mirror of
https://github.com/smallstep/certificates.git
synced 2024-11-11 07:11:00 +00:00
218 lines
8.4 KiB
Markdown
218 lines
8.4 KiB
Markdown
# Registration Authorities
|
|
|
|
This document describes how to use an external registration authority (RA), aka
|
|
certificate authority service (CAS) to sign X.509 certificates requests.
|
|
|
|
A CAS is a system that implements an API to sign certificate requests, the
|
|
difference between CAS and KMS is that the latter can sign any data, while CAS
|
|
is intended to sign only X.509 certificates.
|
|
|
|
`step-ca` defines an interface that can be implemented to support other
|
|
registration authorities, currently only CloudCAS and the default SoftCAS are
|
|
implemented.
|
|
|
|
The `CertificateAuthorityService` is defined in the package
|
|
`github.com/smallstep/certificates/cas/apiv1` and it is:
|
|
|
|
```go
|
|
type CertificateAuthorityService interface {
|
|
CreateCertificate(req *CreateCertificateRequest) (*CreateCertificateResponse, error)
|
|
RenewCertificate(req *RenewCertificateRequest) (*RenewCertificateResponse, error)
|
|
RevokeCertificate(req *RevokeCertificateRequest) (*RevokeCertificateResponse, error)
|
|
}
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
The same package defines another interface that is used to get the root
|
|
certificates from the CAS:
|
|
|
|
```go
|
|
type CertificateAuthorityGetter interface {
|
|
GetCertificateAuthority(req *GetCertificateAuthorityRequest) (*GetCertificateAuthorityResponse, error)
|
|
}
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## SoftCAS
|
|
|
|
SoftCAS is the default implementation supported by `step-ca`. No special
|
|
configurations are required to enable it.
|
|
|
|
SoftCAS generally uses certificates and keys in the filesystem, but a KMS can
|
|
also be used instead of a key file for signing certificates. See [KMS](kms.md)
|
|
for more information.
|
|
|
|
## CloudCAS
|
|
|
|
CloudCAS is the implementation of the `CertificateAuthorityService` and
|
|
`CertificateAuthorityGetter` interfaces using [Google's Certificate Authority
|
|
Service](https://cloud.google.com/certificate-authority-service/).
|
|
|
|
Before enabling CloudCAS in `step-ca` you do some steps in Google Cloud Console
|
|
or using `gcloud` CLI:
|
|
|
|
1. Create or define a project to use. Let's say the name is `smallstep-cas-test`.
|
|
2. Create the KMS keyring and keys for root and intermediate certificates:
|
|
|
|
```sh
|
|
# Create key ring
|
|
gcloud kms keyrings create kr1 --location us-west1
|
|
# Create key for Root certificate
|
|
gcloud kms keys create k1 \
|
|
--location us-west1 \
|
|
--keyring kr1 \
|
|
--purpose asymmetric-signing \
|
|
--default-algorithm ec-sign-p256-sha256 \
|
|
--protection-level software
|
|
# Create key for Intermediate certicate
|
|
gcloud kms keys create k2 \
|
|
--location us-west1 \
|
|
--keyring kr1 \
|
|
--purpose asymmetric-signing \
|
|
--default-algorithm ec-sign-p256-sha256 \
|
|
--protection-level software
|
|
|
|
# Put the resource name for version 1 of the new KMS keys into a shell variable.
|
|
# This will be used in the other instructions below.
|
|
KMS_ROOT_KEY_VERSION=$(gcloud kms keys versions describe 1 --key k1 --keyring kr1 --location us-west1 --format "value(name)")
|
|
KMS_INTERMEDIATE_KEY_VERSION=$(gcloud kms keys versions describe 1 --key k2 --keyring kr1 --location us-west1 --format "value(name)")
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
3. Enable the CA service API. You can do it on the console or running:
|
|
|
|
```sh
|
|
gcloud services enable privateca.googleapis.com
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
4. Configure IAM. Create a service account using Google Console or running:
|
|
|
|
```sh
|
|
# Create service account
|
|
gcloud iam service-accounts create step-ca-sa \
|
|
--project smallstep-cas-test \
|
|
--description "Step-CA Service Account" \
|
|
--display-name "Step-CA Service Account"
|
|
# Add permissions to use the privateca API
|
|
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding smallstep-cas-test \
|
|
--member=serviceAccount:step-ca-sa@smallstep-cas-test.iam.gserviceaccount.com \
|
|
--role=roles/privateca.caManager
|
|
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding smallstep-cas-test \
|
|
--member=serviceAccount:step-ca-sa@smallstep-cas-test.iam.gserviceaccount.com \
|
|
--role=roles/privateca.certificateRequester
|
|
# Download the credentials.file
|
|
gcloud iam service-accounts keys create credentials.json \
|
|
--iam-account step-ca-sa@smallstep-cas-test.iam.gserviceaccount.com
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
5. Create a Root CA. You can do this on the console or running:
|
|
|
|
```sh
|
|
gcloud beta privateca roots create prod-root-ca \
|
|
--location us-west1 \
|
|
--kms-key-version "$KMS_ROOT_KEY_VERSION" \
|
|
--subject "CN=Example Root CA, O=Example LLC" \
|
|
--max-chain-length 2
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
6. Create an Intermediate CA. You can do this on the console or running:
|
|
|
|
```sh
|
|
gcloud beta privateca subordinates create prod-intermediate-ca \
|
|
--location us-west1 \
|
|
--issuer prod-root-ca \
|
|
--issuer-location us-west1 \
|
|
--kms-key-version "$KMS_INTERMEDIATE_KEY_VERSION" \
|
|
--subject "CN=Example Intermediate CA, O=Example LLC" \
|
|
--reusable-config "subordinate-server-tls-pathlen-0"
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Now it's time to enable it in `step-ca` by adding some new files in the
|
|
`"authority"` section of the `ca.json`.
