Open Source

Configuring `step-ca`

When the step ca init command sets up your PKI, it creates an initial configuration file for your CA and stores it in $(step path)/config/ca.json.

In this document we'll describe how to configure every aspect of step-ca. You'll learn how to configure your CA to:

bind to a non default address

generate ACME certificates

adjust the default lifetime of certificates

store certificates in memory, on the file system, or in a database

set the root and intermediate PKI chain that will be used to sign new certificates

and much more

Overview

Specifying a Configuration File

Environment Variables

Basic Configuration Options

Provisioners

Certificate Issuance Policies

Certificate Templates

Cryptographic Protection

Specifying a Configuration File

When you run step-ca, you must provide a path to a configuration file (ca.json). It is the only required argument. Typically you'd use step path to discover the path to ca.json:

$ step-ca $(step path)/config/ca.json

The output of step path will vary based on the $STEPPATH environment variable, and whether you use the step command with multiple CAs.

For non-interactive use (eg. as a systemd service), you can also add a --password-file flag with the name of a file containing the password for the CA's keys.

Environment Variables

STEPDEBUG When set to 1, step-ca will provide extra diagnostic information for debugging. This variable can also be used with step.

Basic Configuration Options

Example Configuration

{
  "root": "examples/pki/secrets/root_ca.crt",
  "federatedRoots": "examples/pki/secrets/federated_root_ca.crt",
  "crt": "examples/pki/secrets/intermediate_ca.crt",
  "key": "examples/pki/secrets/intermediate_ca_key",
  "address": ":9000",
  "dnsNames": [
    "localhost"
  ],
  "logger": {
    "format": "text"
  },
  "ssh": {
      "hostKey": "/examples/pki/secrets/secrets.host.key",
      "userKey": "/examples/pki/secrets/secrets.user.key"
  },
  "db": {
    "type": "badger",
    "dataSource": "./.step/db"
  },
  "crl": {
    "enabled": false
  }, 
  "authority": {
    "claims": {
      "minTLSCertDuration": "5m",
      "maxTLSCertDuration": "24h",
      "defaultTLSCertDuration": "24h",
      "disableRenewal": false,
      "allowRenewalAfterExpiry": false,
      "minHostSSHCertDuration": "5m",
      "maxHostSSHCertDuration": "1680h",
      "defaultHostSSHCertDuration": "720h",
      "minUserSSHCertDuration": "5m",
      "maxUserSSHCertDuration": "24h",
      "defaultUserSSHCertDuration": "16h"
    },
    "policy": {
      "x509": {
        "allow": {
          "dns": ["*.local"]
        }
      },
      "ssh": {
        "user": {
          "allow": {
            "email": ["@local"]
          }
        },
        "host": {
          "allow": {
            "dns": ["*.local"]
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "provisioners": [
        {
            "type": "jwk",
            "name": "mike@smallstep.com",
            "key": {
                "use": "sig",
                "kty": "EC",
                "kid": "YYNxZ0rq0WsT2MlqLCWvgme3jszkmt99KjoGEJJwAKs",
                "crv": "P-256",
                "alg": "ES256",
                "x": "LsI8nHBflc-mrCbRqhl8d3hSl5sYuSM1AbXBmRfznyg",
                "y": "F99LoOvi7z-ZkumsgoHIhodP8q9brXe4bhF3szK-c_w"
            },
            "encryptedKey": "eyJhbGciOiJQQkVTMi1IUzI1NitBMTI4S1ciLCJjdHkiOiJqd2sranNvbiIsImVuYyI6IkEyNTZHQ00iLCJwMmMiOjEwMDAwMCwicDJzIjoiVERQS2dzcEItTUR4ZDJxTGo0VlpwdyJ9.2_j0cZgTm2eFkZ-hrtr1hBIvLxN0w3TZhbX0Jrrq7vBMaywhgFcGTA.mCasZCbZJ-JT7vjA.bW052WDKSf_ueEXq1dyxLq0n3qXWRO-LXr7OzBLdUKWKSBGQrzqS5KJWqdUCPoMIHTqpwYvm-iD6uFlcxKBYxnsAG_hoq_V3icvvwNQQSd_q7Thxr2_KtPIDJWNuX1t5qXp11hkgb-8d5HO93CmN7xNDG89pzSUepT6RYXOZ483mP5fre9qzkfnrjx3oPROCnf3SnIVUvqk7fwfXuniNsg3NrNqncHYUQNReiq3e9I1R60w0ZQTvIReY7-zfiq7iPgVqmu5I7XGgFK4iBv0L7UOEora65b4hRWeLxg5t7OCfUqrS9yxAk8FdjFb9sEfjopWViPRepB0dYPH8dVI.fb6-7XWqp0j6CR9Li0NI-Q",
            "claims": {
                "minTLSCertDuration": "1m0s",
                "defaultTLSCertDuration": "2m0s"
            },
        "options": {
          "x509": {
            "templateFile": "templates/certs/x509/default.tpl"
          },
          "ssh": {
            "templateFile": "templates/certs/ssh/default.tpl"
          }
        }
        },
      {
        "type": "OIDC",
        "name": "Google",
        "clientID": "1087160488420-8qt7bavg3qesdhs6it824mhnfgcfe8il.apps.googleusercontent.com",
        "clientSecret": "udTrOT3gzrO7W9fDPgZQLfYJ",
        "configurationEndpoint": "https://accounts.google.com/.well-known/openid-configuration",
        "admins": ["you@smallstep.com"],
        "domains": ["smallstep.com"],
        "listenAddress": ":10000",
        "claims": {
          "maxTLSCertDuration": "8h",
          "defaultTLSCertDuration": "2h",
          "enableSSHCA": true,
          "disableRenewal": true
        },
        "options": {
          "x509": {
            "templateFile": "templates/certs/x509/default.tpl"
          },
          "ssh": {
            "templateFile": "templates/certs/ssh/default.tpl"
          }
        }
      },
      {
            "type": "SSHPOP",
            "name": "sshpop-smallstep",
            "claims": {
                "enableSSHCA": true
            }
        },
      {
            "type": "ACME",
            "name": "my-acme-provisioner"
        }
    ]
  },
  "tls": {
    "cipherSuites": [
        "TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305",
        "TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256"
    ],
    "minVersion": 1.2,
    "maxVersion": 1.2,
    "renegotiation": false
  },
  "password": "p@55w0rd"
}

