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keytool(1) keytool(1)
NAME
keytool - key and certificate management tool
SYNOPSIS
keytool [ commands ]
DESCRIPTION
keytool is a key and certificate management utility. It enables users to administer their own pub-lic/private public/private
lic/private key pairs and associated certificates for use in self-authentication (where the user
authenticates himself/herself to other users/services) or data integrity and authentication services,
using digital signatures. It also allows users to cache the public keys (in the form of certificates)
of their communicating peers.
A certificate is a digitally signed statement from one entity (person, company, and so forth), saying
that the public key (and some other information) of some other entity has a particular value. (See
Certificates.) When data is digitally signed, the signature can be verified to check the data
integrity and authenticity. Integrity means that the data has not been modified or tampered with,
and authenticity means the data indeed comes from whoever claims to have created and signed it.
keytool stores the keys and certificates in a so-called keystore. The keytool default keystore
implementation implements the keystore as a file. It protects private keys with a password.
The jarsigner(1) tool uses information from a keystore to generate or verify digital signatures for
Java ARchive (JAR) files. (A JAR file packages class files, images, sounds, and/or other digital data
in a single file). jarsigner(1) verifies the digital signature of a JAR file, using the certificate
that comes with it (it is included in the signature block file of the JAR file), and then checks
whether or not the public key of that certificate is "trusted", that is, is contained in the speci-fied specified
fied keystore.
Please note: the keytool and jarsigner(1) tools completely replace the javakey tool provided in JDK
1.1. These new tools provide more features than javakey, including the ability to protect the key-store keystore
store and private keys with passwords, and the ability to verify signatures in addition to generating
them. The new keystore architecture replaces the identity database that javakey created and managed.
It is possible to import the information from an identity database into a keystore, via the -identi-tydb -identitydb
tydb subcommand.
Keystore Entries
There are two different types of entries in a keystore:
1. key entries--each holds very sensitive cryptographic key information, which is stored in a pro-tected protected
tected format to prevent unauthorized access. Typically, a key stored in this type of entry is
a secret key, or a private key accompanied by the certificate "chain" for the corresponding pub-lic public
lic key. The keytool and jarsigner(1) tools only handle the latter type of entry, that is, pri-vate private
vate keys and their associated certificate chains.
2. trusted certificate entries--each contains a single public key certificate belonging to another
party. It is called a "trusted certificate" because the keystore owner trusts that the public
key in the certificate indeed belongs to the identity identified by the "subject" (owner) of the
certificate. The issuer of the certificate vouches for this, by signing the certificate.
Keystore Aliases
All keystore entries (key and trusted certificate entries) are accessed via unique aliases. Aliases
are case-insensitive; the aliases Hugo and hugo would refer to the same keystore entry.
An alias is specified when you add an entity to the keystore using the -genkey subcommand to generate
a key pair (public and private key) or the -import subcommand to add a certificate or certificate
chain to the list of trusted certificates. Subsequent keytool commands must use this same alias to
refer to the entity.
For example, suppose you use the alias duke to generate a new public/private key pair and wrap the
public key into a self-signed certificate (see Certificate Chains) via the following command:
keytool -genkey -alias duke -keypass dukekeypasswd
This specifies an inital password of dukekeypasswd required by subsequent commands to access the pri-vate private
vate key assocated with the alias duke. If you later want to change duke's private key password, you
use a command like the following:
keytool -keypasswd -alias duke -keypass\
dukekeypasswd -new newpass
This changes the password from "dukekeypasswd" to "newpass".
Please note: A password should not actually be specified on a command line or in a script unless it
is for testing purposes, or you are on a secure system. If you don't specify a required password
option on a command line, you will be prompted for it. When typing in a password at the password
prompt, the password is currently echoed (displayed exactly as typed), so be careful not to type it
in front of anyone.
Keystore Location
Each keytool command has a -keystore option for specifying the name and location of the persistent
keystore file for the keystore managed by keytool. The keystore is by default stored in a file named
.keystore in the user's home directory, as determined by the "user.home" system property.
