NAME
gkeytool - Manage private keys and public certificates
SYNOPSIS
keytool [COMMAND] ...
DESCRIPTION
Cryptographic credentials, in a Java environment, are usually stored in
a Key Store. The Java SDK specifies a Key Store as a persistent
container of two types of objects: Key Entries and Trusted
Certificates. The security tool keytool is a Java-based application for
managing those types of objects.
A Key Entry represents the private key part of a key-pair used in
Public-Key Cryptography, and a signed X.509 certificate which
authenticates the public key part for a known entity; i.e. the owner of
the key-pair. The X.509 certificate itself contains the public key part
of the key-pair.
A Trusted Certificate is a signed X.509 certificate issued by a trusted
entity. The Trust in this context is relative to the User of the
keytool. In other words, the existence of a Trusted Certificate in the
Key Store processed by a keytool command implies that the User trusts
the Issuer of that Trusted Certificate to also sign, and hence
authenticates, other Subjects the tool may process.
Trusted Certificates are important because they allow the tool to
mechanically construct Chains of Trust starting from one of the Trusted
Certificates in a Key Store and ending with a certificate whose Issuer
is potentially unknown. A valid chain is an ordered list, starting with
a Trusted Certificate (also called the anchor), ending with the target
certificate, and satisfying the condition that the Subject of
certificate "#i" is the Issuer of certificate "#i + 1".
The keytool is invoked from the command line as follows:
keytool [COMMAND] ...
Multiple COMMANDs may be specified at once, each complete with its own
options. keytool will parse all the arguments, before processing, and
executing, each "COMMAND". If an exception occurs while executing one
COMMAND keytool will abort. Note however that because the
implementation of the tool uses code to parse command line options that
also supports GNU-style options, you have to separate each command
group with a double-hyphen; e.g
keytool -list -- -printcert -alias mykey
OPTIONS
- Add/Update commands
-genkey [OPTION]...
Generate a new Key Entry, eventually creating a new key store.
-import [OPTION]...
Add, to a key store, Key Entries (private keys and certificate
chains authenticating the public keys) and Trusted Certificates
(3rd party certificates which can be used as Trust Anchors when
building chains-of-trust).
-selfcert [OPTION]...
Generate a new self-signed Trusted Certificate.
-cacert [OPTION]...
Import a CA Trusted Certificate.
-identitydb [OPTION]...
NOT IMPLEMENTED YET.Import a JDK 1.1 style Identity Database.
- Export commands
-certreq [OPTION]...
Issue a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) which can be then
sent to a Certification Authority (CA) to issue a certificate
signed (by the CA) and authenticating the Subject of the
request.
-export [OPTION]...
Export a certificate from a key store.
- Display commands
-list [OPTION]...
Print one or all certificates in a key store to "STDOUT".
-printcert [OPTION]...
Print a human-readable form of a certificate, in a designated
file, to "STDOUT".
- Management commands
-keyclone [OPTION]...
Clone a Key Entry in a key store.
-storepasswd [OPTION]...
Change the password protecting a key store.
-keypasswd [OPTION]...
Change the password protecting a Key Entry in a key store.
-delete [OPTION]...
Delete a Key Entry or a Trusted Certificate from a key store.
Common options
The following OPTIONs are used in more than one COMMAND. They are
described here to reduce redundancy.
-alias Alias
Every entry, be it a Key Entry or a Trusted Certificate, in a key
store is uniquely identified by a user-defined Alias string. Use
this option to specify the Alias to use when referring to an entry
in the key store. Unless specified otherwise, a default value of
"mykey" shall be used when this option is omitted from the command
line.
-keyalg ALGORITHM
Use this option to specify the canonical name of the key-pair
generation algorithm. The default value for this option is "DSS" (a
synonym for the Digital Signature Algorithm also known as DSA).
-keysize SIZE
Use this option to specify the number of bits of the shared modulus
(for both the public and private keys) to use when generating new
keys. A default value of 1024 will be used if this option is
omitted from the command line.
-validity DAY_COUNT
Use this option to specify the number of days a newly generated
certificate will be valid for. The default value is 90 (days) if
this option is omitted from the command line.
-storetype STORE_TYPE
Use this option to specify the type of the key store to use. The
default value, if this option is omitted, is that of the property
"keystore.type" in the security properties file, which is obtained
by invoking the static method call "getDefaultType()" in
"java.security.KeyStore".
-storepass PASSWORD
Use this option to specify the password protecting the key store.
If this option is omitted from the command line, you will be
prompted to provide a password.
-keystore URL
Use this option to specify the location of the key store to use.
