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gnutls.info: p11tool Invocation
Smart cards and HSMs 
Verifying certificates over PKCS11 
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5.3.9 Invoking p11tool
----------------------
Program that allows operations on PKCS #11 smart cards and security
modules.
To use PKCS #11 tokens with GnuTLS the p11-kit configuration files need
to be setup. That is create a .module file in /etc/pkcs11/modules with
the contents 'module: /path/to/pkcs11.so'. Alternatively the
configuration file /etc/gnutls/pkcs11.conf has to exist and contain a
number of lines of the form 'load=/usr/lib/opensc-pkcs11.so'.
You can provide the PIN to be used for the PKCS #11 operations with the
environment variables GNUTLS_PIN and GNUTLS_SO_PIN.
This section was generated by *AutoGen*, using the 'agtexi-cmd' template
and the option descriptions for the 'p11tool' program. This software is
released under the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later.
p11tool help/usage ('--help')
-----------------------------
This is the automatically generated usage text for p11tool.
The text printed is the same whether selected with the 'help' option
('--help') or the 'more-help' option ('--more-help'). 'more-help' will
print the usage text by passing it through a pager program. 'more-help'
is disabled on platforms without a working 'fork(2)' function. The
'PAGER' environment variable is used to select the program, defaulting
to 'more'. Both will exit with a status code of 0.
p11tool - GnuTLS PKCS #11 tool
Usage: p11tool [ -<flag> [<val>] | --<name>[{=| }<val>] ]... [url]
Tokens:
--list-tokens List all available tokens
--list-token-urls List the URLs available tokens
--list-mechanisms List all available mechanisms in a token
--initialize Initializes a PKCS #11 token
--initialize-pin Initializes/Resets a PKCS #11 token user PIN
--initialize-so-pin Initializes/Resets a PKCS #11 token security officer PIN.
--set-pin=str Specify the PIN to use on token operations
--set-so-pin=str Specify the Security Officer's PIN to use on token initialization
Object listing:
--list-all List all available objects in a token
--list-all-certs List all available certificates in a token
--list-certs List all certificates that have an associated private key
--list-all-privkeys List all available private keys in a token
--list-privkeys an alias for the 'list-all-privkeys' option
--list-keys an alias for the 'list-all-privkeys' option
--list-all-trusted List all available certificates marked as trusted
--export Export the object specified by the URL
- prohibits these options:
export-stapled
export-chain
export-pubkey
--export-stapled Export the certificate object specified by the URL
- prohibits these options:
export
export-chain
export-pubkey
--export-chain Export the certificate specified by the URL and its chain of trust
- prohibits these options:
export-stapled
export
export-pubkey
--export-pubkey Export the public key for a private key
- prohibits these options:
export-stapled
export
export-chain
--info List information on an available object in a token
--trusted an alias for the 'mark-trusted' option
--distrusted an alias for the 'mark-distrusted' option
Key generation:
--generate-privkey=str Generate private-public key pair of given type
--bits=num Specify the number of bits for the key generate
--curve=str Specify the curve used for EC key generation
--sec-param=str Specify the security level
Writing objects:
--set-id=str Set the CKA_ID (in hex) for the specified by the URL object
- prohibits the option 'write'
--set-label=str Set the CKA_LABEL for the specified by the URL object
- prohibits these options:
write
set-id
--write Writes the loaded objects to a PKCS #11 token
--delete Deletes the objects matching the given PKCS #11 URL
--label=str Sets a label for the write operation
--id=str Sets an ID for the write operation
--mark-wrap Marks the generated key to be a wrapping key
- disabled as '--no-mark-wrap'
--mark-trusted Marks the object to be written as trusted
- prohibits the option 'mark-distrusted'
- disabled as '--no-mark-trusted'
--mark-distrusted When retrieving objects, it requires the objects to be distrusted
(blacklisted)
- prohibits the option 'mark-trusted'
--mark-decrypt Marks the object to be written for decryption
- disabled as '--no-mark-decrypt'
--mark-sign Marks the object to be written for signature generation
- disabled as '--no-mark-sign'
--mark-ca Marks the object to be written as a CA
- disabled as '--no-mark-ca'
--mark-private Marks the object to be written as private
- disabled as '--no-mark-private'
--ca an alias for the 'mark-ca' option
--private an alias for the 'mark-private' option
--secret-key=str Provide a hex encoded secret key
--load-privkey=file Private key file to use
- file must pre-exist
--load-pubkey=file Public key file to use