Note that the input stream from the -keystore option is passed to the KeyStore.load method. If NONE
is specified as the URL, then a null stream is passed to the KeyStore.load method. NONE should be
specified if the KeyStore is not file-based, for example, if it resides on a hardware token device.
Keystore Creation
A keystore is created whenever you use a -genkey, -import, or -identitydb subcommand to add data to a
keystore that doesn't yet exist.
More specifically, if you specify, in the -keystore option, a keystore that doesn't yet exist, that
keystore will be created.
If you don't specify a -keystore option, the default keystore is a file named .keystore in your home
directory. If that file does not yet exist, it will be created.
Keystore Implementation
The KeyStore class provided in the java.security package supplies well-defined interfaces to access
and modify the information in a keystore. It is possible for there to be multiple different concrete
implementations, where each implementation is that for a particular type of keystore.
Currently, there are two command-line tools (keytool and jarsigner(1)) and also a GUI-based tool
named policytool. Since KeyStore is publicly available, JDK users can write additional security
applications that use it.
There is a built-in default implementation, provided by Sun Microsystems. It implements the keystore
as a file, utilizing a proprietary keystore type (format) named "JKS". It protects each private key
with its individual password, and also protects the integrity of the entire keystore with a (possibly
different) password.
Keystore implementations are provider-based. More specifically, the application interfaces supplied
by KeyStore are implemented in terms of a "Service Provider Interface" (SPI). That is, there is a
corresponding abstract KeystoreSpi class, also in the java.security package, which defines the Ser-vice Service
vice Provider Interface methods that "providers" must implement. (The term "provider" refers to a
package or a set of packages that supply a concrete implementation of a subset of services that can
be accessed by the Java Security API.) Thus, to provide a keystore implementation, clients must
implement a "provider" and supply a KeystoreSpi subclass implementation, as described in How to
Implement a Provider for the Java Cryptography Architecture.
Applications can choose different types of keystore implementations from different providers, using
the "getInstance" factory method supplied in the KeyStore class. A keystore type defines the storage
and data format of the keystore information, and the algorithms used to protect private keys in the
keystore and the integrity of the keystore itself. Keystore implementations of different types are
not compatible.
keytool works on any file-based keystore implementation. (It treats the keytore location that is
passed to it at the command line as a filename and converts it to a FileInputStream, from which it
loads the keystore information.) The jarsigner(1) and policytool tools, on the other hand, can read a
keystore from any location that can be specified using a URL.
For keytool and jarsigner(1), you can specify a keystore type at the command line, via the -storetype
option. For Policy Tool, you can specify a keystore type via the "Change Keystore" command in the
Edit menu.
If you don't explicitly specify a keystore type, the tools choose a keystore implementation based
simply on the value of the keystore.type property specified in the security properties file. The
security properties file is called java.security, and it resides in the JDK security properties
directory, java.home/lib/security, where java.home is the JDK installation directory.
Each tool gets the keystore.type value and then examines all the currently-installed providers until
it finds one that implements keystores of that type. It then uses the keystore implementation from
that provider.
The KeyStore class defines a static method named getDefaultType that lets applications and applets
retrieve the value of the keystore.type property. The following line of code creates an instance of
the default keystore type (as specified in the keystore.type property):
KeyStore keyStore = KeyStore.getInstance(KeyStore.getDefaultType());
The default keystore type is "jks" (the proprietary type of the keystore implementation provided by
Sun). This is specified by the following line in the security properties file:
keystore.type=jks
To have the tools utilize a keystore implementation other than the default, you can change that line
to specify a different keystore type.
For example, if you have a provider package that supplies a keystore implementation for a keystore
type called "pkcs12", change the line to
keystore.type=pkcs12
Note: case doesn't matter in keystore type designations. For example, "JKS" would be considered the
same as "jks".
