OPENSSL-REQ(1SSL) OpenSSL OPENSSL-REQ(1SSL)
NAME
openssl-req - PKCS#10 certificate request and certificate generating
command
SYNOPSIS
openssl req [-help] [-cipher] [-inform DER|PEM] [-outform DER|PEM] [-in
filename] [-passin arg] [-out filename] [-passout arg] [-text] [-pubkey]
[-noout] [-verify] [-modulus] [-new] [-newkey arg] [-pkeyopt opt:value]
[-noenc] [-nodes] [-key filename|uri] [-keyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE]
[-keyout filename] [-keygen_engine id] [-digest] [-config filename]
[-section name] [-x509] [-x509v1] [-CA filename|uri] [-CAkey
filename|uri] [-not_before date] [-not_after date] [-days n]
[-set_serial n] [-newhdr] [-copy_extensions arg] [-extensions section]
[-reqexts section] [-addext ext] [-precert] [-utf8] [-reqopt] [-subject]
[-subj arg] [-multivalue-rdn] [-sigopt nm:v] [-vfyopt nm:v] [-batch]
[-verbose] [-quiet] [-nameopt option] [-rand files] [-writerand file]
[-engine id] [-provider name] [-provider-path path] [-provparam
[name:]key=value] [-propquery propq]
DESCRIPTION
This command primarily creates and processes certificate requests (CSRs)
in PKCS#10 format. It can additionally create self-signed certificates
for use as root CAs for example.
OPTIONS
-help
Print out a usage message.
-inform DER|PEM
The CSR input file format to use; by default PEM is tried first.
See openssl-format-options(1) for details.
-outform DER|PEM
The output format; unspecified by default. See
openssl-format-options(1) for details.
The data is a PKCS#10 object.
-cipher name
Specify the cipher to be used for encrypting the private key. If no
cipher is specified, AES-256-CBC will be used by default. You can
override this by providing any valid OpenSSL cipher name.
-in filename
This specifies the input filename to read a request from. This
defaults to standard input unless -x509 or -CA is specified. A
request is only read if the creation options (-new or -newkey or
-precert) are not specified.
-sigopt nm:v
Pass options to the signature algorithm during sign operations.
Names and values of these options are algorithm-specific.
-vfyopt nm:v
Pass options to the signature algorithm during verify operations.
Names and values of these options are algorithm-specific.
-passin arg
The password source for private key and certificate input. For more
information about the format of arg see
openssl-passphrase-options(1).
-passout arg
The password source for the output file. For more information about
the format of arg see openssl-passphrase-options(1).
-out filename
This specifies the output filename to write to or standard output by
default.
-text
Prints out the certificate request in text form.
-subject
Prints out the certificate request subject (or certificate subject
if -x509 is in use).
-pubkey
Prints out the public key.
-noout
This option prevents output of the encoded version of the
certificate request.
-modulus
Prints out the value of the modulus of the public key contained in
the request.
-verify
Verifies the self-signature on the request. If the verification
fails, the program will immediately exit, i.e. further option
processing (e.g. -text) is skipped.
-new
This option generates a new certificate request. It will prompt the
user for the relevant field values. The actual fields prompted for
and their maximum and minimum sizes are specified in the
configuration file and any requested extensions.
If the -key option is not given it will generate a new private key
using information specified in the configuration file or given with
the -newkey and -pkeyopt options, else by default an RSA key with
2048 bits length.
-newkey arg
This option is used to generate a new private key unless -key is
given. It is subsequently used as if it was given using the -key
option.
This option implies the -new flag to create a new certificate
request or a new certificate in case -x509 is used.
The argument takes one of several forms.
[rsa:]nbits generates an RSA key nbits in size. If nbits is
omitted, i.e., -newkey rsa is specified, the default key size
specified in the configuration file with the default_bits option is
used if present, else 2048.
All other algorithms support the -newkey algname:file form, where
file is an algorithm parameter file, created with "openssl genpkey
-genparam" or an X.509 certificate for a key with appropriate
algorithm.
param:file generates a key using the parameter file or certificate
file, the algorithm is determined by the parameters.
algname[:file] generates a key using the given algorithm algname.
If a parameter file file is given then the parameters specified
there are used, where the algorithm parameters must match algname.
