22 [B<-inform SMIME|PEM|DER>]
26 [B<-outform SMIME|PEM|DER>]
41 The B<smime> command handles S/MIME mail. It can encrypt, decrypt, sign and
42 verify S/MIME messages.
44 =head1 COMMAND OPTIONS
46 There are six operation options that set the type of operation to be performed.
47 The meaning of the other options varies according to the operation type.
53 encrypt mail for the given recipient certificates. Input file is the message
54 to be encrypted. The output file is the encrypted mail in MIME format.
58 decrypt mail using the supplied certificate and private key. Expects an
59 encrypted mail message in MIME format for the input file. The decrypted mail
60 is written to the output file.
64 sign mail using the supplied certificate and private key. Input file is
65 the message to be signed. The signed message in MIME format is written
70 verify signed mail. Expects a signed mail message on input and outputs
71 the signed data. Both clear text and opaque signing is supported.
75 takes an input message and writes out a PEM encoded PKCS#7 structure.
79 resign a message: take an existing message and one or more new signers.
83 the input message to be encrypted or signed or the MIME message to
84 be decrypted or verified.
86 =item B<-inform SMIME|PEM|DER>
88 this specifies the input format for the PKCS#7 structure. The default
89 is B<SMIME> which reads an S/MIME format message. B<PEM> and B<DER>
90 format change this to expect PEM and DER format PKCS#7 structures
91 instead. This currently only affects the input format of the PKCS#7
92 structure, if no PKCS#7 structure is being input (for example with
93 B<-encrypt> or B<-sign>) this option has no effect.
95 =item B<-out filename>
97 the message text that has been decrypted or verified or the output MIME
98 format message that has been signed or verified.
100 =item B<-outform SMIME|PEM|DER>
102 this specifies the output format for the PKCS#7 structure. The default
103 is B<SMIME> which write an S/MIME format message. B<PEM> and B<DER>
104 format change this to write PEM and DER format PKCS#7 structures
105 instead. This currently only affects the output format of the PKCS#7
106 structure, if no PKCS#7 structure is being output (for example with
107 B<-verify> or B<-decrypt>) this option has no effect.
109 =item B<-stream -indef -noindef>
111 the B<-stream> and B<-indef> options are equivalent and enable streaming I/O
112 for encoding operations. This permits single pass processing of data without
113 the need to hold the entire contents in memory, potentially supporting very
114 large files. Streaming is automatically set for S/MIME signing with detached
115 data if the output format is B<SMIME> it is currently off by default for all
120 disable streaming I/O where it would produce and indefinite length constructed
121 encoding. This option currently has no effect. In future streaming will be
122 enabled by default on all relevant operations and this option will disable it.
124 =item B<-content filename>
126 This specifies a file containing the detached content, this is only
127 useful with the B<-verify> command. This is only usable if the PKCS#7
128 structure is using the detached signature form where the content is
129 not included. This option will override any content if the input format
130 is S/MIME and it uses the multipart/signed MIME content type.
134 this option adds plain text (text/plain) MIME headers to the supplied
135 message if encrypting or signing. If decrypting or verifying it strips
136 off text headers: if the decrypted or verified message is not of MIME
137 type text/plain then an error occurs.
139 =item B<-CAfile file>
141 a file containing trusted CA certificates, only used with B<-verify>.
145 a directory containing trusted CA certificates, only used with
146 B<-verify>. This directory must be a standard certificate directory: that
147 is a hash of each subject name (using B<x509 -hash>) should be linked
152 digest algorithm to use when signing or resigning. If not present then the
153 default digest algorithm for the signing key will be used (usually SHA1).
157 the encryption algorithm to use. For example DES (56 bits) - B<-des>,
158 triple DES (168 bits) - B<-des3>,
159 EVP_get_cipherbyname() function) can also be used preceded by a dash, for
160 example B<-aes_128_cbc>. See L<B<enc>|enc(1)> for list of ciphers
161 supported by your version of OpenSSL.