Supported Algorithms and Key Sizes
keytool allows users to specify any key pair generation and signature algorithm supplied by any of
the registered cryptographic service providers. That is, the -keyalg and -sigalg options for various
subcommands must be supported by a provider implementation. The default key pair generation algorithm
is "DSA". The signature algorithm is derived from the algorithm of the underlying private key: If the
underlying private key is of type "DSA", the default signature algorithm is "SHA1withDSA", and if the
underlying private key is of type "RSA", the default signature algorithm is "MD5withRSA".
When generating a DSA key pair, the key size must be in the range from 512 to 1024 bits, and must be
a multiple of 64. The default key size for any algorithm is 1024 bits.
Certificates
A certificate (also known as a public-key certificate) is a digitally signed statement from one
entity (the issuer), saying that the public key (and some other information) of another entity (the
subject) has some
Let us expand on some of the key terms used in this sentence:
Public Keys These are numbers associated with a particular entity, and are intended to be
known to everyone who needs to have trusted interactions with that entity. Public
keys are used to verify signatures.
Digitally Signed If some data is digitally signed it has been stored with the "identity" of an
entity, and a signature that proves that entity knows about the data. The data is
rendered unforgeable by signing with the entity's private key.
Identity A known way of addressing an entity. In some systems the identity is the public
key, in others it can be anything from a Unix UID to an Email address to an X.509
Distinguished Name.
Signature A signature is computed over some data using the private key of an entity (the
signer, which in the case of a certificate is also known as the issuer).
Private Keys These are numbers, each of which is supposed to be known only to the particular
entity whose private key it is (that is, it's supposed to be kept secret). Pri-vate Private
vate and public keys exist in pairs in all public key cryptography systems (also
referred to as "public key crypto systems"). In a typical public key crypto sys-tem, system,
tem, such as DSA, a private key corresponds to exactly one public key. Private
keys are used to compute signatures.
Entity An entity is a person, organization, program, computer, business, bank, or some-thing something
thing else you are trusting to some degree.
Basically, public key cryptography requires access to users' public keys. In a large-scale networked
environment it is impossible to guarantee that prior relationships between communicating entities
have been established or that a trusted repository exists with all used public keys. Certificates
were invented as a solution to this public key distribution problem. Now a Certification Authority
(CA) can act as a trusted third party. CAs are entities (for example, businesses) that are trusted to
sign (issue) certificates for other entities. It is assumed that CAs will only create valid and reli-able reliable
able certificates, as they are bound by legal agreements. There are many public Certification Author-ities, Authorities,
ities, such as VeriSign, Thawte, Entrust, and so on. You can also run your own Certification Author-ity Authority
ity using products such as the Netscape/Microsoft Certificate Servers or the Entrust CA product for
your organization.
Using keytool, it is possible to display, import, and export certificates. It is also possible to
generate self-signed certificates.
keytool currently handles X.509 certificates.
X.509 Certificates
The X.509 standard defines what information can go into a certificate, and describes how to write it
down (the data format). All X.509 certificates have the following data, in addition to the signature:
Version This identifies which version of the X.509 standard applies to this certificate, which
affects what information can be specified in it. Thus far, three versions are defined.
keytool can import and export v1, v2, and v3 certificates. It generates v1 certifi-cates. certificates.
cates.
Serial Number The entity that created the certificate is responsible for assigning it a serial num-ber number
ber to distinguish it from other certificates it issues. This information is used in
numerous ways, for example when a certificate is revoked its serial number is placed
in a Certificate Revocation List (CRL).
Signature Algorithm Identifier
This identifies the algorithm used by the CA to sign the certificate.
Issuer Name The X.500 Distinguished Name of the entity that signed the certificate. This is nor-mally normally
mally a CA. Using this certificate implies trusting the entity that signed this cer-tificate. certificate.
tificate. (Note that in some cases, such as root or top-level CA certificates, the
issuer signs its own certificate.)
