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<body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="refentry">
<a name="man.dnssec-keygen"></a><div class="titlepage"></div>
<div class="refnamediv">
<h2>Name</h2>
<p>
<span class="application">dnssec-keygen</span>
— DNSSEC key generation tool
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsynopsisdiv">
<h2>Synopsis</h2>
<div class="cmdsynopsis"><p>
<code class="command">dnssec-keygen</code>
[<code class="option">-3</code>]
[<code class="option">-A <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-a <em class="replaceable"><code>algorithm</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-b <em class="replaceable"><code>keysize</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-C</code>]
[<code class="option">-c <em class="replaceable"><code>class</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-D <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-D sync <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-E <em class="replaceable"><code>engine</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-f <em class="replaceable"><code>flag</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-G</code>]
[<code class="option">-g <em class="replaceable"><code>generator</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-h</code>]
[<code class="option">-I <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-i <em class="replaceable"><code>interval</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-K <em class="replaceable"><code>directory</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-k</code>]
[<code class="option">-L <em class="replaceable"><code>ttl</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-n <em class="replaceable"><code>nametype</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-P <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-P sync <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-p <em class="replaceable"><code>protocol</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-q</code>]
[<code class="option">-R <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-S <em class="replaceable"><code>key</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-s <em class="replaceable"><code>strength</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-t <em class="replaceable"><code>type</code></em></code>]
[<code class="option">-V</code>]
[<code class="option">-v <em class="replaceable"><code>level</code></em></code>]
{name}
</p></div>
</div>
<div class="refsection">
<a name="id-1.7"></a><h2>DESCRIPTION</h2>
<p><span class="command"><strong>dnssec-keygen</strong></span>
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.
</p>
<p>
The <code class="option">name</code> 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.
</p>
<p>
The <span class="command"><strong>dnssec-keymgr</strong></span> command acts as a wrapper
around <span class="command"><strong>dnssec-keygen</strong></span>, generating and updating keys
as needed to enforce defined security policies such as key rollover
scheduling. Using <span class="command"><strong>dnssec-keymgr</strong></span> may be preferable
to direct use of <span class="command"><strong>dnssec-keygen</strong></span>.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsection">
<a name="id-1.8"></a><h2>OPTIONS</h2>
<div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist">
<dt><span class="term">-3</span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Use an NSEC3-capable algorithm to generate a DNSSEC key.
If this option is used with an algorithm that has both
NSEC and NSEC3 versions, then the NSEC3 version will be
used; for example, <span class="command"><strong>dnssec-keygen -3a RSASHA1</strong></span>
specifies the NSEC3RSASHA1 algorithm.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-a <em class="replaceable"><code>algorithm</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Selects the cryptographic algorithm. For DNSSEC keys, the value
of <code class="option">algorithm</code> must be one of RSASHA1,
NSEC3RSASHA1, RSASHA256, RSASHA512,
ECDSAP256SHA256, ECDSAP384SHA384, ED25519 or ED448. For
TKEY, the value must be DH (Diffie Hellman); specifying
his value will automatically set the <code class="option">-T KEY</code>
option as well.
</p>
<p>
These values are case insensitive. In some cases, abbreviations
are supported, such as ECDSA256 for ECDSAP256SHA256 and
ECDSA384 for ECDSAP384SHA384. If RSASHA1 is specified
along with the <code class="option">-3</code> option, then NSEC3RSASHA1
will be used instead.
</p>
<p>
This parameter <span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> be specified except
when using the <code class="option">-S</code> option, which copies the
algorithm from the predecessor key.
</p>
<p>
In prior releases, HMAC algorithms could be generated for
use as TSIG keys, but that feature has been removed as of
BIND 9.13.0. Use <span class="command"><strong>tsig-keygen</strong></span> to generate
TSIG keys.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-b <em class="replaceable"><code>keysize</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Specifies the number of bits in the key. The choice of key
size depends on the algorithm used. RSA keys must be
between 1024 and 4096 bits. Diffie Hellman keys must be between
128 and 4096 bits. Elliptic curve algorithms don't need this
parameter.
</p>
<p>
If the key size is not specified, some algorithms have
pre-defined defaults. For example, RSA keys for use as
DNSSEC zone signing keys have a default size of 1024 bits;
RSA keys for use as key signing keys (KSKs, generated with
<code class="option">-f KSK</code>) default to 2048 bits.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-C</span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Compatibility mode: generates an old-style key, without any
timing metadata. By default, <span class="command"><strong>dnssec-keygen</strong></span>
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
<code class="option">-C</code> option suppresses them.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-c <em class="replaceable"><code>class</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Indicates that the DNS record containing the key should have
the specified class. If not specified, class IN is used.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-E <em class="replaceable"><code>engine</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Specifies the cryptographic hardware to use, when applicable.
</p>
<p>
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".
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-f <em class="replaceable"><code>flag</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Set the specified flag in the flag field of the KEY/DNSKEY record.