The default value is a file URL referencing the file named
.keystore located in the path returned by the call to
"java.lang.System#getProperty(String)" using "user.home" as
argument.
If a URL was specified, but was found to be malformed --e.g.
missing protocol element-- the tool will attempt to use the URL
value as a file-name (with absolute or relative path-name) of a key
store --as if the protocol was "file:".
-provider PROVIDER_CLASS_NAME
A fully qualified class name of a Security Provider to add to the
current list of Security Providers already installed in the JVM in-
use. If a provider class is specified with this option, and was
successfully added to the runtime --i.e. it was not already
installed-- then the tool will attempt to removed this Security
Provider before exiting.
-file FILE
Use this option to designate a file to use with a command. When
specified with this option, the value is expected to be the fully
qualified path of a file accessible by the File System. Depending
on the command, the file may be used as input or as output. When
this option is omitted from the command line, "STDIN" will be used
instead, as the source of input, and "STDOUT" will be used instead
as the output destination.
-v Unless specified otherwise, use this option to enable more verbose
output.
Add/Update commands
The -genkey command
Use this command to generate a new key-pair (both private and public
keys), and save these credentials in the key store as a Key Entry,
associated with the designated (if was specified with the -alias
option) or default (if the -alias option is omitted) Alias.
The private key material will be protected with a user-defined password
(see -keypass option). The public key on the other hand will be part of
a self-signed X.509 certificate, which will form a 1-element chain and
will be saved in the key store.
-alias ALIAS
See Common Options for more details.
-keyalg ALGORITHM
See Common Options for more details.
-keysize KEY_SIZE
See Common Options for more details.
-sigalg ALGORITHM
The canonical name of the digital signature algorithm to use for
signing certificates. If this option is omitted, a default value
will be chosen based on the type of the key-pair; i.e. the
algorithm that ends up being used by the -keyalg option. If the
key-pair generation algorithm is "DSA", the value for the signature
algorithm will be "SHA1withDSA". If on the other hand the key-pair
generation algorithm is "RSA", then the tool will use "MD5withRSA"
as the signature algorithm.
-dname NAME
This a mandatory value for the command. If no value is specified
--i.e. the -dname option is omitted-- the tool will prompt you to
enter a Distinguished Name to use as both the Owner and Issuer of
the generated self-signed certificate.
See Common Options for more details.
-keypass PASSWORD
Use this option to specify the password which the tool will use to
protect the newly created Key Entry.
If this option is omitted, you will be prompted to provide a
password.
-validity DAY_COUNT
See Common Options for more details.
-storetype STORE_TYPE
See Common Options for more details.
-keystore URL
See Common Options for more details.
-storepass PASSWORD
See Common Options for more details.
-provider PROVIDER_CLASS_NAME
See Common Options for more details.
-v See Common Options for more details.
The -import command
Use this command to read an X.509 certificate, or a PKCS#7 Certificate
Reply from a designated input source and incorporate the certificates
into the key store.
If the Alias does not already exist in the key store, the tool treats
the certificate read from the input source as a new Trusted
Certificate. It then attempts to discover a chain-of-trust, starting
from that certificate and ending at another Trusted Certificate,
already stored in the key store. If the -trustcacerts option is
present, an additional key store, of type "JKS" named cacerts, and
assumed to be present in ${JAVA_HOME}/lib/security will also be
consulted if found --"${JAVA_HOME}" refers to the location of an
installed Java Runtime Environment (JRE). If no chain-of-trust can be
established, and unless the "-noprompt" option has been specified, the
certificate is printed to "STDOUT" and the user is prompted for a
confirmation.
If Alias exists in the key store, the tool will treat the
certificate(s) read from the input source as a Certificate Reply, which
can be a chain of certificates, that eventually would replace the chain
of certificates associated with the Key Entry of that Alias. The
substitution of the certificates only occurs if a chain-of-trust can be
established between the bottom certificate of the chain read from the
input file and the Trusted Certificates already present in the key
store. Again, if the -trustcacerts option is specified, additional
Trusted Certificates in the same cacerts key store will be considered.
If no chain-of-trust can be established, the operation will abort.
-alias ALIAS
See Common Options for more details.
-file FILE
See Common Options for more details.
-keypass PASSWORD
Use this option to specify the password which the tool will use to
protect the Key Entry associated with the designated Alias, when
replacing this Alias’ chain of certificates with that found in the
certificate reply.
If this option is omitted, and the chain-of-trust for the
certificate reply has been established, the tool will first attempt
to unlock the Key Entry using the same password protecting the key
store. If this fails, you will then be prompted to provide a
password.
-noprompt
Use this option to prevent the tool from prompting the user.
