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1SSH-KEYGEN(1) General Commands Manual SSH-KEYGEN(1)
2
3NAME
4 ssh-keygen M-bM-^@M-^S OpenSSH authentication key utility
5
6SYNOPSIS
7 ssh-keygen [-q] [-a rounds] [-b bits] [-C comment] [-f output_keyfile]
8 [-m format] [-N new_passphrase] [-O option]
9 [-t dsa | ecdsa | ecdsa-sk | ed25519 | ed25519-sk | rsa]
10 [-w provider]
11 ssh-keygen -p [-a rounds] [-f keyfile] [-m format] [-N new_passphrase]
12 [-P old_passphrase]
13 ssh-keygen -i [-f input_keyfile] [-m key_format]
14 ssh-keygen -e [-f input_keyfile] [-m key_format]
15 ssh-keygen -y [-f input_keyfile]
16 ssh-keygen -c [-a rounds] [-C comment] [-f keyfile] [-P passphrase]
17 ssh-keygen -l [-v] [-E fingerprint_hash] [-f input_keyfile]
18 ssh-keygen -B [-f input_keyfile]
19 ssh-keygen -D pkcs11
20 ssh-keygen -F hostname [-lv] [-f known_hosts_file]
21 ssh-keygen -H [-f known_hosts_file]
22 ssh-keygen -K [-a rounds] [-w provider]
23 ssh-keygen -R hostname [-f known_hosts_file]
24 ssh-keygen -r hostname [-g] [-f input_keyfile]
25 ssh-keygen -M generate [-O option] output_file
26 ssh-keygen -M screen [-f input_file] [-O option] output_file
27 ssh-keygen -I certificate_identity -s ca_key [-hU] [-D pkcs11_provider]
28 [-n principals] [-O option] [-V validity_interval]
29 [-z serial_number] file ...
30 ssh-keygen -L [-f input_keyfile]
31 ssh-keygen -A [-a rounds] [-f prefix_path]
32 ssh-keygen -k -f krl_file [-u] [-s ca_public] [-z version_number]
33 file ...
34 ssh-keygen -Q [-l] -f krl_file file ...
35 ssh-keygen -Y find-principals -s signature_file -f allowed_signers_file
36 ssh-keygen -Y check-novalidate -n namespace -s signature_file
37 ssh-keygen -Y sign -f key_file -n namespace file ...
38 ssh-keygen -Y verify -f allowed_signers_file -I signer_identity
39 -n namespace -s signature_file [-r revocation_file]
40
41DESCRIPTION
42 ssh-keygen generates, manages and converts authentication keys for
43 ssh(1). ssh-keygen can create keys for use by SSH protocol version 2.
44
45 The type of key to be generated is specified with the -t option. If
46 invoked without any arguments, ssh-keygen will generate an RSA key.
47
48 ssh-keygen is also used to generate groups for use in Diffie-Hellman
49 group exchange (DH-GEX). See the MODULI GENERATION section for details.
50
51 Finally, ssh-keygen can be used to generate and update Key Revocation
52 Lists, and to test whether given keys have been revoked by one. See the
53 KEY REVOCATION LISTS section for details.
54
55 Normally each user wishing to use SSH with public key authentication runs
56 this once to create the authentication key in ~/.ssh/id_dsa,
57 ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa, ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk, ~/.ssh/id_ed25519,
58 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk or ~/.ssh/id_rsa. Additionally, the system
59 administrator may use this to generate host keys, as seen in /etc/rc.
60
61 Normally this program generates the key and asks for a file in which to
62 store the private key. The public key is stored in a file with the same
63 name but M-bM-^@M-^\.pubM-bM-^@M-^] appended. The program also asks for a passphrase. The
64 passphrase may be empty to indicate no passphrase (host keys must have an
65 empty passphrase), or it may be a string of arbitrary length. A
66 passphrase is similar to a password, except it can be a phrase with a
67 series of words, punctuation, numbers, whitespace, or any string of
68 characters you want. Good passphrases are 10-30 characters long, are not
69 simple sentences or otherwise easily guessable (English prose has only
70 1-2 bits of entropy per character, and provides very bad passphrases),
71 and contain a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and non-
72 alphanumeric characters. The passphrase can be changed later by using
73 the -p option.
74
75 There is no way to recover a lost passphrase. If the passphrase is lost
76 or forgotten, a new key must be generated and the corresponding public
77 key copied to other machines.