Validity Period
Each certificate is valid only for a limited amount of time. This period is described
by a start date and time and an end date and time, and can be as short as a few sec-onds seconds
onds or almost as long as a century. The validity period chosen depends on a number of
factors, such as the strength of the private key used to sign the certificate or the
amount one is willing to pay for a certificate. This is the expected period that enti-ties entities
ties can rely on the public value, if the associated private key has not been compro-mised. compromised.
mised.
Subject Name The name of the entity whose public key the certificate identifies. This name uses the
X.500 standard, so it is intended to be unique across the Internet. This is the X.500
Distinguished Name (DN) of the entity, for example,
CN=Java Duke, OU=Java Software Division, O=Sun Microsystems Inc, C=US
(These refer to the subject's Common Name, Organizational Unit, Organization, and Country.)
Subject Public Key Information
This is the public key of the entity being named, together with an algorithm identi-fier identifier
fier which specifies which public key crypto system this key belongs to and any asso-ciated associated
ciated key parameters.
X.5_9 Version 1 has been available since 1988, is widely deployed, and is the most generic.
X.5_9 Version 2 introduced the concept of subject and issuer unique identifiers to handle the possi-bility possibility
bility of reuse of subject and/or issuer names over time. Most certificate profile documents strongly
recommend that names not be reused, and that certificates should not make use of unique identifiers.
Version 2 certificates are not widely used.
X.5_9 Version 3 is the most recent (1996) and supports the notion of extensions, whereby anyone can
define an extension and include it in the certificate. Some common extensions in use today are:
KeyUsage (limits the use of the keys to particular purposes such as "signing-only") and Alternative-Names AlternativeNames
Names (allows other identities to also be associated with this public key, for example, DNS names,
Email addresses, IP addresses). Extensions can be marked critical to indicate that the extension
should be checked and enforced/used. For example, if a certificate has the KeyUsage extension marked
critical and set to "keyCertSign" then if this certificate is presented during SSL communication, it
should be rejected, as the certificate extension indicates that the associated private key should
only be used for signing certificates and not for SSL use.
All the data in a certificate is encoded using two related standards called ASN.1/DER. Abstract Syn-tax Syntax
tax Notation 1 describes data. The Definite Encoding Rules describe a single way to store and trans-fer transfer
fer that data.
X.500 Distinguished Names
X.500 Distinguished Names are used to identify entities, such as those which are named by the subject
and issuer (signer) fields of X.509 certificates. keytool supports the following subparts:
• commonName--common name of a person, for example, "Susan Jones"
• organizationUnit--small organization (for example, department or division) name, such as, "Purchas-ing" "Purchasing"
ing"
• organizationName--large organization
name, for example, "ABCSystems, Inc."
• localityName--locality (city) name, for example, "Palo Alto"
• stateName--state or province name, for example, "California"
• country--two-letter country code, for example, "CH"
When supplying a distinguished name string as the value of a -dname option, as for the -genkey or
-selfcert subcommands, the string must be in the following format:
CN=cName, OU=orgUnit, O=org, L=city, S=state, C=countryCode
where all the italicized items represent actual values and the above keywords are abbreviations for
the following:
CN=commonName
OU=organizationUnit
O=organizationName
L=localityName
S=stateName
C=country
A sample distinguished name string is
CN=Mark Smith, OU=Java, O=Sun, L=Cupertino, S=California, C=US
and a sample command using such a string is
keytool -genkey -dname "CN=Mark Smith, OU=Java,
O=Sun, L=Cupertino, S=California, C=US" -alias mark
Case does not matter for the keyword abbreviations. For example, CN, cn, and Cn
are all treated the same.
Order matters; each subcomponent must appear in the designated order. However, it is not necessary to
have all the subcomponents. You may use a subset, for example:
CN=Steve Meier, OU=SunSoft, O=Sun, C=US
If a distinguished name string value contains a comma, it must be escaped by a "\" character when you
specify the string on a command line, as in
cn=peter schuster, o=Sun Microsystems\, Inc., o=sun, c=us
It is never necessary to specify a distinguished name string on a command line. If it is needed for
a command, but not supplied on the command line, the user is prompted for each of the subcomponents.
