<refentry xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" version="5.0" xml:id="man.dnssec-keygen">

<info>

<date>2014-02-06</date>

</info>

<refentryinfo>

<date>August 21, 2015</date>

<corpname>ISC</corpname>

<corpauthor>Internet Systems Consortium, Inc.</corpauthor>

</refentryinfo>

<refmeta>

<refentrytitle><application>dnssec-keygen</application></refentrytitle>

<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>

<refmiscinfo>BIND9</refmiscinfo>

</refmeta>

<refnamediv>

<refname><application>dnssec-keygen</application></refname>

<refpurpose>DNSSEC key generation tool</refpurpose>

</refnamediv>

<docinfo>

<copyright>

<year>2004</year>

<year>2005</year>

<year>2007</year>

<year>2008</year>

<year>2009</year>

<year>2010</year>

<year>2011</year>

<year>2012</year>

<year>2014</year>

<year>2015</year>

<year>2016</year>

<holder>Internet Systems Consortium, Inc. ("ISC")</holder>

</copyright>

<copyright>

<year>2000</year>

<year>2001</year>

<year>2002</year>

<year>2003</year>

<holder>Internet Software Consortium.</holder>

</copyright>

</docinfo>

<refsynopsisdiv>

<cmdsynopsis sepchar=" ">

<command>dnssec-keygen</command>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-a <replaceable class="parameter">algorithm</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-b <replaceable class="parameter">keysize</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-n <replaceable class="parameter">nametype</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-3</option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-A <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-C</option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-c <replaceable class="parameter">class</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-D <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-D sync <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-E <replaceable class="parameter">engine</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-f <replaceable class="parameter">flag</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-G</option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-g <replaceable class="parameter">generator</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-h</option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-I <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-i <replaceable class="parameter">interval</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-K <replaceable class="parameter">directory</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-k</option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-L <replaceable class="parameter">ttl</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-P <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-P sync <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-p <replaceable class="parameter">protocol</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-q</option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-R <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-r <replaceable class="parameter">randomdev</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-S <replaceable class="parameter">key</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-s <replaceable class="parameter">strength</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-t <replaceable class="parameter">type</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-V</option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-v <replaceable class="parameter">level</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg choice="opt" rep="norepeat"><option>-z</option></arg>

<arg choice="req" rep="norepeat">name</arg>

</cmdsynopsis>

</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsection><info><title>DESCRIPTION</title></info>

<para><command>dnssec-keygen</command>

generates keys for DNSSEC (Secure DNS), as defined in RFC 2535

and RFC 4034. It can also generate keys for use with

TSIG (Transaction Signatures) as defined in RFC 2845, or TKEY

(Transaction Key) as defined in RFC 2930.

</para>

<para>

The <option>name</option> of the key is specified on the command

line. For DNSSEC keys, this must match the name of the zone for

which the key is being generated.

</para>

</refsection>

<refsection><info><title>OPTIONS</title></info>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>

<term>-a <replaceable class="parameter">algorithm</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Selects the cryptographic algorithm. For DNSSEC keys, the value

of <option>algorithm</option> must be one of RSAMD5, RSASHA1,

DSA, NSEC3RSASHA1, NSEC3DSA, RSASHA256, RSASHA512, ECCGOST,

ECDSAP256SHA256 or ECDSAP384SHA384.

For TSIG/TKEY, the value must

be DH (Diffie Hellman), HMAC-MD5, HMAC-SHA1, HMAC-SHA224,

HMAC-SHA256, HMAC-SHA384, or HMAC-SHA512. These values are

case insensitive.

</para>

<para>

If no algorithm is specified, then RSASHA1 will be used by

default, unless the <option>-3</option> option is specified,

in which case NSEC3RSASHA1 will be used instead. (If

<option>-3</option> is used and an algorithm is specified,

that algorithm will be checked for compatibility with NSEC3.)

</para>

<para>

Note 1: that for DNSSEC, RSASHA1 is a mandatory to implement

algorithm, and DSA is recommended. For TSIG, HMAC-MD5 is

mandatory.

</para>

<para>

Note 2: DH, HMAC-MD5, and HMAC-SHA1 through HMAC-SHA512

automatically set the -T KEY option.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-b <replaceable class="parameter">keysize</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Specifies the number of bits in the key. The choice of key

size depends on the algorithm used. RSA keys must be

between 512 and 2048 bits. Diffie Hellman keys must be between

128 and 4096 bits. DSA keys must be between 512 and 1024

bits and an exact multiple of 64. HMAC keys must be

between 1 and 512 bits. Elliptic curve algorithms don't need

this parameter.

</para>

<para>

The key size does not need to be specified if using a default

algorithm. The default key size is 1024 bits for zone signing

keys (ZSKs) and 2048 bits for key signing keys (KSKs,

generated with <option>-f KSK</option>). However, if an

algorithm is explicitly specified with the <option>-a</option>,

then there is no default key size, and the <option>-b</option>

must be used.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-n <replaceable class="parameter">nametype</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Specifies the owner type of the key. The value of

<option>nametype</option> must either be ZONE (for a DNSSEC

zone key (KEY/DNSKEY)), HOST or ENTITY (for a key associated with

a host (KEY)),

USER (for a key associated with a user(KEY)) or OTHER (DNSKEY).

