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1=pod
2
3=head1 NAME
4
19d2bb57 5config - OpenSSL CONF library configuration files
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6
7=head1 DESCRIPTION
8
19d2bb57 9The OpenSSL CONF library can be used to read configuration files.
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10It is used for the OpenSSL master configuration file B<openssl.cnf>
11and in a few other places like B<SPKAC> files and certificate extension
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12files for the B<x509> utility. OpenSSL applications can also use the
13CONF library for their own purposes.
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14
15A configuration file is divided into a number of sections. Each section
16starts with a line B<[ section_name ]> and ends when a new section is
17started or end of file is reached. A section name can consist of
18alphanumeric characters and underscores.
19
20The first section of a configuration file is special and is referred
21to as the B<default> section this is usually unnamed and is from the
22start of file until the first named section. When a name is being looked up
23it is first looked up in a named section (if any) and then the
24default section.
25
26The environment is mapped onto a section called B<ENV>.
27
28Comments can be included by preceding them with the B<#> character
29
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30Other files can be included using the B<.include> directive followed
31by a path. If the path points to a directory all files with
32names ending with B<.cnf> or B<.conf> are included from the directory.
33Recursive inclusion of directories from files in such directory is not
34supported. That means the files in the included directory can also contain
35B<.include> directives but only inclusion of regular files is supported
36there. The inclusion of directories is not supported on systems without
37POSIX IO support.
38
39It is strongly recommended to use absolute paths with the B<.include>
40directive. Relative paths are evaluated based on the application current
41working directory so unless the configuration file containing the
42B<.include> directive is application specific the inclusion will not
43work as expected.
44
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45Each section in a configuration file consists of a number of name and
46value pairs of the form B<name=value>
47
48The B<name> string can contain any alphanumeric characters as well as
49a few punctuation symbols such as B<.> B<,> B<;> and B<_>.
50
51The B<value> string consists of the string following the B<=> character
52until end of line with any leading and trailing white space removed.
53
54The value string undergoes variable expansion. This can be done by
55including the form B<$var> or B<${var}>: this will substitute the value
56of the named variable in the current section. It is also possible to
57substitute a value from another section using the syntax B<$section::name>
19d2bb57 58or B<${section::name}>. By using the form B<$ENV::name> environment
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59variables can be substituted. It is also possible to assign values to
60environment variables by using the name B<ENV::name>, this will work
61if the program looks up environment variables using the B<CONF> library
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62instead of calling getenv() directly. The value string must not exceed 64k in
63length after variable expansion. Otherwise an error will occur.
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64
65It is possible to escape certain characters by using any kind of quote
66or the B<\> character. By making the last character of a line a B<\>
67a B<value> string can be spread across multiple lines. In addition
657e60fa 68the sequences B<\n>, B<\r>, B<\b> and B<\t> are recognized.
aba3e65f 69
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70All expansion and escape rules as described above that apply to B<value>
71also apply to the path of the B<.include> directive.
72
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73=head1 OPENSSL LIBRARY CONFIGURATION
74
a528d4f0 75Applications can automatically configure certain
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76aspects of OpenSSL using the master OpenSSL configuration file, or optionally
77an alternative configuration file. The B<openssl> utility includes this
78functionality: any sub command uses the master OpenSSL configuration file
79unless an option is used in the sub command to use an alternative configuration
80file.
81
1bc74519 82To enable library configuration the default section needs to contain an
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83appropriate line which points to the main configuration section. The default
84name is B<openssl_conf> which is used by the B<openssl> utility. Other
a8c5ed81 85applications may use an alternative name such as B<myapplication_conf>.
86All library configuration lines appear in the default section at the start
87of the configuration file.
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88
89The configuration section should consist of a set of name value pairs which
90contain specific module configuration information. The B<name> represents
1bc74519 91the name of the I<configuration module> the meaning of the B<value> is
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92module specific: it may, for example, represent a further configuration
93section containing configuration module specific information. E.g.
94
a8c5ed81 95 # This must be in the default section
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96 openssl_conf = openssl_init
97
98 [openssl_init]
99
100 oid_section = new_oids
101 engines = engine_section
102
103 [new_oids]
104
105 ... new oids here ...
106
107 [engine_section]
108
109 ... engine stuff here ...
