forked from TrueCloudLab/certificates
350 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
350 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
# Step Certificates
|
|
|
|
An online certificate authority and related tools for secure automated certificate management, so you can use TLS everywhere.
|
|
|
|
[Website](https://smallstep.com) |
|
|
[Documentation](#documentation) |
|
|
[Installation Guide](#installation-guide) |
|
|
[Getting Started](./docs/GETTING_STARTED.md) |
|
|
[Contribution Guide](./docs/CONTRIBUTING.md)
|
|
|
|
[](https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/releases)
|
|
[](https://gitter.im/smallstep/community)
|
|
[](https://microbadger.com/images/smallstep/step-ca)
|
|
[](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/smallstep/certificates)
|
|
[](https://travis-ci.com/smallstep/certificates)
|
|
[](https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0)
|
|
[](https://cla-assistant.io/smallstep/certificates)
|
|
|
|
[](https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/stargazers)
|
|
[](https://twitter.com/intent/follow?screen_name=smallsteplabs)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Motivation
|
|
|
|
Managing your own *public key infrastructure* (PKI) can be tedious and error
|
|
prone. Good security hygiene is hard. Setting up simple PKI is out of reach for
|
|
many small teams, and following best practices like proper certificate
|
|
revocation and rolling is challenging even for experts.
|
|
|
|
Amongst numerous use cases, proper PKI makes it easy to use mTLS (mutual TLS)
|
|
to improve security and to make it possible to connect services across the
|
|
public internet. Unlike VPNs & SDNs, deploying and scaling mTLS is pretty
|
|
easy. You're (hopefully) already using TLS, and your existing tools and
|
|
standard libraries will provide most of what you need. If you know how to
|
|
operate DNS and reverse proxies, you know how to operate mTLS
|
|
infrastructure.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There's just one problem: **you need certificates issued by your own
|
|
certificate authority (CA)**. Building and operating a CA, issuing
|
|
certificates, and making sure they're renewed before they expire is tricky.
|
|
This project provides the infrastructure, automations, and workflows you'll
|
|
need.
|
|
|
|
`step certificates` is part of smallstep's broader security architecture, which
|
|
makes it much easier to implement good security practices early, and
|
|
incrementally improve them as your system matures.
|
|
|
|
For more information and docs see [the Step
|
|
website](https://smallstep.com/certificates) and the [blog
|
|
post](https://smallstep.com/blog/step-certificates.html) announcing Step
|
|
Certificate Authority.
|
|
|
|
> ## 🆕 Autocert <a href="https://github.com/smallstep/autocert"><img width="50%" src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/smallstep/autocert/master/autocert-logo.png"></a>
|
|
>
|
|
> If you're using Kubernetes, make sure you [check out
|
|
> autocert](https://github.com/smallstep/autocert): a kubernetes add-on that builds on `step
|
|
> certificates` to automatically inject TLS/HTTPS certificates into your containers.
|
|
|
|
## Installation Guide
|
|
|
|
These instructions will install an OS specific version of the `step-ca` binary on
|
|
your local machine.
|
|
|
|
> NOTE: While `step` is not required to run the Step Certificate Authority (CA)
|
|
> we strongly recommend installing both `step cli` and `step certificates`
|
|
> because the Step CA is much easier to initialize, manage, and debug using
|
|
> the `step cli` toolkit.
|
|
|
|
### Mac OS
|
|
|
|
Install `step` via [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/). The
|
|
[Homebrew Formula](https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/master/Formula/step.rb)
|
|
installs both `step cli` and `step certificates`.
|
|
|
|
<pre><code>
|
|
<b>$ brew install step</b>
|
|
|
|
# Test installation ...
|
|
<b>$ step certificate inspect https://smallstep.com</b>
|
|
Certificate:
|
|
Data:
|
|
Version: 3 (0x2)
|
|
Serial Number: 326381749415081530968054238478851085504954 (0x3bf265673332db2d0c70e48a163fb7d11ba)
|
|
Signature Algorithm: SHA256-RSA
|
|
Issuer: C=US,O=Let's Encrypt,CN=Let's Encrypt Authority X3
|
|
...
|
|
</code></pre>
|
|
|
|
> Note: If you have installed `step` previously through the `smallstep/smallstep`
|
|
> tap you will need to run the following commands before installing:
|
|
```
|
|
$ brew untap smallstep/smallstep
|
|
$ brew uninstall step
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Linux
|
|
|
|
#### Debian
|
|
|
|
1. [Optional] Install `step cli`.
