_key_name%"

Expand

title	Explanations...

Explanations are the same as from Creating Private Key and Certificate Signing Request for self-issued Certificates.
Users can choose Using ECDSA Encryption or Using RSA Encryption.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The signing-ca.key file will hold the Private Key.
- The signing-ca.csr file will hold the Certificate Signing Request.

Anchor
using_ca_private_key_rsa
using_ca_private_key_rsa
Using RSA Encryption

Expand

title	Click to expand/collapse...

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request using RSA encryption (Unix)

Steps include to create the signing.key Private Key file and signing.csr Certificate Signing Request file both in PEM format.

Users can run the following commands from the shell and replace the value of the key_name environment variable with a name of their choice that is used when creating related files.

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create Signing Private Key and Certificate Signing Request
linenumbers	true

# Specify key name used for file names
key_name=signing

# Create Private Key
openssl ecparam -genkey -name secp384r1 -out "${key_name}".key

# Create Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
openssl req -new -sha512 -nodes \
    -key "${key_name}".key \
    -out "${key_name}".csr \
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=${key_name}"

Explanation:

Explanations are the same as for Creating Private Key and Certificate Signing Request.
Users can choose Using ECDSA Encryption or Using RSA Encryption.

...

Steps include to create the signing.crt CA-signed Certificate file in PEM format.

Users can run the following commands from a shell and replace the value of the key_name environment variable with a name of their choice that is used when creating related files:

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create Signing Certificate
linenumbers	true

# Specify key name used for file names
key_name=signing

# Create Certificate
openssl x509 -req -sha512 -days 3652 \
    -in "${key_name}".csr \
    -CA signing-ca.crt \
    -CAkey signing-ca.key \
    -CAcreateserial \
    -out "${key_name}".crt \
    -extfile <(printf '\nkeyUsage=critical,nonRepudiation,digitalSignature\nextendedKeyUsage=critical,codeSigning\n')

Explanation:

Explanations are similar to Creating self-signed Certificates with a few exceptions:
- The -days option specifying the validity period of the Signing Certificate should be shorter than the validity period of the CA Certificate.
- The -in option specifies the location of the Certificate Signing Request.
- The -CA option specifies the location of the CA Certificate file.
- The -CAkey option specifies the location of the CA Private Key file.
- The -extfile option specifies the Key Usage being limited to code signing.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The signing.crt file will hold the Signing Certificate..

The Signing Certificate file does not require to be deployed to Controller and Agent instances. Instead, the CA Certificate file is deployed to Controller and Agent instances.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not Used

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

...

Users have an option ot use ECDSA or RSA for the encryption type.

Users can run the following commands from a bash shell and replace the value of the key_name environment variable with a name of their choice that is used when creating related files.

Using ECDSA Encryption

Create self-signed Certificate using ECDSA

Code Block

language

bash

title


linenumbers	true

# Specify key name used for file names
ca_key_name=signing-ca

#

Step

Create Private

1

Key

-

and

Create

Certificate

Private

Signing

Key

Request

#

openssl

openssl

req

ecparam

-new -

name

newkey

secp256k1

rsa:4096 -

genkey

sha256 -

noout

nodes \
    -

out

keyout

"

${ca_key_name}

"

.key

# Step 2 - Generate and sign Certificate # openssl req -new -x509 -sha256 -key "${

 \
    -out ${ca_key_name}

".key

.csr \
    -

out

subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=${ca_key_name}"

.crt -days 5475 # Step 1: Create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request (CSR)

Expand

title	Windows version...

Code Block

language	text
title	Example how to create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request using RSA encryption (Windows)
linenumbers	true

@rem Specify key name used for file names
set ca_key_name=signing-ca
 
@rem Create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request
openssl req -new -newkey

ec -pkeyopt ec_paramgen_curve:secp256k1

rsa:4096 -sha256 -nodes

\

  -keyout

"${

%ca_key_

name}"

name%.key

\

^
    -out

"${

%ca_key_

name}"

name%.csr

\

^
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=

${

%ca_key_

name}" # Step 2: Create Certificate openssl x509 -req -days 5475 \ -signkey "${key_name}".key \ -in "${key_name}".csr \ -out "${key_name}".crt \ -extfile <(printf "basicConstraints=CA:FALSE\nkeyUsage=critical,nonRepudiation,digitalSignature\nextendedKeyUsage=critical,codeSigning\n")

Explanation:

Step 1: Create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
- Choice of algorithm such as secp256k1, secp384r1 is up to the user.
- The SHA option such as -sha256, -sha384 must match the algorithm.
- The -subj option specifies the distinguished name used for the subject and issuer of the CSR and certificate.
- The following files will be created with this step:
  - The <key_name>.key file will hold the Private Key.
  - The <key_name>.csr file will hold the Certificate Signing Request.
Step 2: Create Certificate
- The -days argument optionally specifies the validity period of the Certificate.
- The following files will be created with this step:
  - The <key_name>.crt file will hold the self-signed Certificate.

