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387 lines
19 KiB
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387 lines
19 KiB
Markdown
# Step Certificates
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`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).
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You can use it to:
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- Issue X.509 certificates for your internal infrastructure:
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- 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)
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- TLS certificates for VMs, containers, APIs, mobile clients, database connections, printers, wifi networks, toaster ovens...
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- 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?
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- Issue SSH certificates:
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- For people, in exchange for single sign-on ID tokens
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- For hosts, in exchange for cloud instance identity documents
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- Easily automate certificate management:
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- It's an ACME v2 server
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- It has a JSON API
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- It comes with a [Go wrapper](./examples#user-content-basic-client-usage)
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- ... and there's a [command-line client](https://github.com/smallstep/cli) you can use in scripts!
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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).
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**Questions? Find us in [Discussions](https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/discussions).**
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[Website](https://smallstep.com/certificates) |
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[Documentation](https://smallstep.com/docs) |
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[Installation Guide](#installation-guide) |
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[Quickstart](#quickstart) |
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[Getting Started](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/getting-started) |
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[Contributor's Guide](./docs/CONTRIBUTING.md)
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[](https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/releases/latest)
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[](https://microbadger.com/images/smallstep/step-ca)
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[](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/smallstep/certificates)
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[](https://travis-ci.com/smallstep/certificates)
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[](https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0)
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[](https://cla-assistant.io/smallstep/certificates)
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[](https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/stargazers)
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[](https://twitter.com/intent/follow?screen_name=smallsteplabs)
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## Features
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### 🦾 A fast, stable, flexible private CA
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Setting up a *public key infrastructure* (PKI) is out of reach for many small teams. `step-ca` makes it easier.
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- Choose key types (RSA, ECDSA, EdDSA) and lifetimes to suit your needs
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- [Short-lived certificates](https://smallstep.com/blog/passive-revocation.html) with automated enrollment, renewal, and passive revocation
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- 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
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- Can operate as [an online intermediate CA for an existing root CA](https://smallstep.com/docs/tutorials/intermediate-ca-new-ca)
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- [Badger, BoltDB, and MySQL database backends](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/configuration#databases)
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### ⚙️ Many ways to automate
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There are several ways to authorize a request with the CA and establish a chain of trust that suits your flow.
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You can issue certificates in exchange for:
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- [ACME challenge responses](#your-own-private-acme-server) from any ACMEv2 client
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- [OAuth OIDC single sign-on tokens](https://smallstep.com/blog/easily-curl-services-secured-by-https-tls.html), eg:
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- ID tokens from Okta, GSuite, Azure AD, Auth0.
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- ID tokens from an OAuth OIDC service that you host, like [Keycloak](https://www.keycloak.org/) or [Dex](https://github.com/dexidp/dex)
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- [Cloud instance identity documents](https://smallstep.com/blog/embarrassingly-easy-certificates-on-aws-azure-gcp/), for VMs on AWS, GCP, and Azure
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- [Single-use, short-lived JWK tokens]() issued by your CD tool — Puppet, Chef, Ansible, Terraform, etc.
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- A trusted X.509 certificate (X5C provisioner)
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- Expiring SSH host certificates needing rotation (the SSHPOP provisioner)
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- Learn more in our [provisioner documentation](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/configuration#jwk)
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### 🏔 Your own private ACME server
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ACME is the protocol used by Let's Encrypt to automate the issuance of HTTPS certificates. It's _super easy_ to issue certificates to any ACMEv2 ([RFC8555](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8555)) client.