- file must pre-exist
--load-certificate=file Certificate file to use
- file must pre-exist
Other options:
-d, --debug=num Enable debugging
- it must be in the range:
0 to 9999
--outfile=str Output file
--login Force (user) login to token
- disabled as '--no-login'
--so-login Force security officer login to token
- disabled as '--no-so-login'
--admin-login an alias for the 'so-login' option
--test-sign Tests the signature operation of the provided object
--sign-params=str Sign with a specific signature algorithm
--hash=str Hash algorithm to use for signing
--generate-random=num Generate random data
-8, --pkcs8 Use PKCS #8 format for private keys
--inder Use DER/RAW format for input
- disabled as '--no-inder'
--inraw an alias for the 'inder' option
--outder Use DER format for output certificates, private keys, and DH parameters
- disabled as '--no-outder'
--outraw an alias for the 'outder' option
--provider=file Specify the PKCS #11 provider library
--detailed-url Print detailed URLs
- disabled as '--no-detailed-url'
--only-urls Print a compact listing using only the URLs
--batch Disable all interaction with the tool
Version, usage and configuration options:
-v, --version[=arg] output version information and exit
-h, --help display extended usage information and exit
-!, --more-help extended usage information passed thru pager
Options are specified by doubled hyphens and their name or by a single
hyphen and the flag character.
Operands and options may be intermixed. They will be reordered.
Program that allows operations on PKCS #11 smart cards and security
modules.
To use PKCS #11 tokens with GnuTLS the p11-kit configuration files need to
be setup. That is create a .module file in /etc/pkcs11/modules with the
contents 'module: /path/to/pkcs11.so'. Alternatively the configuration
file /etc/gnutls/pkcs11.conf has to exist and contain a number of lines of
the form 'load=/usr/lib/opensc-pkcs11.so'.
You can provide the PIN to be used for the PKCS #11 operations with the
environment variables GNUTLS_PIN and GNUTLS_SO_PIN.
token-related-options options
-----------------------------
Tokens.
list-token-urls option.
.......................
This is the "list the urls available tokens" option. This is a more
compact version of -list-tokens.
initialize-so-pin option.
.........................
This is the "initializes/resets a pkcs #11 token security officer pin."
option. This initializes the security officer's PIN. When used
non-interactively use the GNUTLS_NEW_SO_PIN environment variables to
initialize SO's PIN.
set-pin option.
...............
This is the "specify the pin to use on token operations" option. This
option takes a string argument. Alternatively the GNUTLS_PIN
environment variable may be used.
set-so-pin option.
..................
This is the "specify the security officer's pin to use on token
initialization" option. This option takes a string argument.
Alternatively the GNUTLS_SO_PIN environment variable may be used.
object-list-related-options options
-----------------------------------
Object listing.
list-all option.
................
This is the "list all available objects in a token" option. All objects
available in the token will be listed. That includes objects which are
potentially unaccessible using this tool.
list-all-certs option.
......................
This is the "list all available certificates in a token" option. That
option will also provide more information on the certificates, for
example, expand the attached extensions in a trust token (like
p11-kit-trust).
list-certs option.
..................
This is the "list all certificates that have an associated private key"
option. That option will only display certificates which have a private
key associated with them (share the same ID).
list-all-privkeys option.
.........................
This is the "list all available private keys in a token" option. Lists
all the private keys in a token that match the specified URL.
list-privkeys option.
.....................
This is an alias for the 'list-all-privkeys' option, Note: the
list-all-privkeys option documentation.
list-keys option.
.................
This is an alias for the 'list-all-privkeys' option, Note: the
list-all-privkeys option documentation.
export-stapled option.
......................
This is the "export the certificate object specified by the url" option.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
export, export-chain, export-pubkey.
Exports the certificate specified by the URL while including any
attached extensions to it. Since attached extensions are a p11-kit
extension, this option is only available on p11-kit registered trust
modules.
export-chain option.
....................
This is the "export the certificate specified by the url and its chain
of trust" option.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
export-stapled, export, export-pubkey.