-trustcacerts
Use this option to indicate to the tool that a key store, of type
"JKS", named cacerts, and usually located in lib/security in an
installed Java Runtime Environment should be considered when trying
to establish chain-of-trusts.
-storetype STORE_TYPE
See Common Options for more details.
-keystore URL
See Common Options for more details.
-storepass PASSWORD
See Common Options for more details.
-provider PROVIDER_CLASS_NAME
See Common Options for more details.
-v See Common Options for more details.
The -selfcert command
Use this command to generate a self-signed X.509 version 1 certificate.
The newly generated certificate will form a chain of one element which
will replace the previous chain associated with the designated Alias
(if -alias option was specified), or the default Alias (if -alias
option was omitted).
-alias ALIAS
See Common Options for more details.
-sigalg ALGORITHM
The canonical name of the digital signature algorithm to use for
signing the certificate. If this option is omitted, a default value
will be chosen based on the type of the private key associated with
the designated Alias. If the private key is a "DSA" one, the value
for the signature algorithm will be "SHA1withDSA". If on the other
hand the private key is an "RSA" one, then the tool will use
"MD5withRSA" as the signature algorithm.
-dname NAME
Use this option to specify the Distinguished Name of the newly
generated self-signed certificate. If this option is omitted, the
existing Distinguished Name of the base certificate in the chain
associated with the designated Alias will be used instead.
See Common Options for more details.
-validity DAY_COUNT
See Common Options for more details.
-keypass PASSWORD
Use this option to specify the password which the tool will use to
unlock the Key Entry associated with the designated Alias.
If this option is omitted, the tool will first attempt to unlock
the Key Entry using the same password protecting the key store. If
this fails, you will then be prompted to provide a password.
-storetype STORE_TYPE
See Common Options for more details.
-keystore URL
See Common Options for more details.
-storepass PASSWORD
See Common Options for more details.
-provider PROVIDER_CLASS_NAME
See Common Options for more details.
-v See Common Options for more details.
The -cacert command
Use this command to import, a CA certificate and add it to the key
store as a Trusted Certificate. The Alias for this new entry will be
constructed from the FILE’s base-name after replacing hyphens and dots
with underscores.
This command is useful when used in a script that recursively visits a
directory of CA certificates to populate a "cacerts.gkr" Key Store of
trusted certificates which can then be used commands that specify the
-trustcacerts option.
-file FILE
See Common Options for more details.
-storetype STORE_TYPE
See Common Options for more details.
-keystore URL
See Common Options for more details.
-storepass PASSWORD
See Common Options for more details.
-provider PROVIDER_CLASS_NAME
See Common Options for more details.
-v See Common Options for more details.
The -identitydb command
NOT IMPLEMENTED YET.
Use this command to import a JDK 1.1 style Identity Database.
-file FILE
See Common Options for more details.
-storetype STORE_TYPE
See Common Options for more details.
-keystore URL
See Common Options for more details.
-storepass PASSWORD
See Common Options for more details.
-provider PROVIDER_CLASS_NAME
See Common Options for more details.
-v See Common Options for more details.
Export commands
The -certreq command
Use this command to generate a PKCS#10 Certificate Signing Request
(CSR) and write it to a designated output destination. The contents of
the destination should look something like the following:
-----BEGIN NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
MI...QAwXzEUMBIGA1UEAwwLcnNuQGdudS5vcmcxGzAZBgNVBAoMElUg
Q2...A0GA1UEBwwGU3lkbmV5MQwwCgYDVQQIDANOU1cxCzAJBgNVBACC
...
FC...IVwNVOfQLRX+O5kAhQ/a4RTZme2L8PnpvgRwrf7Eg8D6w==
-----END NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
IMPORTANT: Some documentation (e.g. RSA examples) claims that the
"Attributes" field, in the CSR is "OPTIONAL" while RFC-2986 implies the
opposite. This implementation considers this field, by default, as
"OPTIONAL", unless the option -attributes is specified on the command
line.
-alias ALIAS
See Common Options for more details.
-sigalg ALGORITHM
The canonical name of the digital signature algorithm to use for
signing the certificate. If this option is omitted, a default value
will be chosen based on the type of the private key associated with
the designated Alias. If the private key is a "DSA" one, the value
for the signature algorithm will be "SHA1withDSA". If on the other
hand the private key is an "RSA" one, then the tool will use
"MD5withRSA" as the signature algorithm.
-file FILE
See Common Options for more details.
-keypass PASSWORD
Use this option to specify the password which the tool will use to
unlock the Key Entry associated with the designated Alias.