78
79 ssh-keygen will by default write keys in an OpenSSH-specific format.
80 This format is preferred as it offers better protection for keys at rest
81 as well as allowing storage of key comments within the private key file
82 itself. The key comment may be useful to help identify the key. The
83 comment is initialized to M-bM-^@M-^\user@hostM-bM-^@M-^] when the key is created, but can be
84 changed using the -c option.
85
86 It is still possible for ssh-keygen to write the previously-used PEM
87 format private keys using the -m flag. This may be used when generating
88 new keys, and existing new-format keys may be converted using this option
89 in conjunction with the -p (change passphrase) flag.
90
91 After a key is generated, ssh-keygen will ask where the keys should be
92 placed to be activated.
93
94 The options are as follows:
95
96 -A For each of the key types (rsa, dsa, ecdsa and ed25519) for which
97 host keys do not exist, generate the host keys with the default
98 key file path, an empty passphrase, default bits for the key
99 type, and default comment. If -f has also been specified, its
100 argument is used as a prefix to the default path for the
101 resulting host key files. This is used by /etc/rc to generate
102 new host keys.
103
104 -a rounds
105 When saving a private key, this option specifies the number of
106 KDF (key derivation function) rounds used. Higher numbers result
107 in slower passphrase verification and increased resistance to
108 brute-force password cracking (should the keys be stolen). The
109 default is 16 rounds.
110
111 -B Show the bubblebabble digest of specified private or public key
112 file.
113
114 -b bits
115 Specifies the number of bits in the key to create. For RSA keys,
116 the minimum size is 1024 bits and the default is 3072 bits.
117 Generally, 3072 bits is considered sufficient. DSA keys must be
118 exactly 1024 bits as specified by FIPS 186-2. For ECDSA keys,
119 the -b flag determines the key length by selecting from one of
120 three elliptic curve sizes: 256, 384 or 521 bits. Attempting to
121 use bit lengths other than these three values for ECDSA keys will
122 fail. ECDSA-SK, Ed25519 and Ed25519-SK keys have a fixed length
123 and the -b flag will be ignored.
124
125 -C comment
126 Provides a new comment.
127
128 -c Requests changing the comment in the private and public key
129 files. The program will prompt for the file containing the
130 private keys, for the passphrase if the key has one, and for the
131 new comment.
132
133 -D pkcs11
134 Download the public keys provided by the PKCS#11 shared library
135 pkcs11. When used in combination with -s, this option indicates
136 that a CA key resides in a PKCS#11 token (see the CERTIFICATES
137 section for details).
138
139 -E fingerprint_hash
140 Specifies the hash algorithm used when displaying key
141 fingerprints. Valid options are: M-bM-^@M-^\md5M-bM-^@M-^] and M-bM-^@M-^\sha256M-bM-^@M-^]. The
142 default is M-bM-^@M-^\sha256M-bM-^@M-^].
143
144 -e This option will read a private or public OpenSSH key file and
145 print to stdout a public key in one of the formats specified by
146 the -m option. The default export format is M-bM-^@M-^\RFC4716M-bM-^@M-^]. This
147 option allows exporting OpenSSH keys for use by other programs,
148 including several commercial SSH implementations.
149
150 -F hostname | [hostname]:port
151 Search for the specified hostname (with optional port number) in
152 a known_hosts file, listing any occurrences found. This option
153 is useful to find hashed host names or addresses and may also be
154 used in conjunction with the -H option to print found keys in a
155 hashed format.
156
157 -f filename
158 Specifies the filename of the key file.
159
160 -g Use generic DNS format when printing fingerprint resource records
161 using the -r command.
162
163 -H Hash a known_hosts file. This replaces all hostnames and
164 addresses with hashed representations within the specified file;
165 the original content is moved to a file with a .old suffix.
166 These hashes may be used normally by ssh and sshd, but they do
167 not reveal identifying information should the file's contents be
168 disclosed. This option will not modify existing hashed hostnames
169 and is therefore safe to use on files that mix hashed and non-
170 hashed names.
171
172 -h When signing a key, create a host certificate instead of a user
173 certificate. Please see the CERTIFICATES section for details.
174
175 -I certificate_identity
176 Specify the key identity when signing a public key. Please see
177 the CERTIFICATES section for details.
