Open Source

`step ca`

Name

step ca -- initialize and manage a certificate authority

Usage

step ca <subcommand> [arguments] [global-flags] [subcommand-flags]

Description

step ca command group provides facilities to initialize a certificate authority, retrieve the root of trust, sign and renew certificates, and create and manage provisioners.

Examples

Create the configuration for a new certificate authority:

$ step ca init

Configure the ca-url and root in the environment:

$ step ca bootstrap \
  --ca-url https://ca.smallstep.com \
  --fingerprint 0d7d3834cf187726cf331c40a31aa7ef6b29ba4df601416c9788f6ee01058cf3
$ cat $STEPPATH/config/defaults.json
{
  "ca-url": "https://ca.smallstep.com",
  "fingerprint": "0d7d3834cf187726cf331c40a31aa7ef6b29ba4df601416c9788f6ee01058cf3",
  "root": "/home/user/.step/certs/root_ca.crt"
}

Download the root_ca.crt:

$ step ca root root_ca.crt \
  --ca-url https://ca.smallstep.com \
  --fingerprint 0d7d3834cf187726cf331c40a31aa7ef6b29ba4df601416c9788f6ee01058cf3

Get the Health status of the CA:

$ step ca health --ca-url https://ca.smallstep.com --root /home/user/.step/certs/root_ca.crt

Create a new certificate using a token:

$ TOKEN=$(step ca token internal.example.com)
$ step ca certificate internal.example.com internal.crt internal.key \
  --token $TOKEN --ca-url https://ca.smallstep.com --root root_ca.crt

Renew a certificate (certificate must still be valid):

$ step ca renew internal.crt internal.key \
  --ca-url https://ca.smallstep.com --root root_ca.crt

Commands

Name	Usage
health	get the status of the CA
init	initialize the CA PKI
bootstrap	initialize the environment to use the CA commands
token	generate an OTT granting access to the CA
certificate	generate a new private key and certificate signed by the root certificate
rekey	rekey a certificate
renew	renew a certificate
revoke	revoke a certificate
provisioner	create and manage the certificate authority provisioners
sign	generate a new certificate signing a certificate request
root	download and validate the root certificate
roots	download all the root certificates
federation	download all the federated certificates
acme	manage ACME settings
policy	manage certificate issuance policies
admin	create and manage the certificate authority admins