Configuration Options

root: location of the root certificate on the filesystem. The root certificate is used to mutually authenticate all API clients of the CA.

federatedRoots: location of the federated root certificates on the filesystem. The federated roots are used to authenticate client and servers using TLS certificates from multiple CAs.

crt: location of the intermediate certificate on the filesystem. The intermediate certificate is returned alongside each new certificate, allowing the client to complete the certificate chain.

key: location of the intermediate private key on the filesystem. The intermediate key signs all new certificates generated by the CA.

kms: enables and configures cryptographic protection using cloud key management services or hardware security modules.

type: required. one of awskms, cloudkms, pkcs11, or yubikey

uri: this field can be used to specify other fields in this section, and its value will take precedence over those values. See cryptographic protection for examples.

region: for awskms, the AWS region

profile: for awskms, the AWS profile

credentialsFile: for cloudkms, the path to a Google Cloud Platform credentials JSON file for a role that can access cloudkms

pin: for yubikey, the PIN of the YubiKey PIV application

password: optionally store the password for decrypting the intermediate private key (this should be the same password you chose during PKI initialization). If the value is not stored in configuration then you will be prompted for it when starting the CA.

address: ex. 127.0.0.1:8080 - address and port on which the CA will bind and respond to requests.

dnsNames: comma separated list of DNS name(s) for the CA.

logger: the default logging format for the CA is text. The other option is json.

ssh: enables the provisioning of SSH certificates by the CA. Add this section to an existing ca.json to enable SSH for an existing CA. SSH keys can be created by running step crypto keypair host.pub host.key and step crypto keypair user.pub user.key.

userKey: the signing key for user SSH certificates.

hostKey: the signing key for host SSH certificates.

db: data persistence layer. See database documentation for more info.

type: badger, bbolt, mysql, or postgresql

dataSource: string that can be interpreted differently depending on the type of the database. Usually a path to where the data is stored. See the database configuration docs for more info.

database: name of the database. Used for back-ends that may have multiple databases. e.g. MySQL and PostgreSQL

valueDir: directory to store the value log in (Badger specific).

crl: Certificate Revocation List(CRL) settings. (experimental)

enabled: enables CRL generation (true to generate, false to disable). Default is false.

generateOnRevoke: a revoke will generate a new CRL if the crl is enabled. Default is false.

cacheDuration: the duration until next update of the CRL. Defaults to 24h.

renewPeriod: the time between CRL regeneration. Defaults to ~2/3 of the cacheDuration.

tls: settings for negotiating communication with the CA; includes acceptable ciphersuites, min/max TLS version, etc.

authority: controls the request authorization and signature processes.

type: the type of backing CA service that issues certificates for this step-ca instance. The default is an internal certificate authority service. Other options can turn step-ca into a Registration Authority: stepcas uses a remote step-ca instance as the backend, cloudcas uses Google CloudCAS, vaultcas uses Hashicorp Vault.

template: default ASN1DN values for new certificates.

claims: default validation for requested attributes in the certificate request. Can be overridden by similar claims objects defined by individual provisioners.

minTLSCertDuration: do not allow certificates with a duration less than this value.

maxTLSCertDuration: do not allow certificates with a duration greater than this value.

defaultTLSCertDuration: if no certificate validity period is specified, use this value.

disableRenewal: do not allow any certificates to be renewed. The default is false.

allowRenewalAfterExpiry: ☠️ allow expired certificates to be renewed. The default is false. This option adds security risk; proceed with caution and consider alternatives.

minUserSSHCertDuration: do not allow certificates with a duration less than this value.

maxUserSSHCertDuration: do not allow certificates with a duration greater than this value.

defaultUserSSHCertDuration: if no certificate validity period is specified, use this value.

minHostSSHCertDuration: do not allow certificates with a duration less than this value.

maxHostSSHCertDuration: do not allow certificates with a duration greater than this value.

defaultHostSSHCertDuration: if no certificate validity period is specified, use this value.

enableSSHCA: enable this provisioner to generate SSH Certificates. The default value is false.

disableIssuedAtCheck: ☠️ disable a check verifying that provisioning tokens must be issued after the CA has booted. This claim is one prevention against token reuse. The default value is false. Do not change this unless you know what you are doing.

provisioners: list of provisioners. Each provisioner has a name, associated authentication attributes, and an optional claims attribute that will override any values set in the global claims directly underneath authority. The step ca provisioner command group can be used to add, modify, and remove provisioners. See the provisioner documentation for details.

claims: Each provisioner can define an optional claims attribute. The settings in this attribute override any settings in the global claims attribute in the authority configuration. See the authority's claims section above for a complete list of options.

options: Each provisioner can define an optional options attribute. This attribute allows an operator to set templates that will be applied to all X.509 or SSH certificates generated using the provisioner. See the templates documentation for details.

password: ☠️ plain text password for starting the CA. Used to decrypt the intermediate private key.