Using RSA Encryption

name%"

Expand

title	Explanations...

Explanations are the same as from Creating Private Key and Certificate Signing Request for self-issued Certificates.
Users can choose Using ECDSA Encryption or Using RSA Encryption.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The signing-ca.key file will hold the Private Key.
- The signing-ca.csr file will hold the Certificate Signing Request.

Anchor
creating_ca_certificate
creating_ca_certificate
Creating the CA Certificate

Steps include to create the signing-ca.crt Private CA-signed Certificate file in PEM format.

Users can run the following commands from the shell and replace the value of the ca_key_name environment variable with a name of their choice that is used when creating related files.

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create CA Certificate (Unix)
linenumbers	true

Code Block

language	bash
title	Create self-signed Certificate using RSA
linenumbers	true

# Specify key name used for file names
ca_key_name=signing-ca

# Step 1: Create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
openssl reqx509 -newreq -newkey rsa:4096sha512 -sha256days -nodes7305 \
    -keyoutsignkey "${ca_key_name}".key \
    -outin "${ca_key_name}".csr \
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=${key_name}"

# Step 2: Create Certificate
openssl x509 -req -days 5475 \
    -signkey "${out ${ca_key_name}".keycrt \
    -in "${key_name}".csr \
    -out "${key_name}".crt \
    -extfile <extfile <(printf "keyUsagebasicConstraints=CA:TRUE\nkeyUsage=critical,nonRepudiation,digitalSignature\nextendedKeyUsage=critical,codeSigningkeyCertSign,cRLSign\n")

Explanation:

Step 1: Create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
- In the example the Private Key is created using the specified key size 4096.
- The following files will be created with this step:
  - The <key_name>.key file will hold the Private Key.
  - The <key_name>.csr file will hold the Certificate Signing Request.
Step 2: Create Certificate
- The Certificate is created with the -days argument optionally specified for the validity period of the Certificate.
- The following files will be created with this step:
  - The <key_name>.crt file will hold the self-signed Certificate.

...

Expand

title	Windows version...

Code Block

language	text
title	Example how to create CA Certificate (Windows)
linenumbers	true

@rem Specify key name used for file names
set ca_key_name=signing-ca
 
@rem Create Certificate
set ca_crt_tmp_file=ca-crt-%RANDOM%.tmp
copy /Y NUL %ca_crt_tmp_file%
echo basicConstraints=CA:TRUE >> %ca_crt_tmp_file%
echo keyUsage=critical,nonRepudiation,keyCertSign,cRLSign >> %ca_crt_tmp_file%

openssl x509 -req -sha512 -days 7305 ^
    -key %ca_key_name%.key ^
    -in %ca_key_name%.csr ^
    -out %ca_key_name%.crt ^
    -extfile %ca_crt_tmp_file%

del /q %ca_crt_tmp_file%

Expand

title	Explanations...

Explanations are similar to Creating self-issued Certificates with a few exceptions.
- The -days option specifying the validity period of the CA Certificate should be longer than the validity period of individual certificates.
- The -extfile option specifies the Basic Constraint CA:TRUE which is required for a CA Certificate. Key Usage is limited to Signing Certificates.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The signing-ca.crt file will hold the CA Certificate.

The CA Certificate must be copied to the <data>/config/private/trusted-x509-keys directory of Controller and Agent instances.

Anchor
creating_signing_certificates
creating_signing_certificates
Creating Signing Certificates

The steps explained with this section are performed for each Signing Certificate created on behalf of a user.

Anchor
creating_signing_private_key
creating_signing_private_key
Creating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

Steps include to create the signing.key Private Key file and signing.csr Certificate Signing Request file both in PEM format.

Users have the option to use ECDSA or RSA algorithms for encryption performed using the Private Key.