If algorithm parameters are not given, any necessary parameters
should be specified via the -pkeyopt option.
dsa:filename generates a DSA key using the parameters in the file
filename. ec:filename generates EC key (usable both with ECDSA or
ECDH algorithms), gost2001:filename generates GOST R 34.10-2001 key
(requires gost engine configured in the configuration file). If just
gost2001 is specified a parameter set should be specified by
-pkeyopt paramset:X
-pkeyopt opt:value
Set the public key algorithm option opt to value. The precise set of
options supported depends on the public key algorithm used and its
implementation. See "KEY GENERATION OPTIONS" in openssl-genpkey(1)
for more details.
-key filename|uri
This option provides the private key for signing a new certificate
or certificate request. Unless -in is given, the corresponding
public key is placed in the new certificate or certificate request,
resulting in a self-signature.
For certificate signing this option is overridden by the -CA option.
This option also accepts PKCS#8 format private keys for PEM format
files.
-keyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE
The format of the private key; unspecified by default. See
openssl-format-options(1) for details.
-keyout filename
This gives the filename to write any private key to that has been
newly created or read from -key. If neither the -keyout option nor
the -key option are given then the filename specified in the
configuration file with the default_keyfile option is used, if
present. Thus, if you want to write the private key and the -key
option is provided, you should provide the -keyout option
explicitly. If a new key is generated and no filename is specified
the key is written to standard output.
-noenc
If this option is specified then if a private key is created it will
not be encrypted.
-nodes
This option is deprecated since OpenSSL 3.0; use -noenc instead.
-digest
This specifies the message digest to sign the request. Any digest
supported by the OpenSSL dgst command can be used. This overrides
the digest algorithm specified in the configuration file.
Some public key algorithms may override this choice. For instance,
DSA signatures always use SHA1, GOST R 34.10 signatures always use
GOST R 34.11-94 (-md_gost94), Ed25519 and Ed448 never use any
digest.
-config filename
This allows an alternative configuration file to be specified.
Optional; for a description of the default value, see "COMMAND
SUMMARY" in openssl(1).
-section name
Specifies the name of the section to use; the default is req.
-subj arg
Sets subject name for new request or supersedes the subject name
when processing a certificate request.
The arg must be formatted as "/type0=value0/type1=value1/type2=...".
Special characters may be escaped by "\" (backslash), whitespace is
retained. Empty values are permitted, but the corresponding type
will not be included in the request. Giving a single "/" will lead
to an empty sequence of RDNs (a NULL-DN). Multi-valued RDNs can be
formed by placing a "+" character instead of a "/" between the
AttributeValueAssertions (AVAs) that specify the members of the set.
Example:
"/DC=org/DC=OpenSSL/DC=users/UID=123456+CN=John Doe"
-multivalue-rdn
This option has been deprecated and has no effect.
-x509
This option outputs a certificate instead of a certificate request.
This is typically used to generate test certificates. It is implied
by the -CA option.
This option implies the -new flag if -in is not given.
If an existing request is specified with the -in option, it is
converted to a certificate; otherwise a request is created from
scratch.
Unless specified using the -set_serial option, a large random number
will be used for the serial number.
Unless the -copy_extensions option is used, X.509 extensions are not
copied from any provided request input file.
X.509 extensions to be added can be specified in the configuration
file, possibly using the -config and -extensions options, and/or
using the -addext option.
Unless -x509v1 is given, generated certificates bear X.509 version
3. Unless specified otherwise, key identifier extensions are
included as described in x509v3_config(5).
-x509v1
Request generation of certificates with X.509 version 1. This
implies -x509. If X.509 extensions are given, anyway X.509 version
3 is set.
-CA filename|uri
Specifies the "CA" certificate to be used for signing a new
certificate and implies use of -x509. When present, this behaves
like a "micro CA" as follows: The subject name of the "CA"
certificate is placed as issuer name in the new certificate, which
is then signed using the "CA" key given as specified below.
-CAkey filename|uri
Sets the "CA" private key to sign a certificate with. The private
key must match the public key of the certificate given with -CA. If
this option is not provided then the key must be present in the -CA
input.
-not_before date
When -x509 is in use this allows the start date to be explicitly
set, otherwise it is ignored. The format of date is YYMMDDHHMMSSZ
(the same as an ASN1 UTCTime structure), or YYYYMMDDHHMMSSZ (the
same as an ASN1 GeneralizedTime structure). In both formats, seconds
SS and timezone Z must be present. Alternatively, you can also use
"today".
-not_after date
When -x509 is in use this allows the expiry date to be explicitly
set, otherwise it is ignored. The format of date is YYMMDDHHMMSSZ
(the same as an ASN1 UTCTime structure), or YYYYMMDDHHMMSSZ (the
same as an ASN1 GeneralizedTime structure). In both formats, seconds
SS and timezone Z must be present. Alternatively, you can also use
"today".
