The dnssec-keygen utility generates keys for DNSSEC (Secure DNS), as defined in RFC 2535. It can also generate keys for use with TSIG (Transaction Signatures), as defined in RFC 2845.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-aalgorithm
Select the cryptographic algorithm. The value of algorithm must be one of RSAMD5 (RSA) or RSASHA1, DSA, DH (Diffie Hellman), or HMAC-MD5. These values are case insensitive. For DNSSEC, RSASHA1 is a mandatory to implement algorithm and DSA is recommended. For
TSIG, HMAC-MD5 is mandatory. HMAC-MD5 and DH automatically set the -k flag.
-bkeysize
Specify the number of bits in the key. The choice of key size depends on the algorithm used. RSAMD5 and RSASHA1 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-MD5 keys must be between 1 and 512 bits.
-cclass
Indicate that the DNS record containing the key should have the specified class. If not specified, class IN is used.
-e
Use a large exponent if generating an RSAMD5 or RSASHA1 key.
-fflag
Set the specified flag in the flag field of the KEY/DNSKEY record. The only recognized flag is KSK (Key Signing Key) DNSKEY.
-ggenerator
Use this generator if generating a Diffie Hellman key. 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.
-h
Print a short summary of the options and arguments to dnssec-keygen.
-k
Generate KEY records rather than DNSKEY records.
-nnametype
Specify the owner type of the key. The value of nametype must either be ZONE (for a DNSSEC zone key), HOST or ENTITY (for a key associated with a user) or OTHER (DNSKEY). These
values are case insensitive.
-pprotocol
Set the protocol value for the generated key. The protocol argument 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.
-rrandomdev
Specify the source of randomness. If the operating system does not provide a /dev/random or equivalent device, the default source of randomness is keyboard input. The randomdev argument specifies the name of a character device or
file containing random data to be used instead of the default. The special value keyboard indicates that keyboard input should be used.
-sstrength
Specify the strength value of the key. The strength argument is a number between 0 and 15, and currently has no defined purpose in DNSSEC.
-ttype
Indicate the use of the key. type 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.
-vlevel
Set the debugging level.
GENERATED KEYS
When dnssec-keygen completes successfully, it prints a string of the form Knnnn.+aaa+iiiii to the standard output. This is an identification string for the key it has generated.
o
nnnn is the key name.
o
aaa is the numeric representation of the algorithm.
o
iiiii is the key identifier (or footprint).
The dnssec-keygen utility creates two files, with names based on the printed string.
o
Knnnn.+aaa+iiiii.key contains the public key.
o
Knnnn.+aaa+iiiii.private contains the private key.
The .key file contains a DNS KEY record that can be inserted into a zone file (directly or with a $INCLUDE statement).
The .private file contains algorithm specific fields. For obvious security reasons, this file does not have general read permission.
Both .key and .private files are generated for symmetric encryption algorithm such as HMAC-MD5, even though the public and private key are equivalent.
EXAMPLES
Example 1 Generate a 768-bit DSA key for the domain example.com.
To generate a 768-bit DSA key for the domain example.com, the following command would be issued:
dnssec-keygen -a DSA -b 768 -n ZONE example.com
The command would print a string of the form:
Kexample.com.+003+26160
Example 2 Create the files Kexample.com.+003+26160.key and Kexample.com.+003+26160.private.
In the following example, dnssec-keygen creates the files Kexample.com.+003+26160.key and Kexample.com.+003+26160.private
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes: