`step-ca` is an online certificate authority for secure, automated certificate management. It's the server counterpart to the [`step` CLI tool](https://github.com/smallstep/cli).
- Issue X.509 certificates for your internal infrastructure:
- HTTPS certificates that [work in browsers](https://smallstep.com/blog/step-v0-8-6-valid-HTTPS-certificates-for-dev-pre-prod.html) ([RFC5280](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5280) and [CA/Browser Forum](https://cabforum.org/baseline-requirements-documents/) compliance)
- TLS certificates for VMs, containers, APIs, mobile clients, database connections, printers, wifi networks, toaster ovens...
- Client certificates to [enable mutual TLS (mTLS)](https://smallstep.com/hello-mtls) in your infra. mTLS is an optional feature in TLS where both client and server authenticate each other. Why add the complexity of a VPN when you can safely use mTLS over the public internet?
`step-ca` is an online certificate authority for secure, automated certificate management for DevOps.
It's the server counterpart to the [`step` CLI tool](https://github.com/smallstep/cli) for working with certificates and keys.
Both projects are maintained by [Smallstep Labs](https://smallstep.com).
You can use `step-ca` to:
- Issue HTTPS server and client certificates that [work in browsers](https://smallstep.com/blog/step-v0-8-6-valid-HTTPS-certificates-for-dev-pre-prod.html) ([RFC5280](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5280) and [CA/Browser Forum](https://cabforum.org/baseline-requirements-documents/) compliance)
- For people, in exchange for single sign-on ID tokens
- For people, in exchange for single sign-on identity tokens
- For hosts, in exchange for cloud instance identity documents
- Easily automate certificate management:
- It's an ACME v2 server
- It has a JSON API
- It's an [ACME server](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/acme-basics/) that supports all [popular ACME challenge types](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/acme-basics/#acme-challenge-types)
- It comes with a [Go wrapper](./examples#user-content-basic-client-usage)
- ... and there's a [command-line client](https://github.com/smallstep/cli) you can use in scripts!
Whatever your use case, `step-ca` is easy to use and hard to misuse, thanks to [safe, sane defaults](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/certificate-authority-server-production#sane-cryptographic-defaults).
---
**Don't want to run your own CA?**
To get up and running quickly, or as an alternative to running your own `step-ca` server, consider creating a [free hosted smallstep Certificate Manager authority](https://info.smallstep.com/certificate-manager-early-access-mvp/).
### Comparison with Smallstep's commercial product
`step-ca` is optimized for a two-tier PKI serving common DevOps use cases.
As you design your PKI, if you need any of the following, [consider our commerical CA](http://smallstep.com):
- Multiple certificate authorities
- Active revocation (CRL, OSCP)
- Turnkey high-volume, high availability CA
- An API for seamless IaC management of your PKI
- Integrated support for SCEP & NDES, for migrating from legacy Active Directory Certificate Services deployments
- Device identity — cross-platform device inventory and attestation using Secure Enclave & TPM 2.0
@ -52,7 +65,6 @@ Setting up a *public key infrastructure* (PKI) is out of reach for many small te
- Choose key types (RSA, ECDSA, EdDSA) and lifetimes to suit your needs
- [Short-lived certificates](https://smallstep.com/blog/passive-revocation.html) with automated enrollment, renewal, and passive revocation
- Capable of high availability (HA) deployment using [root federation](https://smallstep.com/blog/step-v0.8.3-federation-root-rotation.html) and/or multiple intermediaries
- Can operate as [an online intermediate CA for an existing root CA](https://smallstep.com/docs/tutorials/intermediate-ca-new-ca)
- [Badger, BoltDB, Postgres, and MySQL database backends](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/configuration#databases)
@ -127,5 +139,5 @@ and visiting http://localhost:8080.
## Feedback?
* Tell us what you like and don't like about managing your PKI - we're eager to help solve problems in this space.
* Tell us about a feature you'd like to see! [Add a feature request Issue](https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/issues/new?assignees=&labels=enhancement%2C+needs+triage&template=enhancement.md&title=), [ask on Discussions](https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/discussions), or hit us up on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/smallsteplabs).
* Tell us what you like and don't like about managing your PKI - we're eager to help solve problems in this space. [Join our Discord](https://u.step.sm/discord) or [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/discussions)
* Tell us about a feature you'd like to see! [Request a Feature](https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/issues/new?assignees=&labels=enhancement%2C+needs+triage&template=enhancement.md&title=)
Carl Tashian
2 months ago