We do not recommend storing the password plain text in your ca.json. The recommended option is to use the --password-file flag when running step-ca. This attribute is a convenience that should be avoided in production.

Provisioners

Provisioners are people or entities that are registered with the certificate authority and authorized to issue certificates. Visit the step-ca provisioners page to learn about the different provisioners, their target use cases, and how to add, remove, and configure them.

Policy

Certificate issuance policies can be used to enforce which Subjects, SANs and Principals the CA is allowed to sign. They can be configured for X.509 certificates as well as SSH user and host certificates. Policies are evaluated before a certificate is signed. Some examples of policies you can configure are:

A dns rule for www.example.com, only matching the domain www.example.com

A dns rule for *.internal.example.com, matching all subdomains of internal.example.com.

An ip rule for the 192.168.0.0/24 CIDR, matching all IPs in the range from 192.168.0.0-192.168.0.255.

An email rule for @devops, matching all SSH user principals in the @devops domain.

A uri rule for *.example.com, matching all URIs for subdomains of example.com, ignoring the URI scheme, path, query and fragment parts.

Visit the step-ca policy page to learn how certificate issuance policies work and how they can be configured.

Need more control?

A self-hosted step-ca instance can be configured with a policy on the authority level only. In a free hosted smallstep Certificate Manager authority, policies can be configured on the authority, on each provisioner, and on every ACME account.

Templates

Using X.509 and SSH certificate templates administrators can configure information that gets processed and added to certificates. These include things like:

Custom SANs or extensions for X.509 certificates

Create longer certificate chains, including multiple intermediate CAs

Embed SSH force-command or source-address extensions

Evaluate basic logic operations on certificate's parameters, and fail if requirements are not met

Visit the step-ca templates page to learn how to use templates.

Databases

step-ca uses a simple key-value interface over popular database implementations to store persistent certificate management meta-data. Our recommended default database implementation is nosql-Badger, a NoSQL interface over the popular Badger database. As a first pass, the database layer will store every certificate (along with metadata surrounding the provisioning of the certificate) and revocation data that will be used to enforce passive revocation.

Configuring step-ca to use a database is as simple as adding a top-level db stanza to your ca.json file. Below users can find documentation and examples for supported databases:

Badger

{
  ...
  "db": {
    "type": "badger",
    "dataSource": "./.step/db",
    "valueDir": "./.step/valuedb"
    "badgerFileLoadingMode": "MemoryMap"
  },
  ...
},

Options

type

badger: currently refers to Badger V1. However, as Badger V1 is deprecated, this will refer to Badger V2 starting with a the next major version release.

badgerV1: explicitly select Badger V1.

badgerV2: explicitly select Badger V2. Anyone looking to use Badger V2 will need to set it explicitly until it becomes the default.

dataSource: path, database directory.

valueDir [optional]: path, value directory, only if different from dataSource.

badgerFileLoadingMode [optional]: can be set to FileIO (instead of the default MemoryMap) to avoid memory-mapping log files. This can be useful in environments with low RAM. Make sure to use badgerV2 as the database type if using this option.

MemoryMap: default.

FileIO: This can be useful in environments with low RAM.

BoltDB

{
  ...
  "db": {
    "type": "bbolt",
    "dataSource": "./stepdb"
  },
  ...
}

Options

type: bbolt

dataSource: path, database directory.

MySQL

{
  ...
  "db": {
    "type": "mysql",
    "dataSource": "user:password@tcp(127.0.0.1:3306)/",
    "database": "myDBName"
  },
  ...
},

Options

type: mysql

dataSource: path, database directory.

Extra parameters can be passed in the mysql dataSource name as follows: "dataSource": "user:password@tcp(127.0.0.1:3306)/myDBName?tls=true".

PostgreSQL

{
  ...
  "db": {
    "type": "postgresql",
    "dataSource": "postgresql://user:password@127.0.0.1:5432/",
    "database": "myDBName"
  },
  ...
},

Options

type: postgresql

dataSource: a PostgreSQL DSN.

database: database name. Takes precedence over name in the DSN if provided.

Extra parameters can be passed in the PostgreSQL dataSource name as follows: "dataSource": "postgresql://user:password@127.0.0.1:5432/myDBName?connect_timeout=10".

Use TLS with PostgreSQL

The PostgreSQL DSN can be used to configure TLS settings for connecting to the server. An example database configuration that enables TLS server hostname verification is shown below:

{
  ...
  "db": {
    "type": "postgresql",
    "dataSource": "postgresql://user:password@127.0.0.1:5432/dbname?sslmode=verify-full",
  },
  ...
},

The database driver will look for a file with root CAs to trust in $HOME/.postgresql/root.crt, but will use the system CA trust store if that file is not found. Similarly, $HOME/.postgresql/postgresql.crt and the corresponding $HOME/.postgresql/postgresql.key will be used for mutual TLS authentication if these files exist and if the server requests a client certificate. It is also possible to override the locations for these files by providing them in the DSN:

{
  ...
  "db": {
    "type": "postgresql",
    "dataSource": "postgresql://user:password@127.0.0.1:5432/dbname?sslmode=verify-full&sslrootcert=/path/to/roots.pem&sslcert=/path/to/client.pem&sslkey=/path/to/client.key",
  },
  ...
},

The behavior of the PostgreSQL database driver mimics that of libpq and also encompasses handling of other default settings and environment variables. More info about TLS options and the DSN query parameters for libpq can be found at https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/libpq-ssl.html.

