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1=pod
2
3=head1 NAME
4
5pkcs8 - PKCS#8 format private key conversion tool
6
7=head1 SYNOPSIS
8
9B<openssl> B<pkcs8>
10[B<-topk8>]
11[B<-inform PEM|DER>]
12[B<-outform PEM|DER>]
13[B<-in filename>]
14[B<-passin arg>]
15[B<-out filename>]
16[B<-passout arg>]
17[B<-noiter>]
18[B<-nocrypt>]
19[B<-nooct>]
20[B<-embed>]
21[B<-nsdb>]
22[B<-v2 alg>]
23[B<-v1 alg>]
24
25=head1 DESCRIPTION
26
27The B<pkcs8> command processes private keys in PKCS#8 format. It can handle
28both unencrypted PKCS#8 PrivateKeyInfo format and EncryptedPrivateKeyInfo
29format with a variety of PKCS#5 (v1.5 and v2.0) and PKCS#12 algorithms.
30
31=head1 COMMAND OPTIONS
32
33=over 4
34
35=item B<-topk8>
36
37Normally a PKCS#8 private key is expected on input and a traditional format
38private key will be written. With the B<-topk8> option the situation is
39reversed: it reads a traditional format private key and writes a PKCS#8
40format key.
41
42=item B<-inform DER|PEM>
43
44This specifies the input format. If a PKCS#8 format key is expected on input
45then either a B<DER> or B<PEM> encoded version of a PKCS#8 key will be
46expected. Otherwise the B<DER> or B<PEM> format of the traditional format
47private key is used.
48
49=item B<-outform DER|PEM>
50
51This specifies the output format, the options have the same meaning as the
52B<-inform> option.
53
54=item B<-in filename>
55
56This specifies the input filename to read a key from or standard input if this
57option is not specified. If the key is encrypted a pass phrase will be
58prompted for.
59
60=item B<-passin arg>
61
62the input file password source. For more information about the format of B<arg>
63see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)>.
64
65=item B<-out filename>
66
67This specifies the output filename to write a key to or standard output by
68default. If any encryption options are set then a pass phrase will be
69prompted for. The output filename should B<not> be the same as the input
70filename.
71
72=item B<-passout arg>
73
74the output file password source. For more information about the format of B<arg>
75see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)>.
76
77=item B<-nocrypt>
78
79PKCS#8 keys generated or input are normally PKCS#8 EncryptedPrivateKeyInfo
80structures using an appropriate password based encryption algorithm. With
81this option an unencrypted PrivateKeyInfo structure is expected or output.
82This option does not encrypt private keys at all and should only be used
83when absolutely necessary. Certain software such as some versions of Java
84code signing software used unencrypted private keys.
85
86=item B<-nooct>
87
88This option generates RSA private keys in a broken format that some software
89uses. Specifically the private key should be enclosed in a OCTET STRING
90but some software just includes the structure itself without the
91surrounding OCTET STRING.
92
93=item B<-embed>
94
95This option generates DSA keys in a broken format. The DSA parameters are
96embedded inside the PrivateKey structure. In this form the OCTET STRING
97contains an ASN1 SEQUENCE consisting of two structures: a SEQUENCE containing
98the parameters and an ASN1 INTEGER containing the private key.
99
100=item B<-nsdb>
101
102This option generates DSA keys in a broken format compatible with Netscape
103private key databases. The PrivateKey contains a SEQUENCE consisting of
104the public and private keys respectively.
105
106=item B<-v2 alg>
107
108This option enables the use of PKCS#5 v2.0 algorithms. Normally PKCS#8
109private keys are encrypted with the password based encryption algorithm
110called B<pbeWithMD5AndDES-CBC> this uses 56 bit DES encryption but it
111was the strongest encryption algorithm supported in PKCS#5 v1.5. Using
112the B<-v2> option PKCS#5 v2.0 algorithms are used which can use any
113encryption algorithm such as 168 bit triple DES or 128 bit RC2 however
114not many implementations support PKCS#5 v2.0 yet. If you are just using
115private keys with OpenSSL then this doesn't matter.
116
117The B<alg> argument is the encryption algorithm to use, valid values include
118B<des>, B<des3> and B<rc2>. It is recommended that B<des3> is used.
119
120=item B<-v1 alg>
121
122This option specifies a PKCS#5 v1.5 or PKCS#12 algorithm to use. A complete
123list of possible algorithms is included below.