Users can run the following commands from the shell and replace the value of the key_name environment variable with a name of their choice that is used when creating related files.

Anchor
using_private_key_ecdsa
using_private_key_ecdsa
Using ECDSA Encryption

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request using ECDSA encryption (Unix)
linenumbers	true

# Specify key name used for file names
key_name=signing

# Create Private Key
openssl ecparam -genkey -name secp384r1 -out ${key_name}.key

# Create Certificate Signing Request
openssl req -new -sha512

...

Steps include to create the signing-ca.key Private Key file and signing-ca.crt self-signed Certificate file for the CA both in PEM format.

Code Block

language	bash
title	Create CA Certificate using ECDSA
linenumbers	true

# Step 1: Generate Certificate Authority (CA) Private Key
openssl ecparam -genkey -name secp256k1 -noout -out signing-ca.key
 
# Step 2: Generate CA Certificate
openssl req -new -x509 -sha256 -days 5475 -key signing-ca.key -out signing-ca.crt

# You are about to be asked to enter information that will be incorporated
# into your certificate request.
# What you are about to enter is what is called a Distinguished Name or a DN.
# There are quite a few fields but you can leave some blank
# For some fields there will be a default value,
# If you enter '.', the field will be left blank.
# -----
# Country Name (2 letter code) [XX]:DE
# State or Province Name (full name) []:Berlin
# Locality Name (eg, city) [Default City]:Berlin
# Organization Name (eg, company) [Default Company Ltd]:SOS
# Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []:JS7
# Common Name (eg, your name or your server's hostname) []:JS7 Deployment CA
# Email Address []:

# Specify key name used for file names
ca_key_name=signing-ca

# Step 1: Create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
openssl req -new -newkey ec -pkeyopt ec_paramgen_curve:secp256k1 -sha256 -nodes \
    -keyoutkey "${ca_key_name}".key \
    -out "${ca_key_name}".csr \
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=${ca_key_name}"

# Step 2: Create Certificate
openssl x509 -req -days 5475 \
    -signkey "${ca_key_name}".key \
    -in "${ca_key_name}".csr \
    -out "${ca_key_name}".crt \
    -extfile <(printf "basicConstraints=CA:TRUE\nkeyUsage=critical,nonRepudiation,keyCertSign,cRLSign\n")

Code Block

language	bash
title	Alternative: Create CA Certificate using passphrase
linenumbers	true

# Step 1: Create Certificate Authority (CA) Private Key using passphrase
openssl ecparam -genkey -name secp256k1 | openssl ec -aes256 -passout pass:"jobscheduler" -out signing-ca.key

 # Step 2: Create CA Certificate
openssl req -new -x509 -sha256 -days 5475 -key signing-ca.key -passin pass:"jobscheduler" -out signing-ca.crt

Explanation:

Step 1: The Private Key is created.
- Choice of algorithm such as secp256k1, secp384r1 is up to the user.
- The SHA option such as -sha256, -sha384 must match the algorithm.
- The signing-ca.key file will hold the Private Key.
Step 2: The CA Certificate is created
- As a response to the command the OpenSSL utility prompts for a number of specifications for the Distinguished Name, i.e. the unique name of the CA Certificate:
  - Country Name: a 2 letter country code is expected as stated for example with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2
  - State or Province Name: the name of a state is expected
  - Locality Name: the name of a city is expected
  - Organization Name: arbitrary input is allowed
  - Organizational Unit Name: arbitrary input is allowed
  - Common Name: an arbitrary name can be chosen as the name of the CA
  - Email Address: empty input is allowed
- The signing-ca.crt file will hold the Signing Certificate..

...

For a Signing Certificate the steps include to create the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request (CSR). The resulting Signing Certificate will be signed by the CA.\nnnnn

Users can run the following commands from a bash shell and replace the value of the key_name environment variable with a name of their choice that is used when creating related files:

Expand

title	Windows version...

Code Block

language	text
title	Example how to create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request using ECDSA encryption (Windows)
linenumbers	true

@rem Specify key name used for file names
set key_name=signing-ca
 
@rem Create Private Key
openssl ecparam -genkey -name secp384r1 -out %key_name%.key
 
@rem Create Certificate Signing Request
openssl req -new -sha512 -nodes ^
    -key %key_name%.key ^
    -out %key_name%.csr ^
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=%key_name%"

Expand

title	Explanations...