This overrides the -days option.
-days n
When -x509 is in use this specifies the number of days from today to
certify the certificate for, otherwise it is ignored. n should be a
positive integer. The default is 30 days.
Regardless of the option -not_before, the days are always counted
from today. When used together with the option -not_after, the
explicit expiry date takes precedence.
-set_serial n
Serial number to use when outputting a self-signed certificate.
This may be specified as a decimal value or a hex value if preceded
by "0x". If not given, a large random number will be used.
-copy_extensions arg
Determines how X.509 extensions in certificate requests should be
handled when -x509 is in use. If arg is none or this option is not
present then extensions are ignored. If arg is copy or copyall then
all extensions in the request are copied to the certificate.
The main use of this option is to allow a certificate request to
supply values for certain extensions such as subjectAltName.
-extensions section, -reqexts section
Can be used to override the name of the configuration file section
from which X.509 extensions are included in the certificate (when
-x509 is in use) or certificate request. This allows several
different sections to be used in the same configuration file to
specify requests for a variety of purposes.
-addext ext
Add a specific extension to the certificate (if -x509 is in use) or
certificate request. The argument must have the form of a
"key=value" pair as it would appear in a config file.
If an extension is added using this option that has the same OID as
one defined in the extension section of the config file, it
overrides that one.
This option can be given multiple times. Doing so, the same key
most not be given more than once.
-precert
A poison extension will be added to the certificate, making it a
"pre-certificate" (see RFC6962). This can be submitted to
Certificate Transparency logs in order to obtain signed certificate
timestamps (SCTs). These SCTs can then be embedded into the pre-
certificate as an extension, before removing the poison and signing
the certificate.
This implies the -new flag.
-utf8
This option causes field values to be interpreted as UTF8 strings,
by default they are interpreted as ASCII. This means that the field
values, whether prompted from a terminal or obtained from a
configuration file, must be valid UTF8 strings.
-reqopt option
Customise the printing format used with -text. The option argument
can be a single option or multiple options separated by commas.
See discussion of the -certopt parameter in the openssl-x509(1)
command.
-newhdr
Adds the word NEW to the PEM file header and footer lines on the
outputted request. Some software (Netscape certificate server) and
some CAs need this.
-batch
Non-interactive mode.
-verbose
Print extra details about the operations being performed.
-quiet
Print fewer details about the operations being performed, which may
be handy during batch scripts or pipelines (specifically "progress
dots" during key generation are suppressed).
-keygen_engine id
Specifies an engine (by its unique id string) which would be used
for key generation operations.
-nameopt option
This specifies how the subject or issuer names are displayed. See
openssl-namedisplay-options(1) for details.
-rand files, -writerand file
See "Random State Options" in openssl(1) for details.
-engine id
See "Engine Options" in openssl(1). This option is deprecated.
-provider name
-provider-path path
-provparam [name:]key=value
-propquery propq
See "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7).
CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT
The configuration options are specified in the req section of the
configuration file. An alternate name be specified by using the -section
option. As with all configuration files, if no value is specified in
the specific section then the initial unnamed or default section is
searched too.
The options available are described in detail below.
input_password, output_password
The passwords for the input private key file (if present) and the
output private key file (if one will be created). The command line
options passin and passout override the configuration file values.
default_bits
Specifies the default key size in bits.
This option is used in conjunction with the -new option to generate
a new key. It can be overridden by specifying an explicit key size
in the -newkey option. The smallest accepted key size is 512 bits.
If no key size is specified then 2048 bits is used.
default_keyfile
This is the default filename to write a private key to. If not
specified the key is written to standard output. This can be
overridden by the -keyout option.
oid_file
This specifies a file containing additional OBJECT IDENTIFIERS.
Each line of the file should consist of the numerical form of the
object identifier followed by whitespace then the short name
followed by whitespace and finally the long name.
oid_section
This specifies a section in the configuration file containing extra
object identifiers. Each line should consist of the short name of
the object identifier followed by = and the numerical form. The
short and long names are the same when this option is used.
RANDFILE
At startup the specified file is loaded into the random number
generator, and at exit 256 bytes will be written to it. It is used
for private key generation.
encrypt_key
If this is set to no then if a private key is generated it is not
encrypted. This is equivalent to the -noenc command line option. For
compatibility encrypt_rsa_key is an equivalent option.
default_md
This option specifies the digest algorithm to use. Any digest
supported by the OpenSSL dgst command can be used. This option can
be overridden on the command line. Certain signing algorithms (i.e.