Schema

As the interface is a key-value store, the schema is very simple. We support tables, keys, and values. An entry in the database is a []byte value that is indexed by []byte table and []byte key.

Exporting Data

At this time step-ca does not have any API or interface for easily exporting data. Because the data is stored in a noSQL like manner, it is difficult to explore the data even when using a SQL backend like MySQL. We do have a scripted example for accessing the DB to give users a jumping off point for writing their own reporting and logging tools.

Note that some DBs, like Badger and BoltDB, cannot have multiple processes accessing them simultaneously. You'll need to stop the step-ca process in order to run a export script against those DBs.

Cryptographic Protection

By default, step-ca stores its signing keys encrypted on disk.

For security hardening, you may desire more advanced cryptographic protection (or hardware protection) of your CA's signing keys.

For these scenarios, step-ca integrates with the following key management systems:

Google Cloud KMS

AWS KMS

Azure Key Vault

PKCS #11 hardware security modules (HSMs)

YubiKey PIV

ssh-agent

For a complete, end-to-end example using a YubiKey, see our blog post Build a Tiny Certificate Authority For Your Homelab.

Before You Begin

For now, the step ca init command has very limited KMS support. We've created the step kms plugin for managing the keys and certificates on cloud KMSs and on hardware devices. Please install this plugin before continuing with any of the examples below.

Google Cloud KMS

Cloud KMS is Google's cloud-hosted KMS that allows you to store the cryptographic keys and sign certificates using their infrastructure. Cloud KMS supports two key protection levels: SOFTWARE and HSM.

Creating your PKI in Google Cloud KMS

Please install the step kms plugin before you begin. You'll need it to create your PKI.

Also, make sure you have installed the gcloud CLI and have configured Google Cloud application default credentials in your local environment, eg. by running gcloud auth application-default login.

Next, let's generate a private key for your root CA inside Google Cloud KMS. Run:

$ step kms create --json --kms 'cloudkms:' \
    'projects/smallstep/locations/global/keyRings/step-ca/cryptoKeys/root'

To constructe the key name parameter, use the resource name of the CryptoKey object you want to create, following the format:

projects/<project-id>/locations/<location>/keyRings/<key-ring-id>/cryptoKeys/<key-id>

Once the key is generated, step will output the key's name (including a version number), and the public key PEM:

{
  "name": "projects/smallstep/locations/global/keyRings/step-ca/cryptoKeys/root/cryptoKeyVersions/1",
  "publicKey": "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\nMFkwEwYHKoZIzj0CAQYIKoZIzj0DAQcDQgAERcTjeMNjBs29ReA1nf6Odyn2l4Yt\nXPo4CUOcCrn6yw7LJmzaDiqIErhuS9r6BNg92kJvFUiuiU8+w+WZOyhZdw==\n-----END PUBLIC KEY-----\n"
}

You'll need this key name for the next step.

We have taken care to provide sane defaults in `step kms create`, but you may wish to change the key type, size, protection level, or other options for your environment. See step kms help create for details.

Now, let's sign a root CA certificate based on the the key you just created. Substitute the key name output from step kms create here:

$ step certificate create --profile root-ca \
   --kms 'cloudkms:' \
   --key 'projects/smallstep/locations/global/keyRings/step-ca/cryptoKeys/root/cryptoKeyVersions/1' \
   "Smallstep Root CA" root_ca.crt

Output:

Your certificate has been saved in root_ca.crt.

Great. Next, we'll repeat the process for the Intermediate CA:

$ step kms create --json --kms 'cloudkms:' \
    'projects/smallstep/locations/global/keyRings/step-ca/cryptoKeys/intermediate'
$ step certificate create --profile intermediate-ca \
   --kms 'cloudkms:' \
   --ca root_ca.crt \
   --ca-key 'projects/smallstep/locations/global/keyRings/step-ca/cryptoKeys/root/cryptoKeyVersions/1' \
   --key 'projects/smallstep/locations/global/keyRings/step-ca/cryptoKeys/intermediate/cryptoKeyVersions/1' \
   "Smallstep Intermediate CA" intermediate_ca.crt

Output:

Your certificate has been saved in intermediate_ca.crt.

Now you should have both root_ca.crt and intermediate_ca.crt certificate PEM files. You'll need these files for your CA configuration, below.

If you want to run an SSH CA, you'll also need to create SSH CA key pairs:

$ step kms create --json --kms 'cloudkms:' \
    'projects/smallstep/locations/global/keyRings/step-ca/cryptoKeys/ssh-user'
$ step kms create --json --kms 'cloudkms:' \
    'projects/smallstep/locations/global/keyRings/step-ca/cryptoKeys/ssh-host'

Configuring `step-ca` to use Google Cloud KMS

Next, to configure Cloud KMS signing in step-ca, start with a basic CA configuration created using step ca init. Add the kms object to your ca.json file and replace the property key with the Cloud KMS resource name of your intermediate key:

{
    "root": "/etc/step-ca/certs/root_ca.crt",
    "crt": "/etc/step-ca/certs/intermediate_ca.crt",
    "key": "projects/smallstep/locations/global/keyRings/step-ca/cryptoKeys/intermediate/cryptoKeyVersions/1",
    "kms": {
        "type": "cloudkms",
        "uri": "cloudkms:credentials-file=/path/to/gcloud-kms-credentials.json"
    }
}

Finally, copy the root_ca.crt and intermediate_ca.crt files into the root and crt locations:

$ cp root_ca.crt intermediate_ca.crt $(step path)/certs

Your X.509 CA is ready.