Exports the certificate specified by the URL and generates its chain of
trust based on the stored certificates in the module.
export-pubkey option.
.....................
This is the "export the public key for a private key" option.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
export-stapled, export, export-chain.
Exports the public key for the specified private key
trusted option.
...............
This is an alias for the 'mark-trusted' option, Note: the mark-trusted
option documentation.
distrusted option.
..................
This is an alias for the 'mark-distrusted' option, Note: the
mark-distrusted option documentation.
keygen-related-options options
------------------------------
Key generation.
generate-privkey option.
........................
This is the "generate private-public key pair of given type" option.
This option takes a string argument. Generates a private-public key
pair in the specified token. Acceptable types are RSA, ECDSA, Ed25519,
and DSA. Should be combined with -sec-param or -bits.
generate-rsa option.
....................
This is the "generate an rsa private-public key pair" option. Generates
an RSA private-public key pair on the specified token. Should be
combined with -sec-param or -bits.
*NOTE**: THIS OPTION IS DEPRECATED*
generate-dsa option.
....................
This is the "generate a dsa private-public key pair" option. Generates
a DSA private-public key pair on the specified token. Should be
combined with -sec-param or -bits.
*NOTE**: THIS OPTION IS DEPRECATED*
generate-ecc option.
....................
This is the "generate an ecdsa private-public key pair" option.
Generates an ECDSA private-public key pair on the specified token.
Should be combined with -curve, -sec-param or -bits.
*NOTE**: THIS OPTION IS DEPRECATED*
bits option.
............
This is the "specify the number of bits for the key generate" option.
This option takes a number argument. For applications which have no
key-size restrictions the -sec-param option is recommended, as the
sec-param levels will adapt to the acceptable security levels with the
new versions of gnutls.
curve option.
.............
This is the "specify the curve used for ec key generation" option. This
option takes a string argument. Supported values are secp192r1,
secp224r1, secp256r1, secp384r1 and secp521r1.
sec-param option.
.................
This is the "specify the security level" option. This option takes a
string argument 'Security parameter'. This is alternative to the bits
option. Available options are [low, legacy, medium, high, ultra].
write-object-related-options options
------------------------------------
Writing objects.
set-id option.
..............
This is the "set the cka_id (in hex) for the specified by the url
object" option. This option takes a string argument.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
write.
Modifies or sets the CKA_ID in the specified by the URL object. The ID
should be specified in hexadecimal format without a '0x' prefix.
set-label option.
.................
This is the "set the cka_label for the specified by the url object"
option. This option takes a string argument.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
write, set-id.
Modifies or sets the CKA_LABEL in the specified by the URL object
write option.
.............
This is the "writes the loaded objects to a pkcs #11 token" option. It
can be used to write private, public keys, certificates or secret keys
to a token. Must be combined with one of -load-privkey, -load-pubkey,
-load-certificate option.
id option.
..........
This is the "sets an id for the write operation" option. This option
takes a string argument. Sets the CKA_ID to be set by the write
operation. The ID should be specified in hexadecimal format without a
'0x' prefix.
mark-wrap option.
.................
This is the "marks the generated key to be a wrapping key" option.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* can be disabled with -no-mark-wrap.
Marks the generated key with the CKA_WRAP flag.
mark-trusted option.
....................
This is the "marks the object to be written as trusted" option.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* can be disabled with -no-mark-trusted.
* must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
mark-distrusted.
Marks the object to be generated/written with the CKA_TRUST flag.
mark-distrusted option.
.......................
This is the "when retrieving objects, it requires the objects to be
distrusted (blacklisted)" option.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
mark-trusted.
Ensures that the objects retrieved have the CKA_X_TRUST flag. This is
p11-kit trust module extension, thus this flag is only valid with
p11-kit registered trust modules.
mark-decrypt option.
....................
This is the "marks the object to be written for decryption" option.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* can be disabled with -no-mark-decrypt.
Marks the object to be generated/written with the CKA_DECRYPT flag set
to true.
mark-sign option.
.................
This is the "marks the object to be written for signature generation"
option.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* can be disabled with -no-mark-sign.
Marks the object to be generated/written with the CKA_SIGN flag set to
true.
mark-ca option.
...............
This is the "marks the object to be written as a ca" option.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* can be disabled with -no-mark-ca.