The only recognized flags are KSK (Key Signing Key) and REVOKE.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-G</span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Generate a key, but do not publish it or sign with it. This
option is incompatible with -P and -A.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-g <em class="replaceable"><code>generator</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
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.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-h</span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Prints a short summary of the options and arguments to
<span class="command"><strong>dnssec-keygen</strong></span>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-K <em class="replaceable"><code>directory</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Sets the directory in which the key files are to be written.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-L <em class="replaceable"><code>ttl</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
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 <code class="literal">0</code>
or <code class="literal">none</code> is the same as leaving it unset.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-n <em class="replaceable"><code>nametype</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Specifies the owner type of the key. The value of
<code class="option">nametype</code> 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.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-p <em class="replaceable"><code>protocol</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Sets the protocol value for the generated key, for use
with <code class="option">-T KEY</code>. 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.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-q</span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Quiet mode: Suppresses unnecessary output, including
progress indication. Without this option, when
<span class="command"><strong>dnssec-keygen</strong></span> is run interactively
to generate an RSA or DSA key pair, it will print a string
of symbols to <code class="filename">stderr</code> 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.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-S <em class="replaceable"><code>key</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
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.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-s <em class="replaceable"><code>strength</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Specifies the strength value of the key. The strength is
a number between 0 and 15, and currently has no defined
purpose in DNSSEC.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-T <em class="replaceable"><code>rrtype</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Specifies the resource record type to use for the key.
<code class="option">rrtype</code> 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).
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-t <em class="replaceable"><code>type</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Indicates the use of the key, for use with <code class="option">-T
KEY</code>. <code class="option">type</code> 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.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-V</span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Prints version information.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-v <em class="replaceable"><code>level</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Sets the debugging level.
</p>
</dd>
</dl></div>
</div>
<div class="refsection">
<a name="id-1.9"></a><h2>TIMING OPTIONS</h2>
<p>
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'.
</p>
<div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist">
<dt><span class="term">-P <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
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".
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-P sync <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Sets the date on which CDS and CDNSKEY records that match this
key are to be published to the zone.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-A <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
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.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-R <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
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.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-I <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
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.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-D <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
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.)
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-D sync <em class="replaceable"><code>date/offset</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Sets the date on which the CDS and CDNSKEY records that match this
key are to be deleted.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term">-i <em class="replaceable"><code>interval</code></em></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>
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.
</p>
<p>
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.
</p>
<p>
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.
</p>
</dd>
</dl></div>
</div>
<div class="refsection">
<a name="id-1.10"></a><h2>GENERATED KEYS</h2>
<p>
When <span class="command"><strong>dnssec-keygen</strong></span> completes
successfully,
it prints a string of the form <code class="filename">Knnnn.+aaa+iiiii</code>
to the standard output. This is an identification string for
the key it has generated.
</p>
<div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; ">
<li class="listitem">
<p><code class="filename">nnnn</code> is the key name.
</p>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<p><code class="filename">aaa</code> is the numeric representation
of the
algorithm.
</p>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<p><code class="filename">iiiii</code> is the key identifier (or
footprint).
</p>
</li>
</ul></div>
<p><span class="command"><strong>dnssec-keygen</strong></span>
creates two files, with names based
on the printed string. <code class="filename">Knnnn.+aaa+iiiii.key</code>
contains the public key, and
<code class="filename">Knnnn.+aaa+iiiii.private</code> contains the
private
key.
</p>
<p>
The <code class="filename">.key</code> file contains a DNSKEY or KEY record.
When a zone is being signed by <span class="command"><strong>named</strong></span>
or <span class="command"><strong>dnssec-signzone</strong></span> <code class="option">-S</code>, DNSKEY
records are included automatically. In other cases,
the <code class="filename">.key</code> file can be inserted into a zone file
manually or with a <strong class="userinput"><code>$INCLUDE</code></strong> statement.
</p>
<p>
The <code class="filename">.private</code> file contains
algorithm-specific
fields. For obvious security reasons, this file does not have
general read permission.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsection">
<a name="id-1.11"></a><h2>EXAMPLE</h2>
<p>
To generate an ECDSAP256SHA256 zone-signing key for the zone
<strong class="userinput"><code>example.com</code></strong>, issue the command:
</p>
<p>
<strong class="userinput"><code>dnssec-keygen -a ECDSAP256SHA256 example.com</code></strong>
</p>
<p>
The command would print a string of the form:
</p>
<p><strong class="userinput"><code>Kexample.com.+013+26160</code></strong>
</p>
<p>
In this example, <span class="command"><strong>dnssec-keygen</strong></span> creates
the files <code class="filename">Kexample.com.+013+26160.key</code>
and
<code class="filename">Kexample.com.+013+26160.private</code>.
</p>
<p>
To generate a matching key-signing key, issue the command:
</p>
<p>
<strong class="userinput"><code>dnssec-keygen -a ECDSAP256SHA256 -f KSK example.com</code></strong>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsection">
<a name="id-1.12"></a><h2>SEE ALSO</h2>
<p><span class="citerefentry">
<span class="refentrytitle">dnssec-signzone</span>(8)
</span>,
<em class="citetitle">BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual</em>,
<em class="citetitle">RFC 2539</em>,
<em class="citetitle">RFC 2845</em>,
<em class="citetitle">RFC 4034</em>.
</p>
</div>
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