178
179 -i This option will read an unencrypted private (or public) key file
180 in the format specified by the -m option and print an OpenSSH
181 compatible private (or public) key to stdout. This option allows
182 importing keys from other software, including several commercial
183 SSH implementations. The default import format is M-bM-^@M-^\RFC4716M-bM-^@M-^].
184
185 -K Download resident keys from a FIDO authenticator. Public and
186 private key files will be written to the current directory for
187 each downloaded key. If multiple FIDO authenticators are
188 attached, keys will be downloaded from the first touched
189 authenticator.
190
191 -k Generate a KRL file. In this mode, ssh-keygen will generate a
192 KRL file at the location specified via the -f flag that revokes
193 every key or certificate presented on the command line.
194 Keys/certificates to be revoked may be specified by public key
195 file or using the format described in the KEY REVOCATION LISTS
196 section.
197
198 -L Prints the contents of one or more certificates.
199
200 -l Show fingerprint of specified public key file. For RSA and DSA
201 keys ssh-keygen tries to find the matching public key file and
202 prints its fingerprint. If combined with -v, a visual ASCII art
203 representation of the key is supplied with the fingerprint.
204
205 -M generate
206 Generate candidate Diffie-Hellman Group Exchange (DH-GEX)
207 parameters for eventual use by the
208 M-bM-^@M-^Xdiffie-hellman-group-exchange-*M-bM-^@M-^Y key exchange methods. The
209 numbers generated by this operation must be further screened
210 before use. See the MODULI GENERATION section for more
211 information.
212
213 -M screen
214 Screen candidate parameters for Diffie-Hellman Group Exchange.
215 This will accept a list of candidate numbers and test that they
216 are safe (Sophie Germain) primes with acceptable group
217 generators. The results of this operation may be added to the
218 /etc/moduli file. See the MODULI GENERATION section for more
219 information.
220
221 -m key_format
222 Specify a key format for key generation, the -i (import), -e
223 (export) conversion options, and the -p change passphrase
224 operation. The latter may be used to convert between OpenSSH
225 private key and PEM private key formats. The supported key
226 formats are: M-bM-^@M-^\RFC4716M-bM-^@M-^] (RFC 4716/SSH2 public or private key),
227 M-bM-^@M-^\PKCS8M-bM-^@M-^] (PKCS8 public or private key) or M-bM-^@M-^\PEMM-bM-^@M-^] (PEM public key).
228 By default OpenSSH will write newly-generated private keys in its
229 own format, but when converting public keys for export the
230 default format is M-bM-^@M-^\RFC4716M-bM-^@M-^]. Setting a format of M-bM-^@M-^\PEMM-bM-^@M-^] when
231 generating or updating a supported private key type will cause
232 the key to be stored in the legacy PEM private key format.
233
234 -N new_passphrase
235 Provides the new passphrase.
236
237 -n principals
238 Specify one or more principals (user or host names) to be
239 included in a certificate when signing a key. Multiple
240 principals may be specified, separated by commas. Please see the
241 CERTIFICATES section for details.
242
243 -O option
244 Specify a key/value option. These are specific to the operation
245 that ssh-keygen has been requested to perform.
246
247 When signing certificates, one of the options listed in the
248 CERTIFICATES section may be specified here.
249
250 When performing moduli generation or screening, one of the
251 options listed in the MODULI GENERATION section may be specified.
252
253 When generating a key that will be hosted on a FIDO
254 authenticator, this flag may be used to specify key-specific
255 options. Those supported at present are:
256
257 application
258 Override the default FIDO application/origin string of
259 M-bM-^@M-^\ssh:M-bM-^@M-^]. This may be useful when generating host or
260 domain-specific resident keys. The specified application
261 string must begin with M-bM-^@M-^\ssh:M-bM-^@M-^].
262
263 challenge=path
264 Specifies a path to a challenge string that will be
265 passed to the FIDO token during key generation. The
266 challenge string may be used as part of an out-of-band
267 protocol for key enrollment (a random challenge is used
268 by default).
269
270 device Explicitly specify a fido(4) device to use, rather than
271 letting the token middleware select one.
272
273 no-touch-required
274 Indicate that the generated private key should not
275 require touch events (user presence) when making
276 signatures. Note that sshd(8) will refuse such
277 signatures by default, unless overridden via an
278 authorized_keys option.
279
280 resident
281 Indicate that the key should be stored on the FIDO
282 authenticator itself. Resident keys may be supported on
283 FIDO2 tokens and typically require that a PIN be set on
284 the token prior to generation. Resident keys may be
285 loaded off the token using ssh-add(1).
