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certyaml

Declarative way to create x509 certificates for test environments. No more storing test certificates and private keys in the repository!

Go Reference

Table of Contents

Description

Certyaml is a command line tool and a Go API for issuing certificates. It is similar to openssl or cfssl which can also be used for issuing certificates, but certyaml provides simpler way to define complete PKI hierarchies with a compact YAML syntax or directly from Go code with a simple API.

Certyaml is targeted for developers who need to set up a private PKI for test environments. It cannot be used for production environments where publicly trusted certificates are needed.

If you program in other languages, check out following projects:

Using certyaml

Usage: certyaml [-d destination] [certs.yaml]

Creates certificates and keys according to manifest file in YAML format.
By default it reads `certs.yaml` as a manifest file and creates files
in current directory.

  -d string
        Short for --destination
  -destination string
        Destination directory where to create the certificates and keys

Installing

Release builds

Release builds are available for download in releases page.

Compiling from source code

Go compiler is required to build certyaml binary

go install github.com/tsaarni/certyaml/cmd/certyaml@latest

The executable will be stored in the go path, by default ~/go/bin/certyaml.

Alternatively, you can run the tool without installing it:

go run github.com/tsaarni/certyaml/cmd/certyaml@latest

Using certyaml

Create a YAML manifest file which describes the wanted PKI hierarchy and end-entity certificates

$ cat >certs.yaml <<EOF
subject: cn=server-root-ca
---
subject: cn=intermediate-ca
issuer: cn=server-root-ca
ca: true
---
subject: cn=myserver
issuer: cn=intermediate-ca
sans:
- DNS:myserver.example.com
- DNS:foo
---
subject: cn=selfsigned-server
ca: false
key_usages:
- KeyEncipherment
- DigitalSignature
---
subject: cn=fixedtime
issuer: cn=intermediate-ca
not_before: 2020-01-01T09:00:00Z
not_after: 2020-02-01T10:10:10Z
---
subject: cn=shortlived
issuer: cn=intermediate-ca
expires: 1m
---
subject: cn=client-root-ca
---
subject: CN=John Doe,OU=People,O=Company
filename: clientcert
issuer: cn=client-root-ca
EOF

Generate the certificates

$ certyaml
Loading manifest: certs.yaml
Reading state: certs.state
Writing: server-root-ca.pem server-root-ca-key.pem
Writing: intermediate-ca.pem intermediate-ca-key.pem
Writing: myserver.pem myserver-key.pem
Writing: selfsigned-server.pem selfsigned-server-key.pem
Writing: fixedtime.pem fixedtime-key.pem
Writing: shortlived.pem shortlived-key.pem
Writing: client-root-ca.pem client-root-ca-key.pem
Writing: clientcert.pem clientcert-key.pem
Writing state: certs.state

$ ls -l
total 72
-rw-r--r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni  483 Jun 15 17:08 certs.state
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni  588 Jun 15 17:07 certs.yaml
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1679 Jun 15 17:08 clientcert-key.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1062 Jun 15 17:08 clientcert.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1679 Jun 15 17:08 client-root-ca-key.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1046 Jun 15 17:08 client-root-ca.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1675 Jun 15 17:08 fixedtime-key.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1017 Jun 15 17:08 fixedtime.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1679 Jun 15 17:08 intermediate-ca-key.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1046 Jun 15 17:08 intermediate-ca.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1679 Jun 15 17:08 myserver-key.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1066 Jun 15 17:08 myserver.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1675 Jun 15 17:08 selfsigned-server-key.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1029 Jun 15 17:08 selfsigned-server.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1675 Jun 15 17:08 server-root-ca-key.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1046 Jun 15 17:08 server-root-ca.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1675 Jun 15 17:08 shortlived-key.pem
-rw-rw-r-- 1 tsaarni tsaarni 1017 Jun 15 17:08 shortlived.pem

You can change parameters of the certificates in the YAML manifest or remove generated certificate files from the filesystem and then run certyaml again. Only changed or missing certificates will be regenerated.

$ rm myserver*
$ certyaml
Loading manifest: certs.yaml
Reading state: certs.state
No changes in manifest: skipping server-root-ca
No changes in manifest: skipping intermediate-ca
Writing: myserver.pem myserver-key.pem
No changes in manifest: skipping selfsigned-server
No changes in manifest: skipping fixedtime
No changes in manifest: skipping shortlived
No changes in manifest: skipping client-root-ca
No changes in manifest: skipping clientcert
Writing state: certs.state

YAML syntax

tag description examples
subject Distinguished name for the certificate. subject is the only mandatory field and it must be unique. CN=Joe
sans List of values for x509 Subject Alternative Name extension. DNS:www.example.com, IP:1.2.3.4, URI:https://www.example.com
key_type Certificate key algorithm. Default value is EC (elliptic curve). EC, RSA or ED25519
key_size The key length in bits. Default value is 256 if key_size is not defined. For key_type EC: 256, 384, 521. For key_type RSA: 1024, 2048, 4096. For key_type ED25519: 256.
expires Certificate NotAfter field is calculated by adding duration defined in expires to current time. Default value is 8760h (one year) if expires is not defined. not_after takes precedence over expires. 1s, 10m, 1h
key_usages List of values for x509 key usage extension. If key_usages is not defined, CertSign and CRLSign are set for CA certificates, KeyEncipherment and DigitalSignature are set for end-entity certificates. DigitalSignature, ContentCommitment, KeyEncipherment, DataEncipherment, KeyAgreement, CertSign, CRLSign, EncipherOnly, DecipherOnly
ext_key_usages List of values for x509 extended key usage extension. Not set by default. Any, ServerAuth, ClientAuth, CodeSigning, EmailProtection, IPSECEndSystem, IPSECTunnel, IPSECUser. TimeStamping, OCSPSigning, MicrosoftServerGatedCrypto, NetscapeServerGatedCrypto, MicrosoftCommercialCodeSigning, MicrosoftKernelCodeSigning
issuer Distinguished name of the issuer. Issuer must be declared as a certificate in the manifest file before referring to it as issuer. Self-signed certificate is generated if issuer is not defined. CN=myca
filename The basename of the generated certificate and private key files. The files created to destination directory will be [filename].pem and [filename]-key.pem will. If filename is not defined, CN field value from subject will be used as filename. clientcert
ca Set certificate is / is not CA. If ca is not defined, true is set by default for self-signed certificates. true or false
not_before Certificate is not valid before this time (RFC3339 timestamp). 2020-01-01T09:00:00Z
not_after Certificate is not valid after this time (RFC3339 timestamp). 2020-01-01T09:00:00Z
serial Serial number for the certificate. Default value is current time in nanoseconds. 123 
revoked When true the serial number of the certificate will be written in [issuer]-crl.pem. Default value is false. The file will be written only if at least one certificate is revoked. CRL ThisUpdate is set to current time and NextUpdate one week after. Self-signed certificates cannot be revoked. true, false
crl_distribution_points List of URLs for X509 CRL Distribution Points extension. http://example.com/crl.pem

Go API

For using certyaml in Go applications, see API documentation.

For examples on how to use the API use, see examples/go-api and certificate_test.go.