|
|
|
|
Download the latest Debian package from
|
|
[`step cli` releases](https://github.com/smallstep/cli/releases):
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
$ wget https://github.com/smallstep/cli/releases/download/X.Y.Z/step_X.Y.Z_amd64.deb
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Install the Debian package:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
$ sudo dpkg -i step_X.Y.Z_amd64.deb
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
2. Install `step certificates`.
|
|
|
|
Download the latest Debian package from
|
|
[`step certificates` releases](https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/releases):
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
$ wget https://github.com/smallstep/certificates/releases/download/X.Y.Z/step-certificates_X.Y.Z_amd64.deb
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Install the Debian package:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
$ sudo dpkg -i step-certificates_X.Y.Z_amd64.deb
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
#### Arch Linux
|
|
|
|
We are using the [Arch User Repository](https://aur.archlinux.org) to distribute
|
|
`step` binaries for Arch Linux.
|
|
|
|
* [Optional] The `step-cli` binary tarball can be found [here](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/step-cli-bin/).
|
|
* The `step-ca` binary tarball can be found [here](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/step-ca-bin/).
|
|
|
|
You can use [pacman](https://www.archlinux.org/pacman/) to install the packages.
|
|
|
|
### Test
|
|
|
|
<pre><code>
|
|
<b>$ step version</b>
|
|
Smallstep CLI/0.8.5 (darwin/amd64)
|
|
Release Date: 2019-02-13 22:17 UTC
|
|
|
|
<b>$ step-ca version</b>
|
|
Smallstep CA/0.8.4 (darwin/amd64)
|
|
Release Date: 2019-02-18 18:56 UTC
|
|
</code></pre>
|
|
|
|
## Quickstart
|
|
|
|
In the following guide we'll run a simple `hello` server that requires clients
|
|
to connect over an authorized and encrypted channel (HTTP over TLS). The Step
|
|
Certificate Authority (CA) will issue an identity dial tone to our server
|
|
enabling it to authenticate and encrypt communication. Let's get started!
|
|
|
|
### Prerequisites
|
|
|
|
* [`step`](#installation-guide)
|
|
* [golang](https://golang.org/doc/install)
|
|
|
|
### Let's get started!
|
|
|
|
1. Initialize and run the Step CA.
|
|
|
|
`step ca init` initializes the CA and accomplishes two tasks.
|
|
|
|
1. Generate a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) with Root and Intermediate
|
|
X.509 Certificates and private keys.
|
|
|
|
The root X.509 Certificate is a fancy public key that will be
|
|
distributed to clients enabling them to authenticate all certificates
|
|
generated by your PKI. The root private key should be kept in a very
|
|
private place - but as this is just a demo we won't worry about that
|
|
right now ([more info on storing sensitive
|
|
data](./docs/GETTING_STARTED.md#passwords)). The intermediate
|
|
private key will be used to sign new certificates ([Why is it more
|
|
secure to use intermediate CA
|
|
certificates?](https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/128779/why-is-it-more-secure-to-use-intermediate-ca-certificates))
|
|
and the intermediate certificate will be distributed along with newly
|
|
minted leaf certificates. In our demo, the server will present the
|
|
intermediate certificate along with it's *server* (leaf) certificate
|
|
allowing our client to validate the full chain using the root.
|
|
|
|
2. Generate the configuration file required by the Step CA.
|
|
|
|
See the [Getting Started](./docs/GETTING_STARTED.md) guide for an in depth
|
|
explanation of the Step CA configuration file.
|
|
|
|
<pre><code>
|
|
<b>$ step ca init</b>
|
|
✔ What would you like to name your new PKI? (e.g. Smallstep): <b>Example Inc.</b>
|
|
✔ 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>
|
|
✔ What address will your new CA listen at? (e.g. :443): <b>127.0.0.1:8080</b>
|
|
✔ What would you like to name the first provisioner for your new CA? (e.g. you@smallstep.com): <b>bob@example.com</b>
|
|
✔ What do you want your password to be? [leave empty and we'll generate one]: <b>abc123</b>
|
|
|
|
Generating root certificate...
|
|
all done!
|
|
|
|
Generating intermediate certificate...
|
|
all done!
|
|
|
|
✔ Root certificate: /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/certs/root_ca.crt
|
|
✔ Root private key: /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/secrets/root_ca_key
|
|
✔ Root fingerprint: 702a094e239c9eec6f0dcd0a5f65e595bf7ed6614012825c5fe3d1ae1b2fd6ee
|
|
✔ Intermediate certificate: /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/certs/intermediate_ca.crt
|
|
✔ Intermediate private key: /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/secrets/intermediate_ca_key
|
|
✔ Default configuration: /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/config/defaults.json
|
|
✔ Certificate Authority configuration: /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/config/ca.json
|
|
|
|
Your PKI is ready to go. To generate certificates for individual services see 'step help ca'.
|
|
|
|
<b>$ step-ca $(step path)/config/ca.json</b>
|
|
Please enter the password to decrypt /Users/bob/src/github.com/smallstep/step/.step/secrets/intermediate_ca_key: <b>abc123</b>
|
|
2019/02/18 13:28:58 Serving HTTPS on 127.0.0.1:8080 ...