286
287 user A username to be associated with a resident key,
288 overriding the empty default username. Specifying a
289 username may be useful when generating multiple resident
290 keys for the same application name.
291
292 verify-required
293 Indicate that this private key should require user
294 verification for each signature. Not all FIDO tokens
295 support this option. Currently PIN authentication is the
296 only supported verification method, but other methods may
297 be supported in the future.
298
299 write-attestation=path
300 May be used at key generation time to record the
301 attestation data returned from FIDO tokens during key
302 generation. Please note that this information is
303 potentially sensitive. By default, this information is
304 discarded.
305
306 The -O option may be specified multiple times.
307
308 -P passphrase
309 Provides the (old) passphrase.
310
311 -p Requests changing the passphrase of a private key file instead of
312 creating a new private key. The program will prompt for the file
313 containing the private key, for the old passphrase, and twice for
314 the new passphrase.
315
316 -Q Test whether keys have been revoked in a KRL. If the -l option
317 is also specified then the contents of the KRL will be printed.
318
319 -q Silence ssh-keygen.
320
321 -R hostname | [hostname]:port
322 Removes all keys belonging to the specified hostname (with
323 optional port number) from a known_hosts file. This option is
324 useful to delete hashed hosts (see the -H option above).
325
326 -r hostname
327 Print the SSHFP fingerprint resource record named hostname for
328 the specified public key file.
329
330 -s ca_key
331 Certify (sign) a public key using the specified CA key. Please
332 see the CERTIFICATES section for details.
333
334 When generating a KRL, -s specifies a path to a CA public key
335 file used to revoke certificates directly by key ID or serial
336 number. See the KEY REVOCATION LISTS section for details.
337
338 -t dsa | ecdsa | ecdsa-sk | ed25519 | ed25519-sk | rsa
339 Specifies the type of key to create. The possible values are
340 M-bM-^@M-^\dsaM-bM-^@M-^], M-bM-^@M-^\ecdsaM-bM-^@M-^], M-bM-^@M-^\ecdsa-skM-bM-^@M-^], M-bM-^@M-^\ed25519M-bM-^@M-^], M-bM-^@M-^\ed25519-skM-bM-^@M-^], or M-bM-^@M-^\rsaM-bM-^@M-^].
341
342 This flag may also be used to specify the desired signature type
343 when signing certificates using an RSA CA key. The available RSA
344 signature variants are M-bM-^@M-^\ssh-rsaM-bM-^@M-^] (SHA1 signatures, not
345 recommended), M-bM-^@M-^\rsa-sha2-256M-bM-^@M-^], and M-bM-^@M-^\rsa-sha2-512M-bM-^@M-^] (the default).
346
347 -U When used in combination with -s, this option indicates that a CA
348 key resides in a ssh-agent(1). See the CERTIFICATES section for
349 more information.
350
351 -u Update a KRL. When specified with -k, keys listed via the
352 command line are added to the existing KRL rather than a new KRL
353 being created.
354
355 -V validity_interval
356 Specify a validity interval when signing a certificate. A
357 validity interval may consist of a single time, indicating that
358 the certificate is valid beginning now and expiring at that time,
359 or may consist of two times separated by a colon to indicate an
360 explicit time interval.
361
362 The start time may be specified as the string M-bM-^@M-^\alwaysM-bM-^@M-^] to
363 indicate the certificate has no specified start time, a date in
364 YYYYMMDD format, a time in YYYYMMDDHHMM[SS] format, a relative
365 time (to the current time) consisting of a minus sign followed by
366 an interval in the format described in the TIME FORMATS section
367 of sshd_config(5).
368
369 The end time may be specified as a YYYYMMDD date, a
370 YYYYMMDDHHMM[SS] time, a relative time starting with a plus
371 character or the string M-bM-^@M-^\foreverM-bM-^@M-^] to indicate that the
372 certificate has no expiry date.
373
374 For example: M-bM-^@M-^\+52w1dM-bM-^@M-^] (valid from now to 52 weeks and one day
375 from now), M-bM-^@M-^\-4w:+4wM-bM-^@M-^] (valid from four weeks ago to four weeks
376 from now), M-bM-^@M-^\20100101123000:20110101123000M-bM-^@M-^] (valid from 12:30 PM,
377 January 1st, 2010 to 12:30 PM, January 1st, 2011), M-bM-^@M-^\-1d:20110101M-bM-^@M-^]
378 (valid from yesterday to midnight, January 1st, 2011).