These values are case insensitive. Defaults to ZONE for DNSKEY

generation.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-3</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Use an NSEC3-capable algorithm to generate a DNSSEC key.

If this option is used and no algorithm is explicitly

set on the command line, NSEC3RSASHA1 will be used by

default. Note that RSASHA256, RSASHA512, ECCGOST,

ECDSAP256SHA256 and ECDSAP384SHA384 algorithms

are NSEC3-capable.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-C</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Compatibility mode: generates an old-style key, without

any metadata. By default, <command>dnssec-keygen</command>

will include the key's creation date in the metadata stored

with the private key, and other dates may be set there as well

(publication date, activation date, etc). Keys that include

this data may be incompatible with older versions of BIND; the

<option>-C</option> option suppresses them.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-c <replaceable class="parameter">class</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Indicates that the DNS record containing the key should have

the specified class. If not specified, class IN is used.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-E <replaceable class="parameter">engine</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Specifies the cryptographic hardware to use, when applicable.

</para>

<para>

When BIND is built with OpenSSL PKCS#11 support, this defaults

to the string "pkcs11", which identifies an OpenSSL engine

that can drive a cryptographic accelerator or hardware service

module. When BIND is built with native PKCS#11 cryptography

(--enable-native-pkcs11), it defaults to the path of the PKCS#11

provider library specified via "--with-pkcs11".

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-f <replaceable class="parameter">flag</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Set the specified flag in the flag field of the KEY/DNSKEY record.

The only recognized flags are KSK (Key Signing Key) and REVOKE.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-G</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Generate a key, but do not publish it or sign with it. This

option is incompatible with -P and -A.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-g <replaceable class="parameter">generator</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

If generating a Diffie Hellman key, use this generator.

Allowed values are 2 and 5. If no generator

is specified, a known prime from RFC 2539 will be used

if possible; otherwise the default is 2.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-h</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Prints a short summary of the options and arguments to

<command>dnssec-keygen</command>.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-K <replaceable class="parameter">directory</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Sets the directory in which the key files are to be written.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-k</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Deprecated in favor of -T KEY.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-L <replaceable class="parameter">ttl</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Sets the default TTL to use for this key when it is converted

into a DNSKEY RR. If the key is imported into a zone,

this is the TTL that will be used for it, unless there was

already a DNSKEY RRset in place, in which case the existing TTL

would take precedence. If this value is not set and there

is no existing DNSKEY RRset, the TTL will default to the

SOA TTL. Setting the default TTL to <literal>0</literal>

or <literal>none</literal> is the same as leaving it unset.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-p <replaceable class="parameter">protocol</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Sets the protocol value for the generated key. The protocol

is a number between 0 and 255. The default is 3 (DNSSEC).

Other possible values for this argument are listed in

RFC 2535 and its successors.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-q</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Quiet mode: Suppresses unnecessary output, including

progress indication. Without this option, when

<command>dnssec-keygen</command> is run interactively

to generate an RSA or DSA key pair, it will print a string

of symbols to <filename>stderr</filename> indicating the

progress of the key generation. A '.' indicates that a

random number has been found which passed an initial

sieve test; '+' means a number has passed a single

round of the Miller-Rabin primality test; a space

means that the number has passed all the tests and is

a satisfactory key.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-r <replaceable class="parameter">randomdev</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Specifies the source of randomness. If the operating

system does not provide a <filename>/dev/random</filename>

or equivalent device, the default source of randomness

is keyboard input. <filename>randomdev</filename>

specifies

the name of a character device or file containing random

data to be used instead of the default. The special value

<filename>keyboard</filename> indicates that keyboard

input should be used.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-S <replaceable class="parameter">key</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Create a new key which is an explicit successor to an

existing key. The name, algorithm, size, and type of the

key will be set to match the existing key. The activation

date of the new key will be set to the inactivation date of

the existing one. The publication date will be set to the

activation date minus the prepublication interval, which

defaults to 30 days.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-s <replaceable class="parameter">strength</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Specifies the strength value of the key. The strength is

a number between 0 and 15, and currently has no defined

purpose in DNSSEC.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-T <replaceable class="parameter">rrtype</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Specifies the resource record type to use for the key.

<option>rrtype</option> must be either DNSKEY or KEY. The

default is DNSKEY when using a DNSSEC algorithm, but it can be

overridden to KEY for use with SIG(0).

<para>

</para>

Using any TSIG algorithm (HMAC-* or DH) forces this option

to KEY.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-t <replaceable class="parameter">type</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Indicates the use of the key. <option>type</option> must be

one of AUTHCONF, NOAUTHCONF, NOAUTH, or NOCONF. The default

is AUTHCONF. AUTH refers to the ability to authenticate

data, and CONF the ability to encrypt data.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-v <replaceable class="parameter">level</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Sets the debugging level.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-V</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Prints version information.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</refsection>

<refsection><info><title>TIMING OPTIONS</title></info>

<para>

Dates can be expressed in the format YYYYMMDD or YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.