124
125=back
126
127=head1 NOTES
128
129The encrypted form of a PEM encode PKCS#8 files uses the following
130headers and footers:
131
132 -----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----
133 -----END ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----
134
135The unencrypted form uses:
136
137 -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
138 -----END PRIVATE KEY-----
139
140Private keys encrypted using PKCS#5 v2.0 algorithms and high iteration
141counts are more secure that those encrypted using the traditional
142SSLeay compatible formats. So if additional security is considered
143important the keys should be converted.
144
145The default encryption is only 56 bits because this is the encryption
146that most current implementations of PKCS#8 will support.
147
148Some software may use PKCS#12 password based encryption algorithms
149with PKCS#8 format private keys: these are handled automatically
150but there is no option to produce them.
151
152It is possible to write out DER encoded encrypted private keys in
153PKCS#8 format because the encryption details are included at an ASN1
154level whereas the traditional format includes them at a PEM level.
155
156=head1 PKCS#5 v1.5 and PKCS#12 algorithms.
157
158Various algorithms can be used with the B<-v1> command line option,
159including PKCS#5 v1.5 and PKCS#12. These are described in more detail
160below.
161
162=over 4
163
164=item B<PBE-MD2-DES PBE-MD5-DES>
165
166These algorithms were included in the original PKCS#5 v1.5 specification.
167They only offer 56 bits of protection since they both use DES.
168
169=item B<PBE-SHA1-RC2-64 PBE-MD2-RC2-64 PBE-MD5-RC2-64 PBE-SHA1-DES>
170
171These algorithms are not mentioned in the original PKCS#5 v1.5 specification
172but they use the same key derivation algorithm and are supported by some
173software. They are mentioned in PKCS#5 v2.0. They use either 64 bit RC2 or
17456 bit DES.
175
176=item B<PBE-SHA1-RC4-128 PBE-SHA1-RC4-40 PBE-SHA1-3DES PBE-SHA1-2DES PBE-SHA1-RC2-128 PBE-SHA1-RC2-40>
177
178These algorithms use the PKCS#12 password based encryption algorithm and
179allow strong encryption algorithms like triple DES or 128 bit RC2 to be used.
180
181=back
182
183=head1 EXAMPLES
184
185Convert a private from traditional to PKCS#5 v2.0 format using triple
186DES:
187
188 openssl pkcs8 -in key.pem -topk8 -v2 des3 -out enckey.pem
189
190Convert a private key to PKCS#8 using a PKCS#5 1.5 compatible algorithm
191(DES):
192
193 openssl pkcs8 -in key.pem -topk8 -out enckey.pem
194
195Convert a private key to PKCS#8 using a PKCS#12 compatible algorithm
196(3DES):
197
198 openssl pkcs8 -in key.pem -topk8 -out enckey.pem -v1 PBE-SHA1-3DES
199
200Read a DER unencrypted PKCS#8 format private key:
201
202 openssl pkcs8 -inform DER -nocrypt -in key.der -out key.pem
203
204Convert a private key from any PKCS#8 format to traditional format:
205
206 openssl pkcs8 -in pk8.pem -out key.pem
207
208=head1 STANDARDS
209
210Test vectors from this PKCS#5 v2.0 implementation were posted to the
211pkcs-tng mailing list using triple DES, DES and RC2 with high iteration
212counts, several people confirmed that they could decrypt the private
213keys produced and Therefore it can be assumed that the PKCS#5 v2.0
214implementation is reasonably accurate at least as far as these
215algorithms are concerned.
216
217The format of PKCS#8 DSA (and other) private keys is not well documented:
218it is hidden away in PKCS#11 v2.01, section 11.9. OpenSSL's default DSA
219PKCS#8 private key format complies with this standard.
220
221=head1 BUGS
222
223There should be an option that prints out the encryption algorithm
224in use and other details such as the iteration count.
225
226PKCS#8 using triple DES and PKCS#5 v2.0 should be the default private
227key format for OpenSSL: for compatibility several of the utilities use
228the old format at present.
229
230=head1 SEE ALSO
231
232L<dsa(1)|dsa(1)>, L<rsa(1)|rsa(1)>, L<genrsa(1)|genrsa(1)>,
233L<gendsa(1)|gendsa(1)>
234
235=cut