163 If not specified triple DES is used. Only used with B<-encrypt>.
167 when verifying a message normally certificates (if any) included in
168 the message are searched for the signing certificate. With this option
169 only the certificates specified in the B<-certfile> option are used.
170 The supplied certificates can still be used as untrusted CAs however.
174 do not verify the signers certificate of a signed message.
178 do not do chain verification of signers certificates: that is don't
179 use the certificates in the signed message as untrusted CAs.
183 don't try to verify the signatures on the message.
187 when signing a message the signer's certificate is normally included
188 with this option it is excluded. This will reduce the size of the
189 signed message but the verifier must have a copy of the signers certificate
190 available locally (passed using the B<-certfile> option for example).
194 normally when a message is signed a set of attributes are included which
195 include the signing time and supported symmetric algorithms. With this
196 option they are not included.
200 normally the input message is converted to "canonical" format which is
201 effectively using CR and LF as end of line: as required by the S/MIME
202 specification. When this option is present no translation occurs. This
203 is useful when handling binary data which may not be in MIME format.
207 when signing a message use opaque signing: this form is more resistant
208 to translation by mail relays but it cannot be read by mail agents that
209 do not support S/MIME. Without this option cleartext signing with
210 the MIME type multipart/signed is used.
212 =item B<-certfile file>
214 allows additional certificates to be specified. When signing these will
215 be included with the message. When verifying these will be searched for
216 the signers certificates. The certificates should be in PEM format.
218 =item B<-signer file>
220 a signing certificate when signing or resigning a message, this option can be
221 used multiple times if more than one signer is required. If a message is being
222 verified then the signers certificates will be written to this file if the
223 verification was successful.
227 the recipients certificate when decrypting a message. This certificate
228 must match one of the recipients of the message or an error occurs.
232 the private key to use when signing or decrypting. This must match the
233 corresponding certificate. If this option is not specified then the
234 private key must be included in the certificate file specified with
235 the B<-recip> or B<-signer> file. When signing this option can be used
236 multiple times to specify successive keys.
240 the private key password source. For more information about the format of B<arg>
241 see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)>.
243 =item B<-rand file(s)>
245 a file or files containing random data used to seed the random number
246 generator, or an EGD socket (see L<RAND_egd(3)|RAND_egd(3)>).
247 Multiple files can be specified separated by a OS-dependent character.
248 The separator is B<;> for MS-Windows, B<,> for OpenVMS, and B<:> for
253 one or more certificates of message recipients: used when encrypting
256 =item B<-to, -from, -subject>
258 the relevant mail headers. These are included outside the signed
259 portion of a message so they may be included manually. If signing
260 then many S/MIME mail clients check the signers certificate's email
261 address matches that specified in the From: address.
263 =item B<-purpose, -ignore_critical, -issuer_checks, -crl_check, -crl_check_all, -policy_check, -extended_crl, -x509_strict, -policy -check_ss_sig -no_alt_chains>
265 Set various options of certificate chain verification. See
266 L<B<verify>|verify(1)> manual page for details.
272 The MIME message must be sent without any blank lines between the
273 headers and the output. Some mail programs will automatically add
274 a blank line. Piping the mail directly to sendmail is one way to
275 achieve the correct format.
277 The supplied message to be signed or encrypted must include the
278 necessary MIME headers or many S/MIME clients wont display it
279 properly (if at all). You can use the B<-text> option to automatically
280 add plain text headers.
282 A "signed and encrypted" message is one where a signed message is
283 then encrypted. This can be produced by encrypting an already signed
284 message: see the examples section.
286 This version of the program only allows one signer per message but it
287 will verify multiple signers on received messages. Some S/MIME clients
288 choke if a message contains multiple signers. It is possible to sign
289 messages "in parallel" by signing an already signed message.
291 The options B<-encrypt> and B<-decrypt> reflect common usage in S/MIME
292 clients. Strictly speaking these process PKCS#7 enveloped data: PKCS#7
293 encrypted data is used for other purposes.
295 The B<-resign> option uses an existing message digest when adding a new
296 signer. This means that attributes must be present in at least one existing
297 signer using the same message digest or this operation will fail.
299 The B<-stream> and B<-indef> options enable experimental streaming I/O support.
300 As a result the encoding is BER using indefinite length constructed encoding
301 and no longer DER. Streaming is supported for the B<-encrypt> operation and the
302 B<-sign> operation if the content is not detached.
304 Streaming is always used for the B<-sign> operation with detached data but
305 since the content is no longer part of the PKCS#7 structure the encoding
314 the operation was completely successfully.
318 an error occurred parsing the command options.
322 one of the input files could not be read.
326 an error occurred creating the PKCS#7 file or when reading the MIME
331 an error occurred decrypting or verifying the message.
335 the message was verified correctly but an error occurred writing out
336 the signers certificates.
342 Create a cleartext signed message:
344 openssl smime -sign -in message.txt -text -out mail.msg \
347 Create an opaque signed message:
349 openssl smime -sign -in message.txt -text -out mail.msg -nodetach \
352 Create a signed message, include some additional certificates and
353 read the private key from another file:
355 openssl smime -sign -in in.txt -text -out mail.msg \
356 -signer mycert.pem -inkey mykey.pem -certfile mycerts.pem
358 Create a signed message with two signers:
360 openssl smime -sign -in message.txt -text -out mail.msg \
361 -signer mycert.pem -signer othercert.pem
363 Send a signed message under Unix directly to sendmail, including headers:
365 openssl smime -sign -in in.txt -text -signer mycert.pem \
366 -from steve@openssl.org -to someone@somewhere \
367 -subject "Signed message" | sendmail someone@somewhere
369 Verify a message and extract the signer's certificate if successful:
371 openssl smime -verify -in mail.msg -signer user.pem -out signedtext.txt
373 Send encrypted mail using triple DES:
375 openssl smime -encrypt -in in.txt -from steve@openssl.org \
376 -to someone@somewhere -subject "Encrypted message" \
377 -des3 user.pem -out mail.msg
379 Sign and encrypt mail:
381 openssl smime -sign -in ml.txt -signer my.pem -text \
382 | openssl smime -encrypt -out mail.msg \
383 -from steve@openssl.org -to someone@somewhere \
384 -subject "Signed and Encrypted message" -des3 user.pem
386 Note: the encryption command does not include the B<-text> option because the
387 message being encrypted already has MIME headers.
391 openssl smime -decrypt -in mail.msg -recip mycert.pem -inkey key.pem
393 The output from Netscape form signing is a PKCS#7 structure with the
394 detached signature format. You can use this program to verify the
395 signature by line wrapping the base64 encoded structure and surrounding
398 -----BEGIN PKCS7-----
401 and using the command:
403 openssl smime -verify -inform PEM -in signature.pem -content content.txt
405 Alternatively you can base64 decode the signature and use:
407 openssl smime -verify -inform DER -in signature.der -content content.txt
409 Create an encrypted message using 128 bit Camellia:
411 openssl smime -encrypt -in plain.txt -camellia128 -out mail.msg cert.pem
413 Add a signer to an existing message:
415 openssl smime -resign -in mail.msg -signer newsign.pem -out mail2.msg
419 The MIME parser isn't very clever: it seems to handle most messages that I've
420 thrown at it but it may choke on others.
422 The code currently will only write out the signer's certificate to a file: if
423 the signer has a separate encryption certificate this must be manually
424 extracted. There should be some heuristic that determines the correct
425 encryption certificate.
427 Ideally a database should be maintained of a certificates for each email
430 The code doesn't currently take note of the permitted symmetric encryption
431 algorithms as supplied in the SMIMECapabilities signed attribute. This means the
432 user has to manually include the correct encryption algorithm. It should store
433 the list of permitted ciphers in a database and only use those.
435 No revocation checking is done on the signer's certificate.
437 The current code can only handle S/MIME v2 messages, the more complex S/MIME v3
438 structures may cause parsing errors.
442 The use of multiple B<-signer> options and the B<-resign> command were first
443 added in OpenSSL 1.0.0
445 The -no_alt_chains options was first added to OpenSSL 1.0.1n and 1.0.2b.