379 M-bM-^@M-^\-1m:foreverM-bM-^@M-^] (valid from one minute ago and never expiring).
380
381 -v Verbose mode. Causes ssh-keygen to print debugging messages
382 about its progress. This is helpful for debugging moduli
383 generation. Multiple -v options increase the verbosity. The
384 maximum is 3.
385
386 -w provider
387 Specifies a path to a library that will be used when creating
388 FIDO authenticator-hosted keys, overriding the default of using
389 the internal USB HID support.
390
391 -Y find-principals
392 Find the principal(s) associated with the public key of a
393 signature, provided using the -s flag in an authorized signers
394 file provided using the -f flag. The format of the allowed
395 signers file is documented in the ALLOWED SIGNERS section below.
396 If one or more matching principals are found, they are returned
397 on standard output.
398
399 -Y check-novalidate
400 Checks that a signature generated using ssh-keygen -Y sign has a
401 valid structure. This does not validate if a signature comes
402 from an authorized signer. When testing a signature, ssh-keygen
403 accepts a message on standard input and a signature namespace
404 using -n. A file containing the corresponding signature must
405 also be supplied using the -s flag. Successful testing of the
406 signature is signalled by ssh-keygen returning a zero exit
407 status.
408
409 -Y sign
410 Cryptographically sign a file or some data using a SSH key. When
411 signing, ssh-keygen accepts zero or more files to sign on the
412 command-line - if no files are specified then ssh-keygen will
413 sign data presented on standard input. Signatures are written to
414 the path of the input file with M-bM-^@M-^\.sigM-bM-^@M-^] appended, or to standard
415 output if the message to be signed was read from standard input.
416
417 The key used for signing is specified using the -f option and may
418 refer to either a private key, or a public key with the private
419 half available via ssh-agent(1). An additional signature
420 namespace, used to prevent signature confusion across different
421 domains of use (e.g. file signing vs email signing) must be
422 provided via the -n flag. Namespaces are arbitrary strings, and
423 may include: M-bM-^@M-^\fileM-bM-^@M-^] for file signing, M-bM-^@M-^\emailM-bM-^@M-^] for email signing.
424 For custom uses, it is recommended to use names following a
425 NAMESPACE@YOUR.DOMAIN pattern to generate unambiguous namespaces.
426
427 -Y verify
428 Request to verify a signature generated using ssh-keygen -Y sign
429 as described above. When verifying a signature, ssh-keygen
430 accepts a message on standard input and a signature namespace
431 using -n. A file containing the corresponding signature must
432 also be supplied using the -s flag, along with the identity of
433 the signer using -I and a list of allowed signers via the -f
434 flag. The format of the allowed signers file is documented in
435 the ALLOWED SIGNERS section below. A file containing revoked
436 keys can be passed using the -r flag. The revocation file may be
437 a KRL or a one-per-line list of public keys. Successful
438 verification by an authorized signer is signalled by ssh-keygen
439 returning a zero exit status.
440
441 -y This option will read a private OpenSSH format file and print an
442 OpenSSH public key to stdout.
443
444 -z serial_number
445 Specifies a serial number to be embedded in the certificate to
446 distinguish this certificate from others from the same CA. If
447 the serial_number is prefixed with a M-bM-^@M-^X+M-bM-^@M-^Y character, then the
448 serial number will be incremented for each certificate signed on
449 a single command-line. The default serial number is zero.
450
451 When generating a KRL, the -z flag is used to specify a KRL
452 version number.
453
454MODULI GENERATION
455 ssh-keygen may be used to generate groups for the Diffie-Hellman Group
456 Exchange (DH-GEX) protocol. Generating these groups is a two-step
457 process: first, candidate primes are generated using a fast, but memory
458 intensive process. These candidate primes are then tested for
459 suitability (a CPU-intensive process).
460
461 Generation of primes is performed using the -M generate option. The
462 desired length of the primes may be specified by the -O bits option. For
463 example:
464
465 # ssh-keygen -M generate -O bits=2048 moduli-2048.candidates
466
467 By default, the search for primes begins at a random point in the desired
468 length range. This may be overridden using the -O start option, which
469 specifies a different start point (in hex).
470
471 Once a set of candidates have been generated, they must be screened for
472 suitability. This may be performed using the -M screen option. In this
473 mode ssh-keygen will read candidates from standard input (or a file
474 specified using the -f option). For example:
475
476 # ssh-keygen -M screen -f moduli-2048.candidates moduli-2048
477
478 By default, each candidate will be subjected to 100 primality tests.
479 This may be overridden using the -O prime-tests option. The DH generator
480 value will be chosen automatically for the prime under consideration. If
481 a specific generator is desired, it may be requested using the -O
482 generator option. Valid generator values are 2, 3, and 5.
483
484 Screened DH groups may be installed in /etc/moduli. It is important that
485 this file contains moduli of a range of bit lengths and that both ends of
486 a connection share common moduli.
487
488 A number of options are available for moduli generation and screening via
489 the -O flag:
490
491 lines=number
492 Exit after screening the specified number of lines while
493 performing DH candidate screening.
494
495 start-line=line-number
496 Start screening at the specified line number while performing DH
497 candidate screening.
498
499 checkpoint=filename
500 Write the last line processed to the specified file while
501 performing DH candidate screening. This will be used to skip
502 lines in the input file that have already been processed if the
503 job is restarted.
504
505 memory=mbytes
506 Specify the amount of memory to use (in megabytes) when
507 generating candidate moduli for DH-GEX.
508
509 start=hex-value
510 Specify start point (in hex) when generating candidate moduli for
511 DH-GEX.
512
513 generator=value
514 Specify desired generator (in decimal) when testing candidate
515 moduli for DH-GEX.
516
517CERTIFICATES
518 ssh-keygen supports signing of keys to produce certificates that may be
519 used for user or host authentication. Certificates consist of a public
520 key, some identity information, zero or more principal (user or host)
521 names and a set of options that are signed by a Certification Authority
522 (CA) key. Clients or servers may then trust only the CA key and verify
523 its signature on a certificate rather than trusting many user/host keys.
524 Note that OpenSSH certificates are a different, and much simpler, format
525 to the X.509 certificates used in ssl(8).
526
527 ssh-keygen supports two types of certificates: user and host. User
528 certificates authenticate users to servers, whereas host certificates
529 authenticate server hosts to users. To generate a user certificate:
530
531 $ ssh-keygen -s /path/to/ca_key -I key_id /path/to/user_key.pub
532
533 The resultant certificate will be placed in /path/to/user_key-cert.pub.
534 A host certificate requires the -h option:
535
536 $ ssh-keygen -s /path/to/ca_key -I key_id -h /path/to/host_key.pub
537
538 The host certificate will be output to /path/to/host_key-cert.pub.
539
540 It is possible to sign using a CA key stored in a PKCS#11 token by
541 providing the token library using -D and identifying the CA key by
542 providing its public half as an argument to -s:
543
544 $ ssh-keygen -s ca_key.pub -D libpkcs11.so -I key_id user_key.pub
545
546 Similarly, it is possible for the CA key to be hosted in a ssh-agent(1).
547 This is indicated by the -U flag and, again, the CA key must be
548 identified by its public half.
549
550 $ ssh-keygen -Us ca_key.pub -I key_id user_key.pub
551
552 In all cases, key_id is a "key identifier" that is logged by the server
553 when the certificate is used for authentication.
554
555 Certificates may be limited to be valid for a set of principal
556 (user/host) names. By default, generated certificates are valid for all
557 users or hosts. To generate a certificate for a specified set of
558 principals:
559
560 $ ssh-keygen -s ca_key -I key_id -n user1,user2 user_key.pub
561 $ ssh-keygen -s ca_key -I key_id -h -n host.domain host_key.pub
562
563 Additional limitations on the validity and use of user certificates may
564 be specified through certificate options. A certificate option may
565 disable features of the SSH session, may be valid only when presented
566 from particular source addresses or may force the use of a specific
567 command.
568
569 The options that are valid for user certificates are:
570
571 clear Clear all enabled permissions. This is useful for clearing the
572 default set of permissions so permissions may be added
573 individually.
574
575 critical:name[=contents]
576 extension:name[=contents]
577 Includes an arbitrary certificate critical option or extension.
578 The specified name should include a domain suffix, e.g.
579 M-bM-^@M-^\name@example.comM-bM-^@M-^]. If contents is specified then it is included
580 as the contents of the extension/option encoded as a string,
581 otherwise the extension/option is created with no contents
582 (usually indicating a flag). Extensions may be ignored by a
583 client or server that does not recognise them, whereas unknown
584 critical options will cause the certificate to be refused.