Explanations are the same as from Creating Private Key and Certificate Signing Request for self-issued Certificates.
Users can choose Using ECDSA Encryption or Using RSA Encryption.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The signing.key file will hold the Private Key.
- The signing.csr file will hold the Certificate Signing Request.

Anchor
using_private_key_rsa
using_private_key_rsa
Using RSA Encryption

Expand

title	Click to expand/collapse...

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request using RSA encryption (Unix)
linenumbers	true

# Specify key name used for file names
key_name=signing

# Create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request
openssl req -new -newkey rsa:4096 -sha256 -nodes \
    -keyout ${key_name}.key \
    -out ${key_name}.csr \
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=${key_name}"

Expand

title	Windows version...

Code Block

language	text
title	Example how to create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request using RSA encryption (Windows)
linenumbers	true

@rem

Code Block

language	bash
title	Create Signing Certificate
linenumbers	true

#

 Specify key name used for file names
set key_name=signing

# Step 1 -

 
@rem Create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

(CSR)


openssl req -new -newkey rsa:4096 -sha256 -

config <(cat openssl-cert.config <(printf "\nkeyUsage=critical,nonRepudiation,digitalSignature\nextendedKeyUsage=critical,codeSigning\n")) \ -nodes -keyout "${key_name}".key -out "${key_name}".csr openssl req -new -newkey ec -pkeyopt ec_paramgen_curve:secp256k1 -sha256 -nodes \ -keyout "${key_name}".key \ -out "${key_name}".csr \ -subj "/C=DE

nodes ^
    -keyout %key_name%.key ^
    -out %key_name%.csr ^
    -subj "/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=

${key_name}" # Step 2 - Create the Signing Certificate openssl x509 -req \ -in "${key_name}".csr \ -CA signing-ca.crt \ -CAkey signing-ca.key \ -CAcreateserial \ -out "${key_name}".crt -days 7300 \ -extfile <(printf '\nkeyUsage=critical,nonRepudiation,digitalSignature\nextendedKeyUsage=critical,codeSigning\n')

Explanation:

Step 1: Create Private Key and Certificate Signing Request
- The Certificate Signing Request is created for the Key Usage and Extended Key Usage as indicated.
- The following files will be created:
  - <key_name>.key: the Private Key
  - <key_name>.csr: the Certificate Signing Request
Step 2: The Signing Certificate is created.
- The following files will be created:
  - <key_name>.crt: the Signing Certificate

In order to run the script successfully the following openssl-cert.config file has to be present. To create a Signing Certificate the CommonName attribute has to be adjusted.

...

title	OpenSSL configuration file openssl-cert.config
linenumbers	true

...

%key_name%"

Expand

title	Explanations...

In the example the Private Key is created using the specified key size 4096.
For use of the SHA hash algorithm -sha256 and the -subj option see Using ECDSA Encryption.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The signing.key file will hold the Private Key.
- The signing.csr file will hold the Certificate Signing Request.

Anchor
creating_signing_certificate
creating_signing_certificate
Creating the Signing Certificate

Steps include to create the signing.crt Private CA-signed Certificate file in PEM format.

Users can run the following commands from the shell and replace the value of the key_name environment variable with a name of their choice that is used when creating related files:

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to create Signing Certificate (Unix)
linenumbers	true

# Specify key name used for file names
key_name=signing

# Create Certificate
openssl x509 -req -sha512 -days 3652 \
    -CA signing-ca.crt \
    -CAkey signing-ca.key \
    -CAcreateserial \
    -in ${key_name}.csr \
    -out ${key_name}.crt \
    -extfile <(printf 'keyUsage=critical,nonRepudiation,digitalSignature\nextendedKeyUsage=critical,codeSigning\n')

Expand

title	Windows version...

Code Block

language	text
title	Example how to create Signing Certificate (Windows)
linenumbers	true

@rem Specify key name used for file names
set key_name=signing
 
@rem Create Certificate
set user_crt_tmp_file=user-crt-%RANDOM%.tmp
copy /Y NUL %user_crt_tmp_file%
echo basicConstraints=CA:TRUE >> %user_crt_tmp_file%
echo keyUsage=critical,nonRepudiation,digitalSignature >> %user_crt_tmp_file%
echo extendedKeyUsage=critical,codeSigning >> %user_crt_tmp_file%

openssl x509 -req -sha512 -days 3652 ^
    -CA signing-ca.crt ^
    -CAkey signing-ca.key ^
    -CAcreateserial ^
    -in %key_name%.csr ^
    -out %key_name%.crt ^
    -extfile %user_crt_tmp_file%

del /q %user_crt_tmp_file%

Expand

title	Explanations...

