1 .\" $OpenBSD: ssh-keygen.1,v 1.87 2010/03/04 22:52:40 jmc Exp $
5 .\" Author: Tatu Ylonen <ylo@cs.hut.fi>
6 .\" Copyright (c) 1995 Tatu Ylonen <ylo@cs.hut.fi>, Espoo, Finland
7 .\" All rights reserved
9 .\" As far as I am concerned, the code I have written for this software
10 .\" can be used freely for any purpose. Any derived versions of this
11 .\" software must be clearly marked as such, and if the derived work is
12 .\" incompatible with the protocol description in the RFC file, it must be
13 .\" called by a name other than "ssh" or "Secure Shell".
16 .\" Copyright (c) 1999,2000 Markus Friedl. All rights reserved.
17 .\" Copyright (c) 1999 Aaron Campbell. All rights reserved.
18 .\" Copyright (c) 1999 Theo de Raadt. All rights reserved.
20 .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
21 .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
23 .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
24 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
25 .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
26 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
27 .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
29 .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR
30 .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
31 .\" OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.
32 .\" IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
33 .\" INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
34 .\" NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
35 .\" DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
36 .\" THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
37 .\" (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
38 .\" THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
40 .Dd $Mdocdate: March 4 2010 $
45 .Nd authentication key generation, management and conversion
52 .Op Fl N Ar new_passphrase
54 .Op Fl f Ar output_keyfile
57 .Op Fl P Ar old_passphrase
58 .Op Fl N Ar new_passphrase
62 .Op Fl f Ar input_keyfile
65 .Op Fl f Ar input_keyfile
68 .Op Fl f Ar input_keyfile
71 .Op Fl P Ar passphrase
76 .Op Fl f Ar input_keyfile
79 .Op Fl f Ar input_keyfile
84 .Op Fl f Ar known_hosts_file
88 .Op Fl f Ar known_hosts_file
91 .Op Fl f Ar known_hosts_file
94 .Op Fl f Ar input_keyfile
101 .Op Fl S Ar start_point
106 .Op Fl a Ar num_trials
107 .Op Fl W Ar generator
110 .Fl I Ar certificate_identity
112 .Op Fl n Ar principals
113 .Op Fl O Ar constraint
114 .Op Fl V Ar validity_interval
118 .Op Fl f Ar input_keyfile
122 generates, manages and converts authentication keys for
125 can create RSA keys for use by SSH protocol version 1 and RSA or DSA
126 keys for use by SSH protocol version 2.
127 The type of key to be generated is specified with the
130 If invoked without any arguments,
132 will generate an RSA key for use in SSH protocol 2 connections.
135 is also used to generate groups for use in Diffie-Hellman group
138 .Sx MODULI GENERATION
141 Normally each user wishing to use SSH
142 with RSA or DSA authentication runs this once to create the authentication
144 .Pa ~/.ssh/identity ,
148 Additionally, the system administrator may use this to generate host keys,
152 Normally this program generates the key and asks for a file in which
153 to store the private key.
154 The public key is stored in a file with the same name but
157 The program also asks for a passphrase.
158 The passphrase may be empty to indicate no passphrase
159 (host keys must have an empty passphrase), or it may be a string of
161 A passphrase is similar to a password, except it can be a phrase with a
162 series of words, punctuation, numbers, whitespace, or any string of
164 Good passphrases are 10-30 characters long, are
165 not simple sentences or otherwise easily guessable (English
166 prose has only 1-2 bits of entropy per character, and provides very bad
167 passphrases), and contain a mix of upper and lowercase letters,
168 numbers, and non-alphanumeric characters.
169 The passphrase can be changed later by using the
173 There is no way to recover a lost passphrase.
175 lost or forgotten, a new key must be generated and copied to the
176 corresponding public key to other machines.
179 there is also a comment field in the key file that is only for
180 convenience to the user to help identify the key.
181 The comment can tell what the key is for, or whatever is useful.
182 The comment is initialized to
184 when the key is created, but can be changed using the
188 After a key is generated, instructions below detail where the keys
189 should be placed to be activated.
191 The options are as follows:
194 Specifies the number of primality tests to perform when screening DH-GEX
199 Show the bubblebabble digest of specified private or public key file.
201 Specifies the number of bits in the key to create.
202 For RSA keys, the minimum size is 768 bits and the default is 2048 bits.
203 Generally, 2048 bits is considered sufficient.
204 DSA keys must be exactly 1024 bits as specified by FIPS 186-2.
206 Provides a new comment.
208 Requests changing the comment in the private and public key files.
209 This operation is only supported for RSA1 keys.
210 The program will prompt for the file containing the private keys, for
211 the passphrase if the key has one, and for the new comment.
213 Download the RSA public keys provided by the PKCS#11 shared library
216 This option will read a private or public OpenSSH key file and
218 RFC 4716 SSH Public Key File Format
220 This option allows exporting keys for use by several commercial
223 Search for the specified
227 file, listing any occurrences found.
228 This option is useful to find hashed host names or addresses and may also be
229 used in conjunction with the
231 option to print found keys in a hashed format.