Ed25519 and Ed448) will ignore any digest that has been set.
string_mask
This option masks out the use of certain string types in certain
fields. Most users will not need to change this option. It can be
set to several values:
utf8only - only UTF8Strings are used (this is the default value)
pkix - any string type except T61Strings
nombstr - any string type except BMPStrings and UTF8Strings
default - any kind of string type
Note that utf8only is the PKIX recommendation in RFC2459 after 2003,
and the default string_mask; default is not the default option. The
nombstr value is a workaround for some software that has problems
with variable-sized BMPStrings and UTF8Strings.
req_extensions
This specifies the configuration file section containing a list of
extensions to add to the certificate request. It can be overridden
by the -reqexts (or -extensions) command line switch. See the
x509v3_config(5) manual page for details of the extension section
format.
x509_extensions
This specifies the configuration file section containing a list of
extensions to add to certificate generated when -x509 is in use. It
can be overridden by the -extensions command line switch.
prompt
If set to the value no this disables prompting of certificate fields
and just takes values from the config file directly. It also changes
the expected format of the distinguished_name and attributes
sections.
utf8
If set to the value yes then field values to be interpreted as UTF8
strings, by default they are interpreted as ASCII. This means that
the field values, whether prompted from a terminal or obtained from
a configuration file, must be valid UTF8 strings.
attributes
This specifies the section containing any request attributes: its
format is the same as distinguished_name. Typically these may
contain the challengePassword or unstructuredName types. They are
currently ignored by OpenSSL's request signing utilities but some
CAs might want them.
distinguished_name
This specifies the section containing the distinguished name fields
to prompt for when generating a certificate or certificate request.
The format is described in the next section.
DISTINGUISHED NAME AND ATTRIBUTE SECTION FORMAT
There are two separate formats for the distinguished name and attribute
sections. If the prompt option is set to no then these sections just
consist of field names and values: for example,
CN=My Name
OU=My Organization
emailAddress=someone@somewhere.org
This allows external programs (e.g. GUI based) to generate a template
file with all the field names and values and just pass it to this
command. An example of this kind of configuration file is contained in
the EXAMPLES section.
Alternatively if the prompt option is absent or not set to no then the
file contains field prompting information. It consists of lines of the
form:
fieldName="prompt"
fieldName_default="default field value"
fieldName_min= 2
fieldName_max= 4
"fieldName" is the field name being used, for example commonName (or
CN). The "prompt" string is used to ask the user to enter the relevant
details. If the user enters nothing then the default value is used if no
default value is present then the field is omitted. A field can still be
omitted if a default value is present if the user just enters the '.'
character.
The number of characters entered must be between the fieldName_min and
fieldName_max limits: there may be additional restrictions based on the
field being used (for example countryName can only ever be two
characters long and must fit in a PrintableString).
Some fields (such as organizationName) can be used more than once in a
DN. This presents a problem because configuration files will not
recognize the same name occurring twice. To avoid this problem if the
fieldName contains some characters followed by a full stop they will be
ignored. So for example a second organizationName can be input by
calling it "1.organizationName".
The actual permitted field names are any object identifier short or long
names. These are compiled into OpenSSL and include the usual values such
as commonName, countryName, localityName, organizationName,
organizationalUnitName, stateOrProvinceName. Additionally emailAddress
is included as well as name, surname, givenName, initials, and
dnQualifier.
Additional object identifiers can be defined with the oid_file or
oid_section options in the configuration file. Any additional fields
will be treated as though they were a DirectoryString.