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- [Use ACME in development & pre-production](https://smallstep.com/blog/private-acme-server/#local-development--pre-production)
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- Supports the most popular [ACME challenge types](https://letsencrypt.org/docs/challenge-types/):
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- For `http-01`, place a token at a well-known URL to prove that you control the web server
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- For `dns-01`, add a `TXT` record to prove that you control the DNS record set
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- For `tls-alpn-01`, respond to the challenge at the TLS layer ([as Caddy does](https://caddy.community/t/caddy-supports-the-acme-tls-alpn-challenge/4860)) to prove that you control the web server
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- Works with any ACME client. We've written examples for:
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- [certbot](https://smallstep.com/blog/private-acme-server/#certbotuploadsacme-certbotpng-certbot-example)
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- [acme.sh](https://smallstep.com/blog/private-acme-server/#acmeshuploadsacme-acme-shpng-acmesh-example)
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- [Caddy](https://smallstep.com/blog/private-acme-server/#caddyuploadsacme-caddypng-caddy-example)
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- [Traefik](https://smallstep.com/blog/private-acme-server/#traefikuploadsacme-traefikpng-traefik-example)
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- [Apache](https://smallstep.com/blog/private-acme-server/#apacheuploadsacme-apachepng-apache-example)
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- [nginx](https://smallstep.com/blog/private-acme-server/#nginxuploadsacme-nginxpng-nginx-example)
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- Get certificates programmatically using ACME, using these libraries:
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- [`lego`](https://github.com/go-acme/lego) for Golang ([example usage](https://smallstep.com/blog/private-acme-server/#golanguploadsacme-golangpng-go-example))
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- certbot's [`acme` module](https://github.com/certbot/certbot/tree/master/acme) for Python ([example usage](https://smallstep.com/blog/private-acme-server/#pythonuploadsacme-pythonpng-python-example))
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- [`acme-client`](https://github.com/publishlab/node-acme-client) for Node.js ([example usage](https://smallstep.com/blog/private-acme-server/#nodejsuploadsacme-node-jspng-nodejs-example))
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- Our own [`step` CLI tool](https://github.com/smallstep/cli) is also an ACME client!
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- See our [ACME tutorial](https://smallstep.com/docs/tutorials/acme-challenge) for more
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### 👩🏽💻 An online SSH Certificate Authority
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- Delegate SSH authentication to `step-ca` by using [SSH certificates](https://smallstep.com/blog/use-ssh-certificates/) instead of public keys and `authorized_keys` files
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- For user certificates, [connect SSH to your single sign-on provider](https://smallstep.com/blog/diy-single-sign-on-for-ssh/), to improve security with short-lived certificates and MFA (or other security policies) via any OAuth OIDC provider.
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- For host certificates, improve security, [eliminate TOFU warnings](https://smallstep.com/blog/use-ssh-certificates/), and set up automated host certificate renewal.
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### 🤓 A general purpose PKI tool, via [`step` CLI](https://github.com/smallstep/cli) [integration](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-cli/reference/ca/)
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- Generate key pairs where they're needed so private keys are never transmitted across the network
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- [Authenticate and obtain a certificate](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-cli/reference/ca/certificate/) using any provisioner supported by `step-ca`
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- Securely [distribute root certificates](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-cli/reference/ca/root/) and [bootstrap](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-cli/reference/ca/bootstrap/) PKI relying parties
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- [Renew](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-cli/reference/ca/renew/) and [revoke](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-cli/reference/ca/revoke/) certificates issued by `step-ca`
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- [Install root certificates](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-cli/reference/certificate/install/) on your machine and browsers, so your CA is trusted
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- [Inspect](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-cli/reference/certificate/inspect/) and [lint](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-cli/reference/certificate/lint/) certificates
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## Installation Guide
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These instructions will install an OS specific version of the `step-ca` binary on
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your local machine.
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### Mac OS
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Install `step` and `step-ca` together, via [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/):
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```
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$ brew install step
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```
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### Linux
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> **Note:** The [`step` CLI tool](https://github.com/smallstep/cli) is the easiest way to initialize, configure, and control `step-ca`. While `step` is not technically required to run `step-ca`, it is very much recommended.
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#### Debian
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1. Install `step`.
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Download the Debian package from the
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[latest `step` release](https://github.com/smallstep/cli/releases/latest):
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```
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$ wget https://github.com/smallstep/cli/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/step-cli_X.Y.Z_amd64.deb
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```
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Install the Debian package:
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```
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$ sudo dpkg -i step-cli_X.Y.Z_amd64.deb
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```
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2. Install `step-ca`.
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Download the Debian package from the [latest `step-ca` release](https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/releases/latest):
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```
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$ wget https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/step-certificates_X.Y.Z_amd64.deb
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```
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Install the Debian package:
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```
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$ sudo dpkg -i step-certificates_X.Y.Z_amd64.deb
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```
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#### Arch Linux
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We are using the [Arch User Repository](https://aur.archlinux.org) to distribute
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`step` binaries for Arch Linux.