To add SSH support, change the SSH key locations to Cloud KMS resource names for the SSH host and user CA keys:

{
    "ssh": {
        "hostKey": "projects/smallstep/locations/global/keyRings/step-ca/cryptoKeys/ssh-host/cryptoKeyVersions/1",
        "userKey": "projects/smallstep/locations/global/keyRings/step-ca/cryptoKeys/ssh-user/cryptoKeyVersions/1"
    }
}

When you start step-ca, you will see your X.509 root fingerprint, and the SSH user and host CA keys in SSH key format:

2022/09/20 16:28:45 The primary server URL is https://localhost:443
2022/09/20 16:28:45 Root certificates are available at https://localhost:443/roots.pem
2022/09/20 16:28:45 X.509 Root Fingerprint: b061dfca1013c074244b0f376e5be70b6eb0bd7f21d5438aa3af71fe62b0acf5
2022/09/20 16:28:45 SSH Host CA Key: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBIwmL7aDOJId/9UOVJGhVux6Rlvea+q2017aLsfze+/EwGQ5BdZ4k2Qh+5VekebBKZYLNO0LkSf9bZb4o9GSxIs=
2022/09/20 16:28:45 SSH User CA Key: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBFE0VY9eLxkoHrXoWk5VxeOQTUt53U5xIo89pfsgYHh450cdE4c3mYw5YeOueESyu/lFUHfJoNS6twVR1wuCOdc=
2022/09/20 16:28:45 Serving HTTPS on :443 ...

AWS KMS

AWS KMS is Amazon's managed encryption and key management service. It creates and stores the cryptographic keys and uses AWS infrastructure for signing operations. Amazon KMS operations are always backed by HSMs.

Creating your PKI in AWS KMS

Please install the step kms plugin before you begin. You'll need it to create your PKI.

Also, make sure you have installed the aws CLI and have configured AWS credentials in your local environment.

Avoid storing local AWS credentials in plaintext, if you can. We prefer either AWS Identity Center or aws-vault for securing local credentials.

Next, let's generate a private key for your root CA inside AWS KMS. Run:

$ step kms create --json --kms 'awskms:region=us-east-2' root-ca

Once the key is generated, step will output the key ID and the public key PEM:

{
  "name": "awskms:key-id=78980acd-a42d-4d84-97ba-1e50d3082214",
  "publicKey": "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\nMFkwEwYHKoZIzj0CAQYIKoZIzj0DAQcDQgAEH2ls6h1y2jsXV+IeuhDVkb68zkMe\nKPtI7L6vBIa5ThxOyFaZFnUrGWU6B+KQjProAntgKyNTqOnAh7Eyr3RmgQ==\n-----END PUBLIC KEY-----\n"
}

You'll need this key name for the next step.

Now, let's sign a root CA certificate based on the the key you just created. Substitute the key name output from step kms create here:

$ step certificate create --profile root-ca \
   --kms 'awskms:region=us-east-2' \
   --key 'awskms:key-id=78980acd-a42d-4d84-97ba-1e50d3082214' \
   "Smallstep Root CA" root_ca.crt

Output:

Your certificate has been saved in root_ca.crt.

Great. Next, we'll repeat the process for the Intermediate CA:

$ step kms create --json --kms 'awskms:region=us-east-2' intermediate-ca
$ step certificate create --profile intermediate-ca \
   --kms 'awskms:region=us-east-2' \
   --ca root_ca.crt \
   --ca-key 'awskms:key-id=78980acd-a42d-4d84-97ba-1e50d3082214' \
   --key 'awskms:key-id=9432458d-1e67-4a74-9a23-8f94708b45fe' \
   "Smallstep Intermediate CA" intermediate_ca.crt

Here, the --ca-key is the root CA key id; the --key is the intermediate CA key id.

Output:

Your certificate has been saved in intermediate_ca.crt.

Now you should have both root_ca.crt and intermediate_ca.crt certificate PEM files. You'll need these files for your CA configuration, below.

If you want to run an SSH CA, you'll also need to create SSH CA key pairs:

$ step kms create --json --kms 'awskms:region=us-east-2' ssh-user-ca
$ step kms create --json --kms 'awskms:region=us-east-2' ssh-host-ca

Hold onto the key IDs from these commands; you'll need them below.

Configuring `step-ca` to use AWS KMS

To use step-ca with AWS KMS, create a scoped IAM role that has kms:GetPublicKey permissions on all of your CA keys, and kms:Sign permission on your intermediate CA key.

To configure AWS KMS in your certificate authority, add the kms object to ca.json and replace the key property with the AWS KMS key ID of your intermediate CA key:

{
    "root": "/etc/step-ca/certs/root_ca.crt",
    "crt": "/etc/step-ca/certs/intermediate_ca.crt",
    "key": "awskms:key-id=f879f239-feb6-4596-9ed2-b1606277c7fe",
    "kms": {
        "type": "awskms",
        "uri": "awskms:region=us-east-2;profile=foo;credentials-file=/path/to/credentials"
    }
}

By default, step-ca (and, more broadly, AWS's SDK) will look for credentials stored in ~/.aws/credentials. Use the credentials-file option to override. The region and profile options specify the AWS region and configuration profiles respectively. These options can also be configured using environment variables as described in the AWS SDK for Go session documentation.