Explanations are similar to Creating self-issued Certificates with a few exceptions:
- The -days option specifying the validity period of the Signing Certificate should indicate a shorter period than the validity period of the CA Certificate.
- The -CA option specifies the location of the CA Certificate file.
- The -CAkey option specifies the location of the CA Private Key file.
- The -in option specifies the location of the Certificate Signing Request.
- The -extfile option specifies the Key Usage and Extended Key Usage being limited to code signing.
The following files will be created with this step:
- The signing.crt file will hold the Signing Certificate.

The Signing Certificate file does not require to be deployed to Controller and Agent instances. Instead, the CA Certificate file is deployed to Controller and Agent instances.

Resources

Shell Scripts

As an alternative to running OpenSSL commands in an interactive shell, scripts are provided that perform this task.

The below scripts assume the following directory layout:

<ca> The directory <ca> is a placeholder. Any directory can be used.
- create_root_ca.sh
- create_signing_certificate.sh
- certs
- csr
- private

The sub-directories certs, csr and private will be created should they not exist.

Creating the Private Root CA Certificate

Download: create_root_ca.sh

The following files will be created when executing the script:

<ca>/certs/root-ca.crt
<ca>/csr/root-ca.csr
<ca>/private/root-ca.key

This step is performed just once. In case of renewal of the Root CA Certificate any Server Certificates will have to be renewed.

Code Block

language	bash
title	Run .create_root_ca.sh shell script
linenumbers	true

# Description
# create_root_ca.sh --key-name=<basename> --subject=<distinguished-name> --days=<number-of-days>

# Example for use with defaults
./create_root_ca.sh

# Example for use with basename
./create_root_ca.sh --key-name=ca-root

# Example applying specific distinguished name and lifetime
./create_root_ca.sh --subject="/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=JS7 CA" --days=7660

The shell script is optionally executed with the following arguments:

--key-name
- The basename of the key without extension. Default: root-ca
--subject
- The distinguished name that is used as the subject of the CA Certificate. Default: /C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=Root CA
--days
- The lifetime of the certificate is specified by the number of days. Default: 7305
- Consider that Server Certificates have to be renewed if the Root CA Certificate expires.

Creating a Signing Certificate

Download: create_signing_certificate.sh

The following files will be created with <user> being a placeholder for the user for which a certificate should be created.

<ca>/certs/<user>.crt
<ca>/csr/<user>.csr
<ca>/private/<user>.key

This step is performed for each Signing Certificate that should be created.

Code Block

language	bash
title	Run .create_signing_certificate.sh shell script
linenumbers	true

# Description
# create_signing_certificate.sh --key-name=<basename> --ca-key-name=<basename> --subject=<distinguished-name> --days=<number-of-days>

# Example for use with key name and lifetime
./create_signing_certificate.sh --key-name=ap --days=365

# Example for use with key name, CA key name and lifetime
./create_signing_certificate.sh --key-name=ap --ca-key-name=signing-ca --days=4017

# Example for use with key name, subject and lifetime
./create_signing_certificate.sh --key-name=ap --subject="/C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=ap" --days=4017

The shell script is executed with the following arguments:

--key-name (required)
- The basename of the key without extension.
--ca-key-name
- The basename of the CA key without extension. Default: root-ca
--subject
- The distinguished name that is used as the subject of the Signing Certificate. Default: /C=DE/ST=Berlin/L=Berlin/O=SOS/OU=IT/CN=<key-name>
- The CN attribute should specify the user name. By default the key name specified with the --key-name option is used.
--days
- The lifetime of the certificate is specified by the number of days. Default: 3652

Space shortcuts

Page tree

Versions Compared

Old Version 23

New Version Current

Key

Introduction

Anchor
creating_self_issued_certificates
creating_self_issued_certificates
Creating self-issued Certificates

Anchor
creating_private_key_and_csr
creating_private_key_and_csr
Creating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

Anchor
using_private_key_ecdsa
using_private_key_ecdsa
Using ECDSA

Encryption

Anchor
using_private_key_rsa
using_private_key_rsa
Using RSA Encryption

Anchor
creating_self_signed_certificates
creating_self_signed_certificates
Creating the Signing Certificate