If this option is omitted, the tool will first attempt to unlock
the Key Entry using the same password protecting the key store. If
this fails, you will then be prompted to provide a password.
-storetype STORE_TYPE
See Common Options for more details.
-keystore URL
See Common Options for more details.
-storepass PASSWORD
See Common Options for more details.
-provider PROVIDER_CLASS_NAME
See Common Options for more details.
-v See Common Options for more details.
-attributes
Use this option to force the tool to encode a "NULL" DER value in
the CSR as the value of the "Attributes" field.
The -export command
Use this command to export a certificate stored in a key store to a
designated output destination, either in binary format (if the -v
option is specified), or in RFC-1421 compliant encoding (if the -rfc
option is specified instead).
-alias ALIAS
See Common Options for more details.
-file FILE
See Common Options for more details.
-storetype STORE_TYPE
See Common Options for more details.
-keystore URL
See Common Options for more details.
-storepass PASSWORD
See Common Options for more details.
-provider PROVIDER_CLASS_NAME
See Common Options for more details.
-rfc
Use RFC-1421 specifications when encoding the output.
-v Output the certificate in binary DER encoding. This is the default
output format of the command if neither -rfc nor "-v" options were
detected on the command line. If both this option and the -rfc
option are detected on the command line, the tool will opt for the
RFC-1421 style encoding.
Display commands
The -list command
Use this command to print one or all of a key store entries to
"STDOUT". Usually this command will only print a fingerprint of the
certificate, unless either the -rfc or the -v option is specified.
-alias ALIAS
If this option is omitted, the tool will print ALL the entries
found in the key store.
See Common Options for more details.
-storetype STORE_TYPE
See Common Options for more details.
-keystore URL
See Common Options for more details.
-storepass PASSWORD
See Common Options for more details.
-provider PROVIDER_CLASS_NAME
See Common Options for more details.
-rfc
Use RFC-1421 specifications when encoding the output.
-v Output the certificate in human-readable format. If both this
option and the -rfc option are detected on the command line, the
tool will opt for the human-readable form and will not abort the
command.
The -printcert command
Use this command to read a certificate from a designated input source
and print it to "STDOUT" in a human-readable form.
-file FILE
See Common Options for more details.
-v See Common Options for more details.
Management commands
The -keyclone command
Use this command to clone an existing Key Entry and store it under a
new (different) Alias protecting, its private key material with
possibly a new password.
-alias ALIAS
See Common Options for more details.
-dest ALIAS
Use this option to specify the new Alias which will be used to
identify the cloned copy of the Key Entry.
-keypass PASSWORD
Use this option to specify the password which the tool will use to
unlock the Key Entry associated with the designated Alias.
If this option is omitted, the tool will first attempt to unlock
the Key Entry using the same password protecting the key store. If
this fails, you will then be prompted to provide a password.
-new PASSWORD
Use this option to specify the password protecting the private key
material of the newly cloned copy of the Key Entry.
-storetype STORE_TYPE
See Common Options for more details.
-keystore URL
See Common Options for more details.
-storepass PASSWORD
See Common Options for more details.
-provider PROVIDER_CLASS_NAME
See Common Options for more details.
-v See Common Options for more details.
The -storepasswd command
Use this command to change the password protecting a key store.
-new PASSWORD
The new, and different, password which will be used to protect the
designated key store.
-storetype STORE_TYPE
See Common Options for more details.
-keystore URL
See Common Options for more details.
-storepass PASSWORD
See Common Options for more details.
-provider PROVIDER_CLASS_NAME
See Common Options for more details.
-v See Common Options for more details.
The -keypasswd command
Use this command to change the password protecting the private key
material of a designated Key Entry.
-alias ALIAS
See Common Options for more details.
Use this option to specify the password which the tool will use to
unlock the Key Entry associated with the designated Alias.
If this option is omitted, the tool will first attempt to unlock
the Key Entry using the same password protecting the key store. If
this fails, you will then be prompted to provide a password.
-new PASSWORD
The new, and different, password which will be used to protect the
private key material of the designated Key Entry.
-storetype STORE_TYPE
See Common Options for more details.
-keystore URL
See Common Options for more details.
-storepass PASSWORD
See Common Options for more details.
-provider PROVIDER_CLASS_NAME
See Common Options for more details.
-v See Common Options for more details.
The -delete command
Use this command to delete a designated key store entry.
-alias ALIAS
See Common Options for more details.
-storetype STORE_TYPE
See Common Options for more details.
-keystore URL
See Common Options for more details.
-storepass PASSWORD
See Common Options for more details.
-provider PROVIDER_CLASS_NAME
See Common Options for more details.
-v See Common Options for more details.
SEE ALSO