110
3d764db7 111The features of each configuration module are described below.
a30af36c 112
05ea606a 113=head2 ASN1 Object Configuration Module
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114
115This module has the name B<oid_section>. The value of this variable points
116to a section containing name value pairs of OIDs: the name is the OID short
117and long name, the value is the numerical form of the OID. Although some of
118the B<openssl> utility sub commands already have their own ASN1 OBJECT section
119functionality not all do. By using the ASN1 OBJECT configuration module
120B<all> the B<openssl> utility sub commands can see the new objects as well
121as any compliant applications. For example:
122
123 [new_oids]
1bc74519 124
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125 some_new_oid = 1.2.3.4
126 some_other_oid = 1.2.3.5
127
a528d4f0 128It is also possible to set the value to the long name followed
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129by a comma and the numerical OID form. For example:
130
131 shortName = some object long name, 1.2.3.4
132
05ea606a 133=head2 Engine Configuration Module
a30af36c 134
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135This ENGINE configuration module has the name B<engines>. The value of this
136variable points to a section containing further ENGINE configuration
137information.
138
139The section pointed to by B<engines> is a table of engine names (though see
2b4ffc65 140B<engine_id> below) and further sections containing configuration information
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141specific to each ENGINE.
142
143Each ENGINE specific section is used to set default algorithms, load
144dynamic, perform initialization and send ctrls. The actual operation performed
145depends on the I<command> name which is the name of the name value pair. The
146currently supported commands are listed below.
147
148For example:
149
150 [engine_section]
151
152 # Configure ENGINE named "foo"
153 foo = foo_section
154 # Configure ENGINE named "bar"
155 bar = bar_section
156
157 [foo_section]
158 ... foo ENGINE specific commands ...
159
160 [bar_section]
161 ... "bar" ENGINE specific commands ...
162
1bc74519 163The command B<engine_id> is used to give the ENGINE name. If used this
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164command must be first. For example:
165
166 [engine_section]
167 # This would normally handle an ENGINE named "foo"
168 foo = foo_section
169
170 [foo_section]
171 # Override default name and use "myfoo" instead.
172 engine_id = myfoo
173
174The command B<dynamic_path> loads and adds an ENGINE from the given path. It
175is equivalent to sending the ctrls B<SO_PATH> with the path argument followed
176by B<LIST_ADD> with value 2 and B<LOAD> to the dynamic ENGINE. If this is
177not the required behaviour then alternative ctrls can be sent directly
178to the dynamic ENGINE using ctrl commands.
179
180The command B<init> determines whether to initialize the ENGINE. If the value
181is B<0> the ENGINE will not be initialized, if B<1> and attempt it made to
182initialized the ENGINE immediately. If the B<init> command is not present
183then an attempt will be made to initialize the ENGINE after all commands in
184its section have been processed.
185
186The command B<default_algorithms> sets the default algorithms an ENGINE will
35cb565a 187supply using the functions ENGINE_set_default_string().
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188
189If the name matches none of the above command names it is assumed to be a
1bc74519 190ctrl command which is sent to the ENGINE. The value of the command is the
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191argument to the ctrl command. If the value is the string B<EMPTY> then no
192value is sent to the command.
193
194For example:
195
196
197 [engine_section]
198
199 # Configure ENGINE named "foo"
200 foo = foo_section
201
202 [foo_section]
203 # Load engine from DSO
204 dynamic_path = /some/path/fooengine.so
205 # A foo specific ctrl.
206 some_ctrl = some_value
207 # Another ctrl that doesn't take a value.
208 other_ctrl = EMPTY
209 # Supply all default algorithms
210 default_algorithms = ALL
a30af36c 211
05ea606a 212=head2 EVP Configuration Module
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213
214This modules has the name B<alg_section> which points to a section containing
215algorithm commands.
216
217Currently the only algorithm command supported is B<fips_mode> whose
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218value can only be the boolean string B<off>. If B<fips_mode> is set to B<on>,
219an error occurs as this library version is not FIPS capable.
3d764db7 220
05ea606a 221=head2 SSL Configuration Module
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222
223This module has the name B<ssl_conf> which points to a section containing
224SSL configurations.
225
226Each line in the SSL configuration section contains the name of the
227configuration and the section containing it.
228
229Each configuration section consists of command value pairs for B<SSL_CONF>.
230Each pair will be passed to a B<SSL_CTX> or B<SSL> structure if it calls
231SSL_CTX_config() or SSL_config() with the appropriate configuration name.
232
233Note: any characters before an initial dot in the configuration section are
234ignored so the same command can be used multiple times.
235
236For example:
237
238 ssl_conf = ssl_sect
239
240 [ssl_sect]
241
242 server = server_section
243
244 [server_section]
245
246 RSA.Certificate = server-rsa.pem
247 ECDSA.Certificate = server-ecdsa.pem
248 Ciphers = ALL:!RC4
3d764db7 249
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250=head1 NOTES
251
19d2bb57 252If a configuration file attempts to expand a variable that doesn't exist
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253then an error is flagged and the file will not load. This can happen
254if an attempt is made to expand an environment variable that doesn't
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255exist. For example in a previous version of OpenSSL the default OpenSSL
256master configuration file used the value of B<HOME> which may not be
257defined on non Unix systems and would cause an error.