EXAMPLES
Examine and verify certificate request:
openssl req -in req.pem -text -verify -noout
Specify the cipher to be used for encrypting the private key:
openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout privatekey.pem -out request.csr -cipher aes-256-cbc
Create a private key and then generate a certificate request from it:
openssl genrsa -out key.pem 2048
openssl req -new -key key.pem -out req.pem
The same but just using req:
openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
Generate a self-signed root certificate:
openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
Create an SM2 private key and then generate a certificate request from
it:
openssl ecparam -genkey -name SM2 -out sm2.key
openssl req -new -key sm2.key -out sm2.csr -sm3 -sigopt "distid:1234567812345678"
Examine and verify an SM2 certificate request:
openssl req -verify -in sm2.csr -sm3 -vfyopt "distid:1234567812345678"
Example of a file pointed to by the oid_file option:
1.2.3.4 shortName A longer Name
1.2.3.6 otherName Other longer Name
Example of a section pointed to by oid_section making use of variable
expansion:
testoid1=1.2.3.5
testoid2=${testoid1}.6
Sample configuration file prompting for field values:
[ req ]
default_bits = 2048
default_keyfile = privkey.pem
distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
attributes = req_attributes
req_extensions = v3_ca
dirstring_type = nombstr
[ req_distinguished_name ]
countryName = Country Name (2 letter code)
countryName_default = AU
countryName_min = 2
countryName_max = 2
localityName = Locality Name (eg, city)
organizationalUnitName = Organizational Unit Name (eg, section)
commonName = Common Name (eg, YOUR name)
commonName_max = 64
emailAddress = Email Address
emailAddress_max = 40
[ req_attributes ]
challengePassword = A challenge password
challengePassword_min = 4
challengePassword_max = 20
[ v3_ca ]
subjectKeyIdentifier=hash
authorityKeyIdentifier=keyid:always,issuer:always
basicConstraints = critical, CA:true
Sample configuration containing all field values:
[ req ]
default_bits = 2048
default_keyfile = keyfile.pem
distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
attributes = req_attributes
prompt = no
output_password = mypass
[ req_distinguished_name ]
C = GB
ST = Test State or Province
L = Test Locality
O = Organization Name
OU = Organizational Unit Name
CN = Common Name
emailAddress = test@email.address
[ req_attributes ]
challengePassword = A challenge password
Example of giving the most common attributes (subject and extensions) on
the command line:
openssl req -new -subj "/C=GB/CN=foo" \
-addext "subjectAltName = DNS:foo.co.uk" \
-addext "certificatePolicies = 1.2.3.4" \
-newkey rsa:2048 -keyout key.pem -out req.pem
NOTES
The certificate requests generated by Xenroll with MSIE have extensions
added. It includes the keyUsage extension which determines the type of
key (signature only or general purpose) and any additional OIDs entered
by the script in an extendedKeyUsage extension.
DIAGNOSTICS
The following messages are frequently asked about:
Using configuration from /some/path/openssl.cnf
Unable to load config info
This is followed some time later by:
unable to find 'distinguished_name' in config
problems making Certificate Request
The first error message is the clue: it can't find the configuration
file! Certain operations (like examining a certificate request) don't
need a configuration file so its use isn't enforced. Generation of
certificates or requests however does need a configuration file. This
could be regarded as a bug.
Another puzzling message is this:
Attributes:
a0:00
this is displayed when no attributes are present and the request
includes the correct empty SET OF structure (the DER encoding of which
is 0xa0 0x00). If you just see:
Attributes:
then the SET OF is missing and the encoding is technically invalid (but
it is tolerated). See the description of the command line option
-asn1-kludge for more information.
BUGS
OpenSSL's handling of T61Strings (aka TeletexStrings) is broken: it
effectively treats them as ISO-8859-1 (Latin 1), Netscape and MSIE have
similar behaviour. This can cause problems if you need characters that
aren't available in PrintableStrings and you don't want to or can't use
BMPStrings.
As a consequence of the T61String handling the only correct way to
represent accented characters in OpenSSL is to use a BMPString:
unfortunately Netscape currently chokes on these. If you have to use
accented characters with Netscape and MSIE then you currently need to
use the invalid T61String form.
The current prompting is not very friendly. It doesn't allow you to
confirm what you've just entered. Other things like extensions in
certificate requests are statically defined in the configuration file.
Some of these: like an email address in subjectAltName should be input
by the user.
SEE ALSO
openssl(1), openssl-x509(1), openssl-ca(1), openssl-genrsa(1),
openssl-gendsa(1), config(5), x509v3_config(5)
HISTORY
The default encryption cipher was changed from 3DES to AES-256 in
OpenSSL 3.5.
The -section option was added in OpenSSL 3.0.0.
The -multivalue-rdn option has become obsolete in OpenSSL 3.0.0 and has
no effect.
The -engine option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0. The <-nodes> option
was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0, too; use -noenc instead.
The -reqexts option has been made an alias of -extensions in OpenSSL
3.2.
Since OpenSSL 3.2, generated certificates bear X.509 version 3 unless
-x509v1 is given, and key identifier extensions are included by default.
Since OpenSSL 3.3, the -verify option will exit with 1 on failure.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2000-2025 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use
this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
3.5.4 2025-09-30 OPENSSL-REQ(1SSL)
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