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* The `step` binary tarball can be found [here](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/step-cli-bin/).
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* The `step-ca` binary tarball can be found [here](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/step-ca-bin/).
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You can use [pacman](https://www.archlinux.org/pacman/) to install the packages.
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#### RHEL/CentOS
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1. Install `step`.
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Download the Linux tarball from the
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[latest `step` release](https://github.com/smallstep/cli/releases/latest):
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```
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$ wget -O step-cli.tar.gz https://github.com/smallstep/cli/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/step_linux_X.Y.Z_amd64.tar.gz
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```
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Install `step` by unzipping and copying the executable over to `/usr/bin`:
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```
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$ tar -xf step-cli.tar.gz
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$ sudo cp step_X.Y.Z/bin/step /usr/bin
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```
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2. Install `step-ca`.
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Download the Linux package from the [latest `step-ca` release](https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/releases/latest):
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```
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$ wget -O step-ca.tar.gz https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/step-certificates_linux_X.Y.Z_amd64.tar.gz
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```
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Install `step-ca` by unzipping and copying the executable over to `/usr/bin`:
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```
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$ tar -xf step-ca.tar.gz
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$ sudo cp step-certificates_X.Y.Z/bin/step-ca /usr/bin
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```
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See the [`systemctl` setup section](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/certificate-authority-server-production#running-step-ca-as-a-daemon) for a
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guide on configuring `step-ca` as a daemon.
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### Kubernetes
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We publish [helm charts](https://hub.helm.sh/charts/smallstep/step-certificates) for easy installation on kubernetes:
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```
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helm install step-certificates
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```
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> <a href="https://github.com/smallstep/autocert"><img width="25%" src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/smallstep/autocert/master/autocert-logo.png"></a>
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>
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> If you're using Kubernetes, make sure you [check out
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> autocert](https://github.com/smallstep/autocert): a kubernetes add-on that builds on `step
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> certificates` to automatically inject TLS/HTTPS certificates into your containers.
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### Docker
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See our [Docker getting started guide](https://smallstep.com/docs/tutorials/docker-tls-certificate-authority)
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### Test
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<pre><code><b>$ step version</b>
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Smallstep CLI/0.10.0 (darwin/amd64)
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Release Date: 2019-04-30 19:01 UTC
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<b>$ step-ca version</b>
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Smallstep CA/0.10.0 (darwin/amd64)
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Release Date: 2019-04-30 19:02 UTC</code></pre>
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## Quickstart
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In the following guide we'll run a simple `hello` server that requires clients
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to connect over an authorized and encrypted channel using HTTPS. `step-ca`
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will issue certificates to our server, allowing it to authenticate and encrypt
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communication.
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Let's get started!
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### Prerequisites
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* [`step`](#installation-guide)
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* [golang](https://golang.org/doc/install)
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### Let's get started!
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#### 1. Run `step ca init` to create your CA's keys & certificates and configure `step-ca`:
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<pre><code><b>$ step ca init</b>
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✔ What would you like to name your new PKI? (e.g. Smallstep): <b>Example Inc.</b>
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✔ What DNS names or IP addresses would you like to add to your new CA? (e.g. ca.smallstep.com[,1.1.1.1,etc.]): <b>localhost</b>
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✔ What address will your new CA listen at? (e.g. :443): <b>127.0.0.1:8080</b>
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✔ What would you like to name the first provisioner for your new CA? (e.g. you@smallstep.com): <b>bob@example.com</b>
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✔ What do you want your password to be? [leave empty and we'll generate one]: <b>abc123</b>
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Generating root certificate...
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all done!
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Generating intermediate certificate...
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all done!
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✔ Root certificate: /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/certs/root_ca.crt
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✔ Root private key: /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/secrets/root_ca_key
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✔ Root fingerprint: 702a094e239c9eec6f0dcd0a5f65e595bf7ed6614012825c5fe3d1ae1b2fd6ee
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✔ Intermediate certificate: /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/certs/intermediate_ca.crt
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✔ Intermediate private key: /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/secrets/intermediate_ca_key
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✔ Default configuration: /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/config/defaults.json
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✔ Certificate Authority configuration: /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/config/ca.json
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Your PKI is ready to go. To generate certificates for individual services see 'step help ca'.</code></pre>
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This command will:
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- Generate [password protected](https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/blob/master/docs/GETTING_STARTED.md#passwords) private keys for your CA to sign certificates
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- Generate a root and [intermediate signing certificate](https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/128779/why-is-it-more-secure-to-use-intermediate-ca-certificates) for your CA
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- Create a JSON configuration file for `step-ca` (see [configuration docs](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/configuration) for details)
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You can find these artifacts in `$STEPPATH` (or `~/.step` by default).