Marks the object to be generated/written with the
CKA_CERTIFICATE_CATEGORY as CA.
mark-private option.
....................
This is the "marks the object to be written as private" option.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* can be disabled with -no-mark-private.
Marks the object to be generated/written with the CKA_PRIVATE flag. The
written object will require a PIN to be used.
ca option.
..........
This is an alias for the 'mark-ca' option, Note: the mark-ca option
documentation.
private option.
...............
This is an alias for the 'mark-private' option, Note: the mark-private
option documentation.
secret-key option.
..................
This is the "provide a hex encoded secret key" option. This option
takes a string argument. This secret key will be written to the module
if -write is specified.
other-options options
---------------------
Other options.
debug option (-d).
..................
This is the "enable debugging" option. This option takes a number
argument. Specifies the debug level.
so-login option.
................
This is the "force security officer login to token" option.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* can be disabled with -no-so-login.
Forces login to the token as security officer (admin).
admin-login option.
...................
This is an alias for the 'so-login' option, Note: the so-login option
documentation.
test-sign option.
.................
This is the "tests the signature operation of the provided object"
option. It can be used to test the correct operation of the signature
operation. If both a private and a public key are available this
operation will sign and verify the signed data.
sign-params option.
...................
This is the "sign with a specific signature algorithm" option. This
option takes a string argument. This option can be combined with
-test-sign, to sign with a specific signature algorithm variant. The
only option supported is 'RSA-PSS', and should be specified in order to
use RSA-PSS signature on RSA keys.
hash option.
............
This is the "hash algorithm to use for signing" option. This option
takes a string argument. This option can be combined with test-sign.
Available hash functions are SHA1, RMD160, SHA256, SHA384, SHA512,
SHA3-224, SHA3-256, SHA3-384, SHA3-512.
generate-random option.
.......................
This is the "generate random data" option. This option takes a number
argument. Asks the token to generate a number of bytes of random bytes.
inder option.
.............
This is the "use der/raw format for input" option.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* can be disabled with -no-inder.
Use DER/RAW format for input certificates and private keys.
inraw option.
.............
This is an alias for the 'inder' option, Note: the inder option
documentation.
outder option.
..............
This is the "use der format for output certificates, private keys, and
dh parameters" option.
This option has some usage constraints. It:
* can be disabled with -no-outder.
The output will be in DER or RAW format.
outraw option.
..............
This is an alias for the 'outder' option, Note: the outder option
documentation.
provider option.
................
This is the "specify the pkcs #11 provider library" option. This option
takes a file argument. This will override the default options in
/etc/gnutls/pkcs11.conf
provider-opts option.
.....................
This is the "specify parameters for the pkcs #11 provider library"
option. This option takes a string argument. This is a PKCS#11
internal option used by few modules. Mainly for testing PKCS#11
modules.
*NOTE**: THIS OPTION IS DEPRECATED*
batch option.
.............
This is the "disable all interaction with the tool" option. In batch
mode there will be no prompts, all parameters need to be specified on
command line.
p11tool exit status
-------------------
One of the following exit values will be returned:
'0 (EXIT_SUCCESS)'
Successful program execution.
'1 (EXIT_FAILURE)'
The operation failed or the command syntax was not valid.
p11tool See Also
----------------
certtool (1)
p11tool Examples
----------------
To view all tokens in your system use:
$ p11tool --list-tokens
To view all objects in a token use:
$ p11tool --login --list-all "pkcs11:TOKEN-URL"
To store a private key and a certificate in a token run:
$ p11tool --login --write "pkcs11:URL" --load-privkey key.pem \
--label "Mykey"
$ p11tool --login --write "pkcs11:URL" --load-certificate cert.pem \
--label "Mykey"
Note that some tokens require the same label to be used for the
certificate and its corresponding private key.
To generate an RSA private key inside the token use:
$ p11tool --login --generate-privkey rsa --bits 1024 --label "MyNewKey" \
--outfile MyNewKey.pub "pkcs11:TOKEN-URL"
The bits parameter in the above example is explicitly set because some
tokens only support limited choices in the bit length. The output file
is the corresponding public key. This key can be used to general a
certificate request with certtool.
certtool --generate-request --load-privkey "pkcs11:KEY-URL" \
--load-pubkey MyNewKey.pub --outfile request.pem
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