If the argument begins with a '+' or '-', it is interpreted as

an offset from the present time. For convenience, if such an offset

is followed by one of the suffixes 'y', 'mo', 'w', 'd', 'h', or 'mi',

then the offset is computed in years (defined as 365 24-hour days,

ignoring leap years), months (defined as 30 24-hour days), weeks,

days, hours, or minutes, respectively. Without a suffix, the offset

is computed in seconds. To explicitly prevent a date from being

set, use 'none' or 'never'.

</para>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>

<term>-P <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Sets the date on which a key is to be published to the zone.

After that date, the key will be included in the zone but will

not be used to sign it. If not set, and if the -G option has

not been used, the default is "now".

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-P sync <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Sets the date on which CDS and CDNSKEY records that match this

key are to be published to the zone.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-A <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Sets the date on which the key is to be activated. After that

date, the key will be included in the zone and used to sign

it. If not set, and if the -G option has not been used, the

default is "now". If set, if and -P is not set, then

the publication date will be set to the activation date

minus the prepublication interval.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-R <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Sets the date on which the key is to be revoked. After that

date, the key will be flagged as revoked. It will be included

in the zone and will be used to sign it.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-I <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Sets the date on which the key is to be retired. After that

date, the key will still be included in the zone, but it

will not be used to sign it.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-D <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Sets the date on which the key is to be deleted. After that

date, the key will no longer be included in the zone. (It

may remain in the key repository, however.)

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-D sync <replaceable class="parameter">date/offset</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Sets the date on which the CDS and CDNSKEY records that match this

key are to be deleted.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-i <replaceable class="parameter">interval</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Sets the prepublication interval for a key. If set, then

the publication and activation dates must be separated by at least

this much time. If the activation date is specified but the

publication date isn't, then the publication date will default

to this much time before the activation date; conversely, if

the publication date is specified but activation date isn't,

then activation will be set to this much time after publication.

</para>

<para>

If the key is being created as an explicit successor to another

key, then the default prepublication interval is 30 days;

otherwise it is zero.

</para>

<para>

As with date offsets, if the argument is followed by one of

the suffixes 'y', 'mo', 'w', 'd', 'h', or 'mi', then the

interval is measured in years, months, weeks, days, hours,

or minutes, respectively. Without a suffix, the interval is

measured in seconds.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</refsection>

<refsection><info><title>GENERATED KEYS</title></info>

<para>

When <command>dnssec-keygen</command> completes

successfully,

it prints a string of the form <filename>Knnnn.+aaa+iiiii</filename>

to the standard output. This is an identification string for

the key it has generated.

</para>

<itemizedlist>

<listitem>

<para><filename>nnnn</filename> is the key name.

</para>

</listitem>

<listitem>

<para><filename>aaa</filename> is the numeric representation

of the

algorithm.

</para>

</listitem>

<listitem>

<para><filename>iiiii</filename> is the key identifier (or

footprint).

</para>

</listitem>

</itemizedlist>

<para><command>dnssec-keygen</command>

creates two files, with names based

on the printed string. <filename>Knnnn.+aaa+iiiii.key</filename>

contains the public key, and

<filename>Knnnn.+aaa+iiiii.private</filename> contains the

private

key.

</para>

<para>

The <filename>.key</filename> file contains a DNS KEY record

that

can be inserted into a zone file (directly or with a $INCLUDE

statement).

</para>

<para>

The <filename>.private</filename> file contains

algorithm-specific

fields. For obvious security reasons, this file does not have

general read permission.

</para>

<para>

Both <filename>.key</filename> and <filename>.private</filename>

files are generated for symmetric cryptography algorithms such as

HMAC-MD5, even though the public and private key are equivalent.

</para>

</refsection>

<refsection><info><title>EXAMPLE</title></info>

<para>

To generate a 768-bit DSA key for the domain

<userinput>example.com</userinput>, the following command would be

issued:

</para>

<para><userinput>dnssec-keygen -a DSA -b 768 -n ZONE example.com</userinput>

</para>

<para>

The command would print a string of the form:

</para>

<para><userinput>Kexample.com.+003+26160</userinput>

</para>

<para>

In this example, <command>dnssec-keygen</command> creates

the files <filename>Kexample.com.+003+26160.key</filename>

and

<filename>Kexample.com.+003+26160.private</filename>.

</para>

</refsection>

<refsection><info><title>SEE ALSO</title></info>

<para><citerefentry>

<refentrytitle>dnssec-signzone</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>

</citerefentry>,

<citetitle>BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual</citetitle>,

<citetitle>RFC 2539</citetitle>,

<citetitle>RFC 2845</citetitle>,

<citetitle>RFC 4034</citetitle>.

</para>

</refsection>

</refentry>