elasticsearch-certutil
editelasticsearch-certutil
editThe elasticsearch-certutil
command simplifies the creation of certificates for
use with Transport Layer Security (TLS) in the Elastic Stack.
Synopsis
editbin/elasticsearch-certutil ( (ca [--ca-dn <name>] [--days <n>] [--pem]) | (cert ([--ca <file_path>] | [--ca-cert <file_path> --ca-key <file_path>]) [--ca-dn <name>] [--ca-pass <password>] [--days <n>] [--dns <domain_name>] [--in <input_file>] [--ip <ip_addresses>] [--multiple] [--name <file_name>] [--pem] [--self-signed]) | (csr [--dns <domain_name>] [--in <input_file>] [--ip <ip_addresses>] [--name <file_name>]) [-E <KeyValuePair>] [--keysize <bits>] [--out <file_path>] [--pass <password>] ) | http [-h, --help] ([-s, --silent] | [-v, --verbose])
Description
editYou can specify one of the following modes: ca
, cert
, csr
, http
. The
elasticsearch-certutil
command also supports a silent mode of operation to
enable easier batch operations.
CA mode
editThe ca
mode generates a new certificate authority (CA). By default, it
produces a single PKCS#12 output file, which holds the CA certificate and the
private key for the CA. If you specify the --pem
parameter, the command
generates a zip file, which contains the certificate and private key in PEM
format.
You can subsequently use these files as input for the cert
mode of the command.
CERT mode
editThe cert
mode generates X.509 certificates and private keys. By default, it
produces a single certificate and key for use on a single instance.
To generate certificates and keys for multiple instances, specify the
--multiple
parameter, which prompts you for details about each instance.
Alternatively, you can use the --in
parameter to specify a YAML file that
contains details about the instances.
An instance is any piece of the Elastic Stack that requires a TLS or SSL
certificate. Depending on your configuration, Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana, and Beats
might all require a certificate and private key. The minimum required
information for an instance is its name, which is used as the common name for
the certificate. The instance name can be a hostname value or a full
distinguished name. If the instance name would result in an invalid file or
directory name, you must also specify a file name in the --name
command
parameter or in the filename
field in an input YAML file.
You can optionally provide IP addresses or DNS names for each instance. If
neither IP addresses nor DNS names are specified, the Elastic Stack products
cannot perform hostname verification and you might need to configure the
verification_mode
security setting to certificate
only. For more information
about this setting, see Security settings.
All certificates that are generated by this command are signed by a CA unless
the --self-signed
parameter is specified. You must provide your own CA with the
--ca
or --ca-cert
and --ca-key
parameters unless --self-signed
is specified.
For more information about generating a CA, see the
CA mode of this command.
To generate self-signed certificates, use the --self-signed
parameter.
By default, the cert
mode produces a single PKCS#12 output file which holds
the instance certificate, the instance private key, and the CA certificate. If
you specify the --pem
parameter, the command generates PEM formatted
certificates and keys and packages them into a zip file.
If you specify the --multiple
or --in
parameters,
the command produces a zip file containing the generated certificates and keys.
CSR mode
editThe csr
mode generates certificate signing requests (CSRs) that you can send
to a trusted certificate authority to obtain signed certificates. The signed
certificates must be in PEM or PKCS#12 format to work with Elasticsearch
security features.
By default, the command produces a single CSR for a single instance.
To generate CSRs for multiple instances, specify the --multiple
parameter,
which prompts you for details about each instance. Alternatively, you can use
the --in
parameter to specify a YAML file that contains details about the
instances.
The csr
mode produces a single zip file which contains the CSRs and the
private keys for each instance. Each CSR is provided as a standard PEM
encoding of a PKCS#10 CSR. Each key is provided as a PEM encoding of an RSA
private key.
HTTP mode
editThe http
mode guides you through the process of generating certificates for
use on the HTTP (REST) interface for Elasticsearch. It asks you a number of questions in
order to generate the right set of files for your needs. For example, depending
on your choices, it might generate a zip file that contains a certificate
authority (CA), a certificate signing request (CSR), or certificates and keys
for use in Elasticsearch and Kibana. Each folder in the zip file contains a readme that
explains how to use the files.
Parameters
edit-
ca
-
Specifies to generate a new local certificate authority (CA). This
parameter cannot be used with the
csr
,cert
orhttp
parameters. -
cert
-
Specifies to generate new X.509 certificates and keys.
This parameter cannot be used with the
csr
,ca
orhttp
parameters. -
csr
-
Specifies to generate certificate signing requests. This parameter
cannot be used with the
ca
,cert
orhttp
parameters. -
http
-
Generates a new certificate or certificate request for the Elasticsearch HTTP
interface. This parameter cannot be used with the
ca
,cert
orcsr
parameters. -
--ca <file_path>
-
Specifies the path to an existing CA key pair
(in PKCS#12 format). This parameter is only applicable to the
cert
parameter. -
--ca-cert <file_path>
-
Specifies the path to an existing CA certificate (in
PEM format). You must also specify the
--ca-key
parameter. The--ca-cert
parameter is only applicable to thecert
parameter. -
--ca-dn <name>
-
Defines the Distinguished Name (DN) that is used for the
generated CA certificate. The default value is
CN=Elastic Certificate Tool Autogenerated CA
. This parameter cannot be used with thecsr
orhttp
parameters. -
--ca-key <file_path>
-
Specifies the path to an existing CA private key (in
PEM format). You must also specify the
--ca-cert
parameter. The--ca-key
parameter is only applicable to thecert
parameter. -
--ca-pass <password>
-
Specifies the password for an existing CA private key
or the generated CA private key. This parameter is only applicable to the
cert
parameter -
--days <n>
-
Specifies an integer value that represents the number of days the
generated certificates are valid. The default value is
1095
. This parameter cannot be used with thecsr
orhttp
parameters. -
--dns <domain_name>
-
Specifies a comma-separated list of DNS names. This
parameter cannot be used with the
ca
orhttp
parameters. -
-E <KeyValuePair>
- Configures a setting.