233 Specifies the filename of the key file.
234 .It Fl G Ar output_file
235 Generate candidate primes for DH-GEX.
236 These primes must be screened for
241 Use generic DNS format when printing fingerprint resource records using the
248 This replaces all hostnames and addresses with hashed representations
249 within the specified file; the original content is moved to a file with
251 These hashes may be used normally by
255 but they do not reveal identifying information should the file's contents
257 This option will not modify existing hashed hostnames and is therefore safe
258 to use on files that mix hashed and non-hashed names.
260 When signing a key, create a host certificate instead of a user
265 .It Fl I Ar certificate_identity
266 Specify the key identity when signing a public key.
271 This option will read an unencrypted private (or public) key file
272 in SSH2-compatible format and print an OpenSSH compatible private
273 (or public) key to stdout.
276 RFC 4716 SSH Public Key File Format.
277 This option allows importing keys from several commercial
280 Prints the contents of a certificate.
282 Show fingerprint of specified public key file.
283 Private RSA1 keys are also supported.
286 tries to find the matching public key file and prints its fingerprint.
289 an ASCII art representation of the key is supplied with the fingerprint.
291 Specify the amount of memory to use (in megabytes) when generating
292 candidate moduli for DH-GEX.
293 .It Fl N Ar new_passphrase
294 Provides the new passphrase.
295 .It Fl n Ar principals
296 Specify one or more principals (user or host names) to be included in
297 a certificate when signing a key.
298 Multiple principals may be specified, separated by commas.
302 .It Fl O Ar constraint
303 Specify a certificate constraint when signing a key.
304 This option may be specified multiple times.
308 The constraints that are valid for user certificates are:
310 .It Ic no-x11-forwarding
311 Disable X11 forwarding (permitted by default).
312 .It Ic no-agent-forwarding
315 forwarding (permitted by default).
316 .It Ic no-port-forwarding
317 Disable port forwarding (permitted by default).
319 Disable PTY allocation (permitted by default).
325 (permitted by default).
327 Clear all enabled permissions.
328 This is useful for clearing the default set of permissions so permissions may
329 be added individually.
330 .It Ic permit-x11-forwarding
331 Allows X11 forwarding.
332 .It Ic permit-port-forwarding
333 Allows port forwarding.
335 Allows PTY allocation.
336 .It Ic permit-user-rc
341 .It Ic force-command=command
342 Forces the execution of
344 instead of any shell or command specified by the user when
345 the certificate is used for authentication.
346 .It Ic source-address=address_list
347 Restrict the source addresses from which the certificate is considered valid
351 is a comma-separated list of one or more address/netmask pairs in CIDR
355 At present, no constraints are valid for host keys.
356 .It Fl P Ar passphrase
357 Provides the (old) passphrase.
359 Requests changing the passphrase of a private key file instead of
360 creating a new private key.
361 The program will prompt for the file
362 containing the private key, for the old passphrase, and twice for the
369 when creating a new key.
371 Removes all keys belonging to
376 This option is useful to delete hashed hosts (see the
380 Print the SSHFP fingerprint resource record named
382 for the specified public key file.
384 Specify start point (in hex) when generating candidate moduli for DH-GEX.
386 Certify (sign) a public key using the specified CA key.
390 .It Fl T Ar output_file
391 Test DH group exchange candidate primes (generated using the
395 Specifies the type of key to create.
396 The possible values are
398 for protocol version 1 and
402 for protocol version 2.
403 .It Fl V Ar validity_interval
404 Specify a validity interval when signing a certificate.
405 A validity interval may consist of a single time, indicating that the
406 certificate is valid beginning now and expiring at that time, or may consist
407 of two times separated by a colon to indicate an explicit time interval.
408 The start time may be specified as a date in YYYYMMDD format, a time
409 in YYYYMMDDHHMMSS format or a relative time (to the current time) consisting
410 of a minus sign followed by a relative time in the format described in the
414 The end time may be specified as a YYYYMMDD date, a YYYYMMDDHHMMSS time or
415 a relative time starting with a plus character.
419 (valid from now to 52 weeks and one day from now),
421 (valid from four weeks ago to four weeks from now),
422 .Dq 20100101123000:20110101123000
423 (valid from 12:30 PM, January 1st, 2010 to 12:30 PM, January 1st, 2011),
425 (valid from yesterday to midnight, January 1st, 2011).
430 to print debugging messages about its progress.
431 This is helpful for debugging moduli generation.
434 options increase the verbosity.
436 .It Fl W Ar generator
437 Specify desired generator when testing candidate moduli for DH-GEX.
439 This option will read a private
440 OpenSSH format file and print an OpenSSH public key to stdout.
442 .Sh MODULI GENERATION
444 may be used to generate groups for the Diffie-Hellman Group Exchange
446 Generating these groups is a two-step process: first, candidate
447 primes are generated using a fast, but memory intensive process.
448 These candidate primes are then tested for suitability (a CPU-intensive
451 Generation of primes is performed using the
454 The desired length of the primes may be specified by the
459 .Dl # ssh-keygen -G moduli-2048.candidates -b 2048
461 By default, the search for primes begins at a random point in the
462 desired length range.
463 This may be overridden using the
465 option, which specifies a different start point (in hex).
467 Once a set of candidates have been generated, they must be tested for
469 This may be performed using the
474 will read candidates from standard input (or a file specified using the
479 .Dl # ssh-keygen -T moduli-2048 -f moduli-2048.candidates
481 By default, each candidate will be subjected to 100 primality tests.
482 This may be overridden using the
485 The DH generator value will be chosen automatically for the
486 prime under consideration.
487 If a specific generator is desired, it may be requested using the
490 Valid generator values are 2, 3, and 5.
492 Screened DH groups may be installed in
494 It is important that this file contains moduli of a range of bit lengths and
495 that both ends of a connection share common moduli.
498 supports signing of keys to produce certificates that may be used for
499 user or host authentication.
500 Certificates consist of a public key, some identity information, zero or
501 more principal (user or host) names and an optional set of constraints that
502 are signed by a Certification Authority (CA) key.
503 Clients or servers may then trust only the CA key and verify its signature
504 on a certificate rather than trusting many user/host keys.
505 Note that OpenSSH certificates are a different, and much simpler, format to
506 the X.509 certificates used in
510 supports two types of certificates: user and host.
511 User certificates authenticate users to servers, whereas host certificates
512 authenticate server hosts to users.
513 To generate a user certificate:
515 .Dl $ ssh-keygen -s /path/to/ca_key -I key_id /path/to/user_key.pub
517 The resultant certificate will be placed in
518 .Pa /path/to/user_key_cert.pub .
519 A host certificate requires the
523 .Dl $ ssh-keygen -s /path/to/ca_key -I key_id -h /path/to/host_key.pub
525 The host certificate will be output to
526 .Pa /path/to/host_key_cert.pub .
529 is a "key identifier" that is logged by the server when the certificate
530 is used for authentication.
532 Certificates may be limited to be valid for a set of principal (user/host)
534 By default, generated certificates are valid for all users or hosts.
535 To generate a certificate for a specified set of principals:
537 .Dl $ ssh-keygen -s ca_key -I key_id -n user1,user2 user_key.pub
538 .Dl $ ssh-keygen -s ca_key -I key_id -h -n host.domain user_key.pub
540 Additional limitations on the validity and use of user certificates may
541 be specified through certificate constraints.
542 A constrained certificate may disable features of the SSH session, may be
543 valid only when presented from particular source addresses or may
544 force the use of a specific command.
545 For a list of valid certificate constraints, see the documentation for the
549 Finally, certificates may be defined with a validity lifetime.
552 option allows specification of certificate start and end times.
553 A certificate that is presented at a time outside this range will not be
555 By default, certificates have a maximum validity interval.
557 For certificates to be used for user or host authentication, the CA
558 public key must be trusted by
562 Please refer to those manual pages for details.
565 .It Pa ~/.ssh/identity
566 Contains the protocol version 1 RSA authentication identity of the user.
567 This file should not be readable by anyone but the user.
569 specify a passphrase when generating the key; that passphrase will be
570 used to encrypt the private part of this file using 128-bit AES.
571 This file is not automatically accessed by
573 but it is offered as the default file for the private key.
575 will read this file when a login attempt is made.
576 .It Pa ~/.ssh/identity.pub
577 Contains the protocol version 1 RSA public key for authentication.
578 The contents of this file should be added to
579 .Pa ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
581 where the user wishes to log in using RSA authentication.
582 There is no need to keep the contents of this file secret.
584 Contains the protocol version 2 DSA authentication identity of the user.
585 This file should not be readable by anyone but the user.
587 specify a passphrase when generating the key; that passphrase will be
588 used to encrypt the private part of this file using 128-bit AES.
589 This file is not automatically accessed by
591 but it is offered as the default file for the private key.
593 will read this file when a login attempt is made.
594 .It Pa ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub
595 Contains the protocol version 2 DSA public key for authentication.
596 The contents of this file should be added to
597 .Pa ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
599 where the user wishes to log in using public key authentication.
600 There is no need to keep the contents of this file secret.
602 Contains the protocol version 2 RSA authentication identity of the user.
603 This file should not be readable by anyone but the user.
605 specify a passphrase when generating the key; that passphrase will be
606 used to encrypt the private part of this file using 128-bit AES.
607 This file is not automatically accessed by
609 but it is offered as the default file for the private key.
611 will read this file when a login attempt is made.
612 .It Pa ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
613 Contains the protocol version 2 RSA public key for authentication.
614 The contents of this file should be added to
615 .Pa ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
617 where the user wishes to log in using public key authentication.
618 There is no need to keep the contents of this file secret.
620 Contains Diffie-Hellman groups used for DH-GEX.
621 The file format is described in
632 .%T "The Secure Shell (SSH) Public Key File Format"
636 OpenSSH is a derivative of the original and free
637 ssh 1.2.12 release by Tatu Ylonen.
638 Aaron Campbell, Bob Beck, Markus Friedl, Niels Provos,
639 Theo de Raadt and Dug Song
640 removed many bugs, re-added newer features and
642 Markus Friedl contributed the support for SSH
643 protocol versions 1.5 and 2.0.