585
586 force-command=command
587 Forces the execution of command instead of any shell or command
588 specified by the user when the certificate is used for
589 authentication.
590
591 no-agent-forwarding
592 Disable ssh-agent(1) forwarding (permitted by default).
593
594 no-port-forwarding
595 Disable port forwarding (permitted by default).
596
597 no-pty Disable PTY allocation (permitted by default).
598
599 no-user-rc
600 Disable execution of ~/.ssh/rc by sshd(8) (permitted by default).
601
602 no-x11-forwarding
603 Disable X11 forwarding (permitted by default).
604
605 permit-agent-forwarding
606 Allows ssh-agent(1) forwarding.
607
608 permit-port-forwarding
609 Allows port forwarding.
610
611 permit-pty
612 Allows PTY allocation.
613
614 permit-user-rc
615 Allows execution of ~/.ssh/rc by sshd(8).
616
617 permit-X11-forwarding
618 Allows X11 forwarding.
619
620 no-touch-required
621 Do not require signatures made using this key include
622 demonstration of user presence (e.g. by having the user touch the
623 authenticator). This option only makes sense for the FIDO
624 authenticator algorithms ecdsa-sk and ed25519-sk.
625
626 source-address=address_list
627 Restrict the source addresses from which the certificate is
628 considered valid. The address_list is a comma-separated list of
629 one or more address/netmask pairs in CIDR format.
630
631 verify-required
632 Require signatures made using this key indicate that the user was
633 first verified. This option only makes sense for the FIDO
634 authenticator algorithms ecdsa-sk and ed25519-sk. Currently PIN
635 authentication is the only supported verification method, but
636 other methods may be supported in the future.
637
638 At present, no standard options are valid for host keys.
639
640 Finally, certificates may be defined with a validity lifetime. The -V
641 option allows specification of certificate start and end times. A
642 certificate that is presented at a time outside this range will not be
643 considered valid. By default, certificates are valid from UNIX Epoch to
644 the distant future.
645
646 For certificates to be used for user or host authentication, the CA
647 public key must be trusted by sshd(8) or ssh(1). Please refer to those
648 manual pages for details.
649
650KEY REVOCATION LISTS
651 ssh-keygen is able to manage OpenSSH format Key Revocation Lists (KRLs).
652 These binary files specify keys or certificates to be revoked using a
653 compact format, taking as little as one bit per certificate if they are
654 being revoked by serial number.
655
656 KRLs may be generated using the -k flag. This option reads one or more
657 files from the command line and generates a new KRL. The files may
658 either contain a KRL specification (see below) or public keys, listed one
659 per line. Plain public keys are revoked by listing their hash or
660 contents in the KRL and certificates revoked by serial number or key ID
661 (if the serial is zero or not available).
662
663 Revoking keys using a KRL specification offers explicit control over the
664 types of record used to revoke keys and may be used to directly revoke
665 certificates by serial number or key ID without having the complete
666 original certificate on hand. A KRL specification consists of lines
667 containing one of the following directives followed by a colon and some
668 directive-specific information.
669
670 serial: serial_number[-serial_number]
671 Revokes a certificate with the specified serial number. Serial
672 numbers are 64-bit values, not including zero and may be
673 expressed in decimal, hex or octal. If two serial numbers are
674 specified separated by a hyphen, then the range of serial numbers
675 including and between each is revoked. The CA key must have been
676 specified on the ssh-keygen command line using the -s option.
677
678 id: key_id
679 Revokes a certificate with the specified key ID string. The CA
680 key must have been specified on the ssh-keygen command line using
681 the -s option.
682
683 key: public_key
684 Revokes the specified key. If a certificate is listed, then it
685 is revoked as a plain public key.
686
687 sha1: public_key
688 Revokes the specified key by including its SHA1 hash in the KRL.
689
690 sha256: public_key
691 Revokes the specified key by including its SHA256 hash in the
692 KRL. KRLs that revoke keys by SHA256 hash are not supported by
693 OpenSSH versions prior to 7.9.
694
695 hash: fingerprint
696 Revokes a key using a fingerprint hash, as obtained from a
697 sshd(8) authentication log message or the ssh-keygen -l flag.
698 Only SHA256 fingerprints are supported here and resultant KRLs
699 are not supported by OpenSSH versions prior to 7.9.
700
701 KRLs may be updated using the -u flag in addition to -k. When this
702 option is specified, keys listed via the command line are merged into the
703 KRL, adding to those already there.
704
705 It is also possible, given a KRL, to test whether it revokes a particular
706 key (or keys). The -Q flag will query an existing KRL, testing each key
707 specified on the command line. If any key listed on the command line has
708 been revoked (or an error encountered) then ssh-keygen will exit with a
709 non-zero exit status. A zero exit status will only be returned if no key
710 was revoked.
711
712ALLOWED SIGNERS
713 When verifying signatures, ssh-keygen uses a simple list of identities
714 and keys to determine whether a signature comes from an authorized
715 source. This "allowed signers" file uses a format patterned after the
716 AUTHORIZED_KEYS FILE FORMAT described in sshd(8). Each line of the file
717 contains the following space-separated fields: principals, options,
718 keytype, base64-encoded key. Empty lines and lines starting with a M-bM-^@M-^X#M-bM-^@M-^Y
719 are ignored as comments.
720
721 The principals field is a pattern-list (See PATTERNS in ssh_config(5))
722 consisting of one or more comma-separated USER@DOMAIN identity patterns
723 that are accepted for signing. When verifying, the identity presented
724 via the -I option must match a principals pattern in order for the
725 corresponding key to be considered acceptable for verification.
726
727 The options (if present) consist of comma-separated option
728 specifications. No spaces are permitted, except within double quotes.
729 The following option specifications are supported (note that option
730 keywords are case-insensitive):
731
732 cert-authority
733 Indicates that this key is accepted as a certificate authority
734 (CA) and that certificates signed by this CA may be accepted for
735 verification.
736
737 namespaces="namespace-list"
738 Specifies a pattern-list of namespaces that are accepted for this
739 key. If this option is present, the signature namespace embedded
740 in the signature object and presented on the verification
741 command-line must match the specified list before the key will be
742 considered acceptable.
743
744 When verifying signatures made by certificates, the expected principal
745 name must match both the principals pattern in the allowed signers file
746 and the principals embedded in the certificate itself.
747
748 An example allowed signers file:
749
750 # Comments allowed at start of line
751 user1@example.com,user2@example.com ssh-rsa AAAAX1...
752 # A certificate authority, trusted for all principals in a domain.
753 *@example.com cert-authority ssh-ed25519 AAAB4...
754 # A key that is accepted only for file signing.
755 user2@example.com namespaces="file" ssh-ed25519 AAA41...
756
757ENVIRONMENT
758 SSH_SK_PROVIDER
759 Specifies a path to a library that will be used when loading any
760 FIDO authenticator-hosted keys, overriding the default of using
761 the built-in USB HID support.
762
763FILES
764 ~/.ssh/id_dsa
765 ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa
766 ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk
767 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
768 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk
769 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
770 Contains the DSA, ECDSA, authenticator-hosted ECDSA, Ed25519,
771 authenticator-hosted Ed25519 or RSA authentication identity of
772 the user. This file should not be readable by anyone but the
773 user. It is possible to specify a passphrase when generating the
774 key; that passphrase will be used to encrypt the private part of
775 this file using 128-bit AES. This file is not automatically
776 accessed by ssh-keygen but it is offered as the default file for
777 the private key. ssh(1) will read this file when a login attempt
778 is made.
779
780 ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub
781 ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa.pub
782 ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk.pub
783 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
784 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk.pub
785 ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
786 Contains the DSA, ECDSA, authenticator-hosted ECDSA, Ed25519,
787 authenticator-hosted Ed25519 or RSA public key for
788 authentication. The contents of this file should be added to
789 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on all machines where the user wishes to
790 log in using public key authentication. There is no need to keep
791 the contents of this file secret.
792
793 /etc/moduli
794 Contains Diffie-Hellman groups used for DH-GEX. The file format
795 is described in moduli(5).
796
797SEE ALSO
798 ssh(1), ssh-add(1), ssh-agent(1), moduli(5), sshd(8)
799
800 The Secure Shell (SSH) Public Key File Format, RFC 4716, 2006.
801
802AUTHORS
803 OpenSSH is a derivative of the original and free ssh 1.2.12 release by
804 Tatu Ylonen. Aaron Campbell, Bob Beck, Markus Friedl, Niels Provos, Theo
805 de Raadt and Dug Song removed many bugs, re-added newer features and
806 created OpenSSH. Markus Friedl contributed the support for SSH protocol
807 versions 1.5 and 2.0.
808
809OpenBSD 6.8 September 9, 2020 OpenBSD 6.8