Finally, copy the root_ca.crt and intermediate_ca.crt files into the root and crt locations:

$ cp root_ca.crt intermediate_ca.crt $(step path)/certs

Your X.509 CA is ready.

To configure an SSH CA, replace the SSH key locations with the SSH CA keys you created above:

{
    "ssh": {
        "hostKey": "awskms:key-id=d48e502a-09bc-4bf7-9af8-ae1bccedc931",
        "userKey": "awskms:key-id=cf28e942-1e10-4a08-b84c-5359af1b5f12"
    }
}

When you start step-ca, you will see your X.509 root fingerprint, and the SSH user and host CA keys in SSH key format:

2022/09/20 16:28:45 The primary server URL is https://localhost:443
2022/09/20 16:28:45 Root certificates are available at https://localhost:443/roots.pem
2022/09/20 16:28:45 X.509 Root Fingerprint: b061dfca1013c074244b0f376e5be70b6eb0bd7f21d5438aa3af71fe62b0acf5
2022/09/20 16:28:45 SSH Host CA Key: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBIwmL7aDOJId/9UOVJGhVux6Rlvea+q2017aLsfze+/EwGQ5BdZ4k2Qh+5VekebBKZYLNO0LkSf9bZb4o9GSxIs=
2022/09/20 16:28:45 SSH User CA Key: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBFE0VY9eLxkoHrXoWk5VxeOQTUt53U5xIo89pfsgYHh450cdE4c3mYw5YeOueESyu/lFUHfJoNS6twVR1wuCOdc=
2022/09/20 16:28:45 Serving HTTPS on :443 ...

Azure Key Vault

Azure Key Vault is Microsoft's managed key management service.

Authentication

When using Azure Key Vault with step-ca, you will first need to authenticate to Azure. Authentication to Azure is handled via environment variables; we recommend using either file-based authentication via the AZURE_AUTH_LOCATION environment variable, or using a managed identity and setting the AZURE_TENANT_ID and AZURE_CLIENT_ID variables when starting step-ca. Alternatively, you can create a service principal and set the AZURE_TENANT_ID, AZURE_CLIENT_ID, and AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET variables. See Option 1 under Authentication Methods for Azure SDK for Go for examples of authentication methods and environment variables.

For local development and testing, Azure CLI credentials will be used if no authentication environment variables are set.

Initialize a PKI

To initialize a PKI backed by Azure Key Vault, start by authenticating to Azure using one of the above approaches. Set the environment variables necessary for authentication to your tenant.

Then, run:

$ step ca init --kms azurekms

You will be walked through the process of creating root and intermediate CA signing keys in Key Vault, and configuring the CA to use them. If you're creating an SSH CA, SSH host and user CA keys will be created in Key Vault as well.

Manual Configuration

To configure an existing CA for Azure Key Vault, or to import an existing Azure Key Vault signing key, add the kms object to your ca.json, and replace the key properties with the key name, vault name, and version of your intermediate (signing) key in Azure Key Vault:

{
    "root": "/etc/step-ca/certs/root_ca.crt",
    "crt": "/etc/step-ca/certs/intermediate_ca.crt",
    "key": "azurekms:name=intermediate-ca-key;vault=example-vault-0?version=15faf8b8b80d4f1ead067c6383a38b8f&hsm=true",
    "kms": {
        "type": "azurekms"
    }
}

In the key URI, the name and vault refer to the key name and vault name of your intermediate key in Azure Key Vault.

In the key URI, the version is the version of the Azure Key Vault key name. Though it is optional, we recommend setting this value explicitly. If omitted, the latest version will be used.

In the key URI, the optional hsm property can be set to true if HSM protection is desired. This is only used when the key is being created by step-ca. The default is to use software-protected (non-HSM-backed) keys. See Key Vault's About Keys page for more details.

In kms, an optional uri property can be added to provide client credentials (eg. azurekms:client-id=fooo;client-secret=bar;tenant-id=9de53416-4431-4181-7a8b-23af3EXAMPLE) instead of using the environment variables described above.

PKCS #11

This feature is not enabled by default.
To enable support, you will need to build step-ca yourself, using CGO support.
See Building From Source Using CGO.

A Hardware Security Module (HSM) is a specialized piece of hardware that is designed to generate and store private keys, and sign messages using those keys. The private keys on an HSM cannot be exported from the device. One can only run signing operations using the key. This is an excellent way to protect private keys for a Certificate Authority, which in normal operation simply needs to be able to sign Certificate Signing Requests.

Public-Key Cryptography Standards #11 (PKCS #11) is the most common platform-independent API used to access HSM hardware. It's supported by most HSM hardware, like Yubico's YubiHSM2, and the Nitrokey HSM 2. There's also a software-based "HSM," SoftHSMv2, which offers a PKCS #11 interface without the hardware. Finally, you can use PKCS#11 with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 chip on Linux. This requires the libtpm2_pkcs11.so library.

0. Before you begin

Your HSM or TPM2 may need to be prepared before you can initialize a PKI on it. Preparation steps depend on the device and are beyond the scope of this documentation. For example,

With YubiHSM2, you will need to create an authentication key with appropriate capabiliites.

With TPM2, you will need to initialize the TPM and create a PKCS#11 token on it.

You'll also want to consider how you will backup and restore your CA keys, for offline storage.

The step kms plugin will create CA keys and sign certificates on your device. You'll need to provide a PKCS #11 URI for accessing the device, using the --kms flag.

Here are some examples of PKCS #11 URIs for accessing various devices in Linux:

HSM	URI format
YubiHSM2	`pkcs11:module-path=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkcs11/yubihsm_pkcs11.so;token=YubiHSM`
AWS CloudHSM	`pkcs11:module-path=/opt/cloudhsm/lib/libcloudhsm_pkcs11.so;token=cavium?pin-value=$HSM_USER:$HSM_PASSWORD`
SoftHSM	`pkcs11:module-path=/usr/lib/softhsm/libsofthsm2.so;token=token1?pin-value=$HSM_PASSWORD`
nCipher nShield	`pkcs11:module-path=/opt/nfast/toolkits/pkcs11/libcknfast.so;token=rjk?pin-source=/etc/step-ca/hsm-pin.txt`
TPM2 (via libtpm2_pkcs11)	`pkcs11:module-path=/usr/local/lib/libtpm2_pkcs11.so;token=step-ca?pin-value=$HSM_PASSWORD`

You'll need to substitute $HSM_USER and $HSM_PASSWORD with your own values.

In this URI,

module-path points to your PKCS #11 .dll, .so, or .dylib library file,

token is the label (CKA_LABEL) of the HSM you're using,

pin-value contains hardcoded HSM credentials. It may be a PIN, username and password, password, or a filename. The YubiHSM2 is special in that the PIN value is the concatenation of the four-digit authorization key ID (eg. 0001) and the PIN.

Or, pin-source is a filename containing HSM credentials.

1. Create your PKI

Once you've constructed the right URI for accessing your device, use it in place of $PKCS_URI in the commands below.

First, please install the step kms plugin before you begin. You'll need it to create your PKI.

Next, let's ask the device to generate a private key for your root CA. Run:

$ step kms create --json --kms "$PKCS_URI" "pkcs11:id=7331;object=root-ca"

Once the key is generated, step will output the key ID and the public key PEM:

{
  "name": "pkcs11:id=7331;object=root-ca",
  "publicKey": "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\nMFkwEwYHKoZIzj0CAQYIKoZIzj0DAQcDQgAEH2ls6h1y2jsXV+IeuhDVkb68zkMe\nKPtI7L6vBIa5ThxOyFaZFnUrGWU6B+KQjProAntgKyNTqOnAh7Eyr3RmgQ==\n-----END PUBLIC KEY-----\n"
}

You'll need this key name for the next step.

Now, let's sign a root CA certificate based on the the key you just created. Substitute the key name output from step kms create here:

$ step certificate create --profile root-ca \
   --kms "$PKCS_URI"
   --key "pkcs11:id=7331;object=root-ca" \
   "Smallstep Root CA" root_ca.crt

Output:

Your certificate has been saved in root_ca.crt.

Great. Next, we'll repeat the process for the Intermediate CA:

$ step kms create --json --kms "$PKCS_URI" "pkcs11:id=7332;object=intermediate-ca"
$ step certificate create --profile intermediate-ca \
   --kms "$PKCS_URI" \
   --ca root_ca.crt \
   --ca-key "pkcs11:id=7331;object=root-ca" \
   --key "pkcs11:id=7332;object=intermediate-ca" \
   "Smallstep Intermediate CA" intermediate_ca.crt

Here, the --ca-key is the root CA key id; the --key is the intermediate CA key id.

Output:

Your certificate has been saved in intermediate_ca.crt.

Now you should have both root_ca.crt and intermediate_ca.crt certificate PEM files. You'll need these files for your CA configuration, below.

If you want to run an SSH CA, you'll also need to create SSH CA key pairs:

$ step kms create --json --kms "$PKCS_URI" "pkcs11:id=7333;object=ssh-host-ca"
$ step kms create --json --kms "$PKCS_URI" "pkcs11:id=7334;object=ssh-user-ca"

Hold onto the key IDs from these commands; you'll need them below.

Configuring `step-ca` to use PKCS #11

One you've created your PKI on the HSM using step-kms-plugin, you'll need to configure step-ca to use the HSM.

To configure your certificate authority, add the kms object to ca.json and replace the key property with the object ID of your intermediate CA key:

{
    "root": "/etc/step-ca/certs/root_ca.crt",
    "crt": "/etc/step-ca/certs/intermediate_ca.crt",
    "key": "pkcs11:id=7332;object=intermediate-ca",
    "kms": {
        "type": "pkcs11",
        "uri": "$PKCS_URI"
    }
}

Finally, copy the root_ca.crt and intermediate_ca.crt files into the root and crt locations:

$ cp root_ca.crt intermediate_ca.crt $(step path)/certs

Your X.509 CA is ready.

To configure an SSH CA, replace the SSH key locations with the SSH CA keys you created above:

{
    "ssh": {
        "hostKey": "pkcs11:id=7333;object=ssh-host-ca",
        "userKey": "pkcs11:id=7334;object=ssh-user-ca"
    }
}

When you start step-ca, you will see your X.509 root fingerprint, and the SSH user and host CA keys in SSH key format:

2022/09/20 16:28:45 The primary server URL is https://localhost:443
2022/09/20 16:28:45 Root certificates are available at https://localhost:443/roots.pem
2022/09/20 16:28:45 X.509 Root Fingerprint: b061dfca1013c074244b0f376e5be70b6eb0bd7f21d5438aa3af71fe62b0acf5
2022/09/20 16:28:45 SSH Host CA Key: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBIwmL7aDOJId/9UOVJGhVux6Rlvea+q2017aLsfze+/EwGQ5BdZ4k2Qh+5VekebBKZYLNO0LkSf9bZb4o9GSxIs=
2022/09/20 16:28:45 SSH User CA Key: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBFE0VY9eLxkoHrXoWk5VxeOQTUt53U5xIo89pfsgYHh450cdE4c3mYw5YeOueESyu/lFUHfJoNS6twVR1wuCOdc=
2022/09/20 16:28:45 Serving HTTPS on :443 ...