Anchor
creating_certificates
creating_certificates
Creating CA-signed Certificates

Anchor
creating_ca
creating_ca
Setting up the Private CA

Anchor
creating_ca_private_key
creating_ca_private_key
Creating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

Anchor
using_private_key_ecdsa
using_private_key_ecdsa
Using ECDSA Encryption

Anchor
using_ca_private_key_rsa
using_ca_private_key_rsa
Using RSA Encryption

Not Used

Using ECDSA Encryption

Using RSA Encryption

Anchor
creating_ca_certificate
creating_ca_certificate
Creating the CA Certificate

Anchor
creating_signing_certificates
creating_signing_certificates
Creating Signing Certificates

Anchor
creating_signing_private_key
creating_signing_private_key
Creating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

Anchor
using_private_key_ecdsa
using_private_key_ecdsa
Using ECDSA Encryption

Anchor
using_private_key_rsa
using_private_key_rsa
Using RSA Encryption

Anchor
creating_signing_certificate
creating_signing_certificate
Creating the Signing Certificate

Resources

Shell Scripts

Creating the Private Root CA Certificate

Creating a Signing Certificate

Links

Space shortcuts

Page tree

Page History

Versions Compared

Old Version 23

New Version Current

Key

Introduction

Anchorcreating_self_issued_certificatescreating_self_issued_certificatesCreating self-issued Certificates

Anchorcreating_private_key_and_csrcreating_private_key_and_csrCreating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

Anchorusing_private_key_ecdsausing_private_key_ecdsaUsing ECDSA

Encryption

Anchorusing_private_key_rsausing_private_key_rsaUsing RSA Encryption

Anchorcreating_self_signed_certificatescreating_self_signed_certificatesCreating the Signing Certificate

Anchorcreating_certificatescreating_certificatesCreating CA-signed Certificates

Anchorcreating_cacreating_caSetting up the Private CA

Anchorcreating_ca_private_keycreating_ca_private_keyCreating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

Anchorusing_private_key_ecdsausing_private_key_ecdsaUsing ECDSA Encryption

Anchorusing_ca_private_key_rsausing_ca_private_key_rsaUsing RSA Encryption

Not Used

Using ECDSA Encryption

Using RSA Encryption

Anchorcreating_ca_certificatecreating_ca_certificateCreating the CA Certificate

Anchorcreating_signing_certificatescreating_signing_certificatesCreating Signing Certificates

Anchorcreating_signing_private_keycreating_signing_private_keyCreating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

Anchorusing_private_key_ecdsausing_private_key_ecdsaUsing ECDSA Encryption

Anchorusing_private_key_rsausing_private_key_rsaUsing RSA Encryption

Anchorcreating_signing_certificatecreating_signing_certificateCreating the Signing Certificate

Resources

Shell Scripts

Creating the Private Root CA Certificate

Creating a Signing Certificate

Links

Anchor
creating_self_issued_certificates
creating_self_issued_certificates
Creating self-issued Certificates

Anchor
creating_private_key_and_csr
creating_private_key_and_csr
Creating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

Anchor
using_private_key_ecdsa
using_private_key_ecdsa
Using ECDSA

Anchor
using_private_key_rsa
using_private_key_rsa
Using RSA Encryption

Anchor
creating_self_signed_certificates
creating_self_signed_certificates
Creating the Signing Certificate

Anchor
creating_certificates
creating_certificates
Creating CA-signed Certificates

Anchor
creating_ca
creating_ca
Setting up the Private CA

Anchor
creating_ca_private_key
creating_ca_private_key
Creating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

Anchor
using_private_key_ecdsa
using_private_key_ecdsa
Using ECDSA Encryption

Anchor
using_ca_private_key_rsa
using_ca_private_key_rsa
Using RSA Encryption

Anchor
creating_ca_certificate
creating_ca_certificate
Creating the CA Certificate

Anchor
creating_signing_certificates
creating_signing_certificates
Creating Signing Certificates

Anchor
creating_signing_private_key
creating_signing_private_key
Creating the Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

Anchor
using_private_key_ecdsa
using_private_key_ecdsa
Using ECDSA Encryption

Anchor
using_private_key_rsa
using_private_key_rsa
Using RSA Encryption

Anchor
creating_signing_certificate
creating_signing_certificate
Creating the Signing Certificate