-
-h, --help
- Returns all of the command parameters.
-
--in <input_file>
-
Specifies the file that is used to run in silent mode. The
input file must be a YAML file. This parameter cannot be used with the
ca
orhttp
parameters. -
--ip <IP_addresses>
-
Specifies a comma-separated list of IP addresses. This
parameter cannot be used with the
ca
orhttp
parameters. -
--keysize <bits>
-
Defines the number of bits that are used in generated RSA keys. The default
value is
2048
. This parameter cannot be used with thehttp
parameter. -
--multiple
-
Specifies to generate files for multiple instances. This parameter cannot be
used with the
ca
orhttp
parameters. -
--name <file_name>
-
Specifies the name of the generated certificate. This parameter cannot be used
with the
ca
orhttp
parameters. -
--out <file_path>
-
Specifies a path for the output files. This parameter
cannot be used with the
http
parameter. -
--pass <password>
-
Specifies the password for the generated private keys. This parameter cannot be used with the
http
parameters.Keys stored in PKCS#12 format are always password protected, however, this password may be blank. If you want to specify a blank password without a prompt, use
--pass ""
(with no=
) on the command line.Keys stored in PEM format are password protected only if the
--pass
parameter is specified. If you do not supply an argument for the--pass
parameter, you are prompted for a password. Encrypted PEM files do not support blank passwords (if you do not wish to password-protect your PEM keys, then do not specify--pass
). -
--pem
-
Generates certificates and keys in PEM format instead of PKCS#12. This
parameter cannot be used with the
csr
orhttp
parameters. -
--self-signed
-
Generates self-signed certificates. This parameter is only applicable to the
cert
parameter.This option is not recommended for setting up TLS on a cluster. In fact, a self-signed certificate should be used only when you can be sure that a CA is definitely not needed and trust is directly given to the certificate itself.
-
-s, --silent
- Shows minimal output.
-
-v, --verbose
- Shows verbose output.
Examples
editThe following command generates a CA certificate and private key in PKCS#12 format:
bin/elasticsearch-certutil ca
You are prompted for an output filename and a password. Alternatively, you can
specify the --out
and --pass
parameters.
You can then generate X.509 certificates and private keys by using the new CA. For example:
bin/elasticsearch-certutil cert --ca elastic-stack-ca.p12
You are prompted for the CA password and for an output filename and password.
Alternatively, you can specify the --ca-pass
, --out
, and --pass
parameters.
By default, this command generates a file called elastic-certificates.p12
,
which you can copy to the relevant configuration directory for each Elastic
product that you want to configure. For more information, see
Encrypt internode communications with TLS.
Using elasticsearch-certutil
in Silent Mode
editTo use the silent mode of operation, you must create a YAML file that contains information about the instances. It must match the following format:
instances: - name: "node1" ip: - "192.0.2.1" dns: - "node1.mydomain.com" - name: "node2" ip: - "192.0.2.2" - "198.51.100.1" - name: "node3" - name: "node4" dns: - "node4.mydomain.com" - "node4.internal" - name: "CN=node5,OU=IT,DC=mydomain,DC=com" filename: "node5"
The name of the instance. This can be a simple string value or can be a Distinguished Name (DN). This is the only required field. |
|
An optional array of strings that represent IP Addresses for this instance. Both IPv4 and IPv6 values are allowed. The values are added as Subject Alternative Names. |
|
An optional array of strings that represent DNS names for this instance. The values are added as Subject Alternative Names. |
|
The filename to use for this instance. This name is used as the name of the
directory that contains the instance’s files in the output. It is also used in
the names of the files within the directory. This filename should not have an
extension. Note: If the |
When your YAML file is ready, you can use the elasticsearch-certutil
command
to generate certificates or certificate signing requests. Simply use the --in
parameter to specify the location of the file. For example:
bin/elasticsearch-certutil cert --silent --in instances.yml --out test1.zip --pass testpassword --ca elastic-stack-ca.p12
This command generates a compressed test1.zip
file. After you decompress the
output file, there is a directory for each instance that was listed in the
instances.yml
file. Each instance directory contains a single PKCS#12 (.p12
)
file, which contains the instance certificate, instance private key, and CA
certificate.
You can also use the YAML file to generate certificate signing requests. For example:
bin/elasticsearch-certutil csr --silent --in instances.yml --out test2.zip --pass testpassword
This command generates a compressed file, which contains a directory for each
instance. Each instance directory contains a certificate signing request
(*.csr
file) and private key (*.key
file).