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258
259This can be worked around by including a B<default> section to provide
260a default value: then if the environment lookup fails the default value
261will be used instead. For this to work properly the default value must
262be defined earlier in the configuration file than the expansion. See
263the B<EXAMPLES> section for an example of how to do this.
264
265If the same variable exists in the same section then all but the last
266value will be silently ignored. In certain circumstances such as with
267DNs the same field may occur multiple times. This is usually worked
268around by ignoring any characters before an initial B<.> e.g.
269
270 1.OU="My first OU"
271 2.OU="My Second OU"
272
273=head1 EXAMPLES
274
275Here is a sample configuration file using some of the features
276mentioned above.
277
278 # This is the default section.
1bc74519 279
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280 HOME=/temp
281 RANDFILE= ${ENV::HOME}/.rnd
282 configdir=$ENV::HOME/config
283
284 [ section_one ]
285
286 # We are now in section one.
287
288 # Quotes permit leading and trailing whitespace
289 any = " any variable name "
290
291 other = A string that can \
292 cover several lines \
293 by including \\ characters
294
295 message = Hello World\n
296
297 [ section_two ]
298
299 greeting = $section_one::message
300
301This next example shows how to expand environment variables safely.
302
303Suppose you want a variable called B<tmpfile> to refer to a
304temporary filename. The directory it is placed in can determined by
35ed393e 305the B<TEMP> or B<TMP> environment variables but they may not be
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306set to any value at all. If you just include the environment variable
307names and the variable doesn't exist then this will cause an error when
308an attempt is made to load the configuration file. By making use of the
1bc74519 309default section both values can be looked up with B<TEMP> taking
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310priority and B</tmp> used if neither is defined:
311
312 TMP=/tmp
313 # The above value is used if TMP isn't in the environment
314 TEMP=$ENV::TMP
315 # The above value is used if TEMP isn't in the environment
316 tmpfile=${ENV::TEMP}/tmp.filename
317
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318Simple OpenSSL library configuration example to enter FIPS mode:
319
320 # Default appname: should match "appname" parameter (if any)
321 # supplied to CONF_modules_load_file et al.
322 openssl_conf = openssl_conf_section
323
324 [openssl_conf_section]
325 # Configuration module list
326 alg_section = evp_sect
327
328 [evp_sect]
329 # Set to "yes" to enter FIPS mode if supported
330 fips_mode = yes
331
332Note: in the above example you will get an error in non FIPS capable versions
333of OpenSSL.
334
335More complex OpenSSL library configuration. Add OID and don't enter FIPS mode:
336
337 # Default appname: should match "appname" parameter (if any)
338 # supplied to CONF_modules_load_file et al.
339 openssl_conf = openssl_conf_section
340
341 [openssl_conf_section]
342 # Configuration module list
343 alg_section = evp_sect
344 oid_section = new_oids
345
346 [evp_sect]
347 # This will have no effect as FIPS mode is off by default.
348 # Set to "yes" to enter FIPS mode, if supported
349 fips_mode = no
350
351 [new_oids]
352 # New OID, just short name
353 newoid1 = 1.2.3.4.1
354 # New OID shortname and long name
355 newoid2 = New OID 2 long name, 1.2.3.4.2
356
35ed393e 357The above examples can be used with any application supporting library
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358configuration if "openssl_conf" is modified to match the appropriate "appname".
359
360For example if the second sample file above is saved to "example.cnf" then
361the command line:
362
363 OPENSSL_CONF=example.cnf openssl asn1parse -genstr OID:1.2.3.4.1
364
365will output:
366
367 0:d=0 hl=2 l= 4 prim: OBJECT :newoid1
368
369showing that the OID "newoid1" has been added as "1.2.3.4.1".
370
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371=head1 BUGS
372
373Currently there is no way to include characters using the octal B<\nnn>
374form. Strings are all null terminated so nulls cannot form part of
375the value.
376
377The escaping isn't quite right: if you want to use sequences like B<\n>
378you can't use any quote escaping on the same line.
379
380Files are loaded in a single pass. This means that an variable expansion
381will only work if the variables referenced are defined earlier in the
382file.
383
384=head1 SEE ALSO
385
9b86974e 386L<x509(1)>, L<req(1)>, L<ca(1)>
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388=head1 COPYRIGHT
389
390Copyright 2000-2016 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
391
392Licensed under the OpenSSL license (the "License"). You may not use
393this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
394in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
395L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
396
397=cut