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#### 2. Start `step-ca`:
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You'll be prompted for your password from the previous step, to decrypt the CA's private signing key:
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<pre><code><b>$ step-ca $(step path)/config/ca.json</b>
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Please enter the password to decrypt /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/secrets/intermediate_ca_key: <b>abc123</b>
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2019/02/18 13:28:58 Serving HTTPS on 127.0.0.1:8080 ...</code></pre>
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#### 3. Copy our `hello world` golang server.
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```
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$ cat > srv.go <<EOF
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package main
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import (
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"net/http"
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"log"
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)
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func HiHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
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w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/plain")
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w.Write([]byte("Hello, world!\n"))
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}
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func main() {
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http.HandleFunc("/hi", HiHandler)
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err := http.ListenAndServeTLS(":8443", "srv.crt", "srv.key", nil)
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if err != nil {
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log.Fatal(err)
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}
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}
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EOF
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```
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#### 4. Get an identity for your server from the Step CA.
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<pre><code><b>$ step ca certificate localhost srv.crt srv.key</b>
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✔ Key ID: rQxROEr7Kx9TNjSQBTETtsu3GKmuW9zm02dMXZ8GUEk (bob@example.com)
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✔ Please enter the password to decrypt the provisioner key: abc123
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✔ CA: https://localhost:8080/1.0/sign
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✔ Certificate: srv.crt
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✔ Private Key: srv.key
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<b>$ step certificate inspect --bundle srv.crt</b>
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Certificate:
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Data:
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Version: 3 (0x2)
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Serial Number: 140439335711218707689123407681832384336 (0x69a7a1d7f6f22f68059d2d9088307750)
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Signature Algorithm: ECDSA-SHA256
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Issuer: CN=Example Inc. Intermediate CA
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Validity
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Not Before: Feb 18 21:32:35 2019 UTC
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Not After : Feb 19 21:32:35 2019 UTC
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Subject: CN=localhost
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...
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Certificate:
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Data:
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Version: 3 (0x2)
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Serial Number: 207035091234452090159026162349261226844 (0x9bc18217bd560cf07db23178ed90835c)
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Signature Algorithm: ECDSA-SHA256
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Issuer: CN=Example Inc. Root CA
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Validity
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Not Before: Feb 18 21:27:21 2019 UTC
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Not After : Feb 15 21:27:21 2029 UTC
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Subject: CN=Example Inc. Intermediate CA
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...</code></pre>
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Note that `step` and `step-ca` handle details like [certificate bundling](https://smallstep.com/blog/everything-pki.html#intermediates-chains-and-bundling) for you.
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#### 5. Run the simple server.
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<pre><code><b>$ go run srv.go &</b></code></pre>
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#### 6. Get the root certificate from the Step CA.
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In a new Terminal window:
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<pre><code><b>$ step ca root root.crt</b>
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The root certificate has been saved in root.crt.</code></pre>
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#### 7. Make an authenticated, encrypted curl request to your server using HTTP over TLS.
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<pre><code><b>$ curl --cacert root.crt https://localhost:8443/hi</b>
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Hello, world!</code></pre>
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*All Done!*
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Check out the [Getting Started](./docs/GETTING_STARTED.md) guide for more examples
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and best practices on running Step CA in production.
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## Documentation
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Documentation can be found in a handful of different places:
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1. On the web at https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca.
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2. On the command line with `step help ca xxx` where `xxx` is the subcommand
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you are interested in. Ex: `step help ca provisioner list`.
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3. In your browser, by running `step help --http=:8080 ca` from the command line
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and visiting http://localhost:8080.
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4. The [docs](./docs/README.md) folder is being deprecated, but it still has some documentation and tutorials.
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## Feedback?
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* Tell us what you like and don't like about managing your PKI - we're eager to help solve problems in this space.
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* 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).
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