|
|
</code></pre>
|
|
|
|
Now we've got an 'up and running' online CA!
|
|
|
|
2. Copy our `hello world` golang server.
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
$ cat > srv.go <<EOF
|
|
package main
|
|
|
|
import (
|
|
"net/http"
|
|
"log"
|
|
)
|
|
|
|
func HiHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
|
|
w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/plain")
|
|
w.Write([]byte("Hello, world!\n"))
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
func main() {
|
|
http.HandleFunc("/hi", HiHandler)
|
|
err := http.ListenAndServeTLS(":8443", "srv.crt", "srv.key", nil)
|
|
if err != nil {
|
|
log.Fatal(err)
|
|
}
|
|
}
|
|
EOF
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
3. Get an identity for your server from the Step CA.
|
|
|
|
<pre><code>
|
|
<b>$ step ca certificate localhost srv.crt srv.key</b>
|
|
✔ Key ID: rQxROEr7Kx9TNjSQBTETtsu3GKmuW9zm02dMXZ8GUEk (bob@example.com)
|
|
✔ Please enter the password to decrypt the provisioner key: abc123
|
|
✔ CA: https://localhost:8080/1.0/sign
|
|
✔ Certificate: srv.crt
|
|
✔ Private Key: srv.key
|
|
|
|
<b>$ step certificate inspect --bundle srv.crt</b>
|
|
Certificate:
|
|
Data:
|
|
Version: 3 (0x2)
|
|
Serial Number: 140439335711218707689123407681832384336 (0x69a7a1d7f6f22f68059d2d9088307750)
|
|
Signature Algorithm: ECDSA-SHA256
|
|
Issuer: CN=Example Inc. Intermediate CA
|
|
Validity
|
|
Not Before: Feb 18 21:32:35 2019 UTC
|
|
Not After : Feb 19 21:32:35 2019 UTC
|
|
Subject: CN=localhost
|
|
...
|
|
Certificate:
|
|
Data:
|
|
Version: 3 (0x2)
|
|
Serial Number: 207035091234452090159026162349261226844 (0x9bc18217bd560cf07db23178ed90835c)
|
|
Signature Algorithm: ECDSA-SHA256
|
|
Issuer: CN=Example Inc. Root CA
|
|
Validity
|
|
Not Before: Feb 18 21:27:21 2019 UTC
|
|
Not After : Feb 15 21:27:21 2029 UTC
|
|
Subject: CN=Example Inc. Intermediate CA
|
|
...
|
|
</code></pre>
|
|
|
|
Notice that when you inspect `srv.crt` there are actually two certificates
|
|
present. The first is your **server** (leaf) certificate and the second is
|
|
the intermediate certificate. When an intermediate CA is used to sign
|
|
**leaf** certificates it is not enough for the server to only show it's
|
|
**leaf** certificate because the client (which only has access to the root
|
|
certificate) will not be able to validate the full chain.
|
|
|
|
4. Run the simple server.
|
|
|
|
<pre><code>
|
|
<b>$ go run srv.go &</b>
|
|
</code></pre>
|
|
|
|
5. Get the root certificate from the Step CA.
|
|
|
|
In a new Terminal window:
|
|
|
|
<pre><code>
|
|
<b>$ step ca root root.crt</b>
|
|
The root certificate has been saved in root.crt.
|
|
</code></pre>
|
|
|
|
6. Make an authenticated, encrypted curl request to your server using HTTP over TLS.
|
|
|
|
<pre><code>
|
|
<b>$ curl --cacert root.crt https://localhost:8443/hi</b>
|
|
Hello, world!
|
|
</code></pre>
|
|
|
|
*All Done!*
|
|
|
|
Check out the [Getting Started](./docs/GETTING_STARTED.md) guide for more examples
|
|
and best practices on running Step CA in production.
|
|
|
|
## Documentation
|
|
|
|
Documentation can be found in a handful of different places:
|
|
|
|
1. The [docs](./docs/README.md) sub-repo has an index of documentation and tutorials.
|
|
|
|
2. On the command line with `step ca help xxx` where `xxx` is the subcommand
|
|
you are interested in. Ex: `step help ca provisioners list`.
|
|
|
|
3. On the web at https://smallstep.com/docs/certificates.
|
|
|
|
4. On your browser by running `step help --http=:8080 ca` from the command line
|
|
and visiting http://localhost:8080.
|
|
|
|
|
|
## The Future
|
|
|
|
We plan to build more tools that facilitate the use and management of zero trust
|
|
networks.
|
|
|
|
* 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 what features you'd like to see - open issues or hit us on
|
|
[Twitter](https://twitter.com/smallsteplabs).
|
|
|
|
## Further Reading
|
|
|
|
Check out the [Getting Started](./docs/GETTING_STARTED.md) guide for more examples
|
|
and best practices on running Step CA in production.
|