|
|
|
|
```json
|
|
{
|
|
"authority": {
|
|
"type": "cloudCAS",
|
|
"credentialsFile": "/path/to/credentials.json",
|
|
"certificateAuthority": "projects/<name>/locations/<loc>/certificateAuthorities/<ca-name>",
|
|
}
|
|
}
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
* **type** defines the name of the CAS to use, _cloudCAS_ must be used to enable it.
|
|
* **credentialsFile** defines the path to a Google Cloud credential file with
|
|
access to Google's Certificate AuthorityService. We created this file before
|
|
in step 4. Instead of setting this property, the environment variable
|
|
`GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS` can be pointed to the file to use. Or if the
|
|
`step-ca` is running in Google Cloud, the default service account in the
|
|
machine can also be used.
|
|
* **certificateAuthority** defines the Google Cloud resource to the intermediate
|
|
(or subordinated) certificate to use. We created this resource in step 6.
|
|
|
|
As we said before, the CloudCAS implementation in `step-ca` also defines the
|
|
interface `CertificateAuthorityGetter`, this allows `step-ca` to automatically
|
|
download the root certificate from Cloud CAS. In the `ca.json` now you don't
|
|
need to configure `"root"`, and because the intermediate is in Google Cloud,
|
|
`"crt"` and `"key"` are no needed. A full `ca.json` can look like:
|
|
|
|
```json
|
|
{
|
|
"address": ":443",
|
|
"dnsNames": ["ca.example.com"],
|
|
"logger": {"format": "text"},
|
|
"db": {
|
|
"type": "badger",
|
|
"dataSource": "/home/jane/.step/db",
|
|
},
|
|
"authority": {
|
|
"type": "cloudCAS",
|
|
"credentialsFile": "/home/jane/.step/credentials.json",
|
|
"certificateAuthority": "projects/smallstep-cas-test/locations/us-west1/certificateAuthorities/prod-intermediate-ca",
|
|
"provisioners": [
|
|
{
|
|
"type": "JWK",
|
|
"name": "jane@example.com",
|
|
"key": {
|
|
"use": "sig",
|
|
"kty": "EC",
|
|
"kid": "ehFT9BkVOY5k_eIiMax0ZxVZCe2hlDVkMwZ2Y78av4s",
|
|
"crv": "P-256",
|
|
"alg": "ES256",
|
|
"x": "GtEftN0_ED1lNc2SEUJDXV9EMi7JY-kqINPIEQJIkjM",
|
|
"y": "8HYFdNe1MbWcbclF-hU1L80SCmMcZQI6vZfTOXfPOjg"
|
|
},
|
|
"encryptedKey": "eyJhbGciOiJQQkVTMi1IUzI1NitBMTI4S1ciLCJjdHkiOiJqd2sranNvbiIsImVuYyI6IkEyNTZHQ00iLCJwMmMiOjEwMDAwMCwicDJzIjoiSjBSWnY5UFZrM3JKRUJkem5RbExzZyJ9.Fiwvo-RIKU5G6v5udeCT1nlX87ElxrocP2FcgNs3AqEz5OH9H4suew.NmzUJR_9xv8ynQC8.dqOveA_G5kn5lxjxnEZoJCystnJMVYLkZ_8CVzfJQhYchbZfNk_-FKdIuQxeWWBzvmomsILFNtLOIUoqSt30qk83lFyGQWN8Ke2bK5DhuwojF7RI_UqkMyiKP0F28Z4ZFhfQP5D2ZT_stoFaMlU8eak0-T8MOiBIfdAJTWM9x2DN-68mtUBuL5z5eU8bqsxELnjGauD_GHTdnduOosmYsw8vp_PmffTTwqUzDFH1RhkeSmRFRZntAizZMGYkxLamquHI3Jvuqiv4eeJ3yLqh3Ppyo_mVQKnxM7P9TyTxcvLkb2dB3K-cItl1fpsz92cy8euKsKG8n5-hKFRyPfY.j7jBN7nUwatoSsIZuNIwHA"
|
|
}
|
|
]
|
|
},
|
|
"tls": {
|
|
"cipherSuites": [
|
|
"TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305",
|
|
"TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256"
|
|
],
|
|
"minVersion": 1.2,
|
|
"maxVersion": 1.3,
|
|
"renegotiation": false
|
|
}
|
|
}
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
The we only need to run `step-ca` as usual, but this time, the CA will print the
|
|
root fingerprint too:
|
|
|
|
```sh
|
|
$ step-ca /home/jane/.step/config/ca.json
|
|
2020/09/22 13:17:15 Using root fingerprint '3ef16343cf0952eedbe2b843066bb798fa7a7bceb16aa285e8b0399f661b28b7'
|
|
2020/09/22 13:17:15 Serving HTTPS on :9000 ...
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
We will need to bootstrap once our environment using the printed fingerprint:
|
|
|
|
```sh
|
|
step ca bootstrap --ca-url https://ca.example.com --fingerprint 3ef16343cf0952eedbe2b843066bb798fa7a7bceb16aa285e8b0399f661b28b7
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
And now we can sign sign a certificate as always:
|
|
|
|
```sh
|
|
step ca certificate test.example.com test.crt test.key
|
|
```
|