YubiKey PIV

This feature is not enabled in step-ca by default
To enable support, you will need to build step-ca yourself, using CGO support. See Building From Source Using CGO.

You can leverage a hardware YubiKey—and the YubiKey PIV application—to store your CA keys and sign TLS and SSH certificates.

Prerequisites and Caveats

To enable YubiKey support in step-ca, you must follow our Instructions for building from source using CGO

You will need a YubiKey 5 series device that supports the PIV application

Certificate slots 9a, 9c, 9d, 9e, and 82-95 are supported

You can use the YubiKey for X.509 and SSH CAs

Please install the step kms plugin before you begin. You'll need it to create your PKI.

Now, insert your YubiKey. Let's generate a private key for your root CA in slot 82 on the YubiKey. Run:

$ step kms create --json 'yubikey:slot-id=82'

Once the key is generated, step will output the key name and public key PEM:

{
  "name": "yubikey:slot-id=82",
  "publicKey": "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\nMFkwEwYHKoZIzj0CAQYIKoZIzj0DAQcDQgAED3T/7q+p+6239Ri35TBVoChM6VNq\n1buLfql1acRl7F2qf/L96x9XHY5GHoqYNCAm/ocL9hTl8ytWJao+JSNE+Q==\n-----END PUBLIC KEY-----\n"
}

We have taken care to provide sane defaults in `step kms create`, but you may wish to change the key type, size, or other options for your environment. See step kms help create for details.

Now, let's sign a root CA certificate based on the the key you just created. Substitute the key name output from step kms create here:

$ step certificate create --profile root-ca \
   --kms 'yubikey:pin-value=123456' \
   --key 'yubikey:slot-id=82' \
   "Smallstep Root CA" root_ca.crt

Here we're using the default PIN code of 123456 to access the YubiKey.

Output:

Your certificate has been saved in root_ca.crt.

Great. Next, we'll repeat the process for the Intermediate CA:

$ step kms create --json 'yubikey:slot-id=83'
$ step certificate create --profile intermediate-ca \
   --kms 'yubikey:pin-value=123456' \
   --ca root_ca.crt \
   --ca-key 'yubikey:slot-id=82' \
   --key 'yubikey:slot-id=83' \
   "Smallstep Intermediate CA" intermediate_ca.crt

Here, the --ca-key is the root CA key id; the --key is the intermediate CA key id.

Output:

Your certificate has been saved in intermediate_ca.crt.

Now you should have both root_ca.crt and intermediate_ca.crt certificate PEM files. You'll need these files for your CA configuration, below.

for safekeeping, you may wish to import the certificates into the YubiKey. To do this, you'll need Yubico's ykman CLI utility. Run:

$ ykman piv certificates import 82 root_ca.crt
$ ykman piv certificates import 83 intermediate_ca.crt

(While step-ca won't use these copies of the certificates, you can always use ykman piv certificates export to download the certificates later.)

Next, if you want to run an SSH CA, you'll also need to create two SSH CA keys:

$ step kms create --json 'yubikey:slot-id=84'
$ step kms create --json 'yubikey:slot-id=85'

Finally, to enable your CA in ca.json, point the root and crt options to the generated certificates, replace the key option with the YubiKey URI generated in the previous part, and configure the kms option with the appropriate type and pin.

{
    "root": "/etc/step-ca/certs/root_ca.crt",
    "crt": "/etc/step-ca/certs/intermediate_ca.crt",
    "key": "yubikey:slot-id=83",
    "kms": {
        "type": "yubikey",
        "uri": "yubikey:management-key=01020304...?pin-value=123456"
    }
}

Finally, copy the root_ca.crt and intermediate_ca.crt files into the root and crt locations:

$ cp root_ca.crt intermediate_ca.crt $(step path)/certs

Your X.509 CA is ready.

To configure an SSH CA, replace the SSH key locations with the SSH CA keys you created in AWS KMS:

{
    "ssh": {
        "hostKey": "yubikey:slot-id=84",
        "userKey": "yubikey:slot-id=85"
    }
}

When you start step-ca, you will see your X.509 root fingerprint, and the SSH host and user CA keys in SSH key format:

2022/09/20 16:28:45 The primary server URL is https://localhost:443
2022/09/20 16:28:45 Root certificates are available at https://localhost:443/roots.pem
2022/09/20 16:28:45 X.509 Root Fingerprint: b061dfca1013c074244b0f376e5be70b6eb0bd7f21d5438aa3af71fe62b0acf5
2022/09/20 16:28:45 SSH Host CA Key: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBIwmL7aDOJId/9UOVJGhVux6Rlvea+q2017aLsfze+/EwGQ5BdZ4k2Qh+5VekebBKZYLNO0LkSf9bZb4o9GSxIs=
2022/09/20 16:28:45 SSH User CA Key: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBFE0VY9eLxkoHrXoWk5VxeOQTUt53U5xIo89pfsgYHh450cdE4c3mYw5YeOueESyu/lFUHfJoNS6twVR1wuCOdc=
2022/09/20 16:28:45 Serving HTTPS on :443 ...