In this case, a comma does not need to be escaped by a "\"
The Internet RFC 1421 Certificate Encoding Standard
Certificates are often stored using the printable encoding format defined by the Internet RFC 1421
standard, instead of their binary encoding. This certificate format, also known as "Base 64 encod-ing", encoding",
ing", facilitates exporting certificates to other applications by email or through some other mecha-nism. mechanism.
nism.
Certificates read by the -import and -printcert subcommands can be in either this format or binary
encoded.
The -export subcommand by default outputs a certificate in binary encoding, but will instead output a
certificate in the printable encoding format, if the -rfc option is specified.
The -list subcommand by default prints the MD5 fingerprint of a certificate. If the -v option is
specified, the certificate is printed in human-readable format, while if the -rfc option is speci-fied, specified,
fied, the certificate is output in the printable encoding format.
In its printable encoding format, the encoded certificate is bounded at the beginning by
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----and CERTIFICATE----and
and at the end by
-----END CERTIFICATE-----Certificate CERTIFICATE----Certificate
Certificate Chains
keytool can create and manage keystore "key" entries that each contain a private key and an associ-ated associated
ated certificate "chain". The first certificate in the chain contains the public key corresponding to
the private key.
When keys are first generated (see the -genkey subcommand), the chain starts off containing a single
element, a self-signed certificate. A self-signed certificate is one for which the issuer (signer) is
the same as the subject (the entity whose public key is being authenticated by the certificate).
Whenever the -genkey subcommand is called to generate a new public/private key pair, it also wraps
the public key into a self-signed certificate.
Later, after a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) has been generated (see the -certreq subcommand) and
sent to a Certification Authority (CA), the response from the CA is imported (see -import), and the
self-signed certificate is replaced by a chain of certificates. At the bottom of the chain is the
certificate (reply) issued by the CA authenticating the subject's public key. The next certificate in
the chain is one that authenticates the CA's public key.
In many cases, this is a self-signed certificate (that is, a certificate from the CA authenticating
its own public key) and the last certificate in the chain. In other cases, the CA may return a chain
of certificates. In this case, the bottom certificate in the chain is the same (a certificate signed
by the CA, authenticating the public key of the key entry), but the second certificate in the chain
is a certificate signed by a different CA, authenticating the public key of the CA you sent the CSR
to. Then, the next certificate in the chain will be a certificate authenticating the second CA's key,
and so on, until a self-signed "root" certificate is reached. Each certificate in the chain (after
the first) thus authenticates the public key of the signer of the previous certificate in the chain.
Many CAs only return the issued certificate, with no supporting chain, especially when there is a
flat hierarchy (no intermediates CAs). In this case, the certificate chain must be established from
trusted certificate information already stored in the keystore.
A different reply format (defined by the PKCS#7 standard) also includes the supporting certificate
chain, in addition to the issued certificate. Both reply formats can be handled by keytool.
The top-level (root) CA certificate is self-signed. However, the trust into the root's public key
does not come from the root certificate itself (anybody could generate a self-signed certificate with
the distinguished name of say, the VeriSign root CA!), but from other sources like a newspaper. The
root CA public key is widely known. The only reason it is stored in a certificate is because this is
the format understood by most tools, so the certificate in this case is only used as a "vehicle" to
transport the root CA's public key. Before you add the root CA certificate to your keystore, you
should view it (using the -printcert option) and compare the displayed fingerprint with the well-known wellknown
known fingerprint (obtained from a newspaper, the root CA's webpage, and so forth).
Importing Certificates
To import a certificate from a file, use the -import subcommand, as in
keytool -import -alias joe -file jcertfile.cer
This sample command imports the certificate(s) in the file jcertfile.cer and stores it in the key-store keystore
store entry identified by the alias joe.
You import a certificate for two reasons:
1. to add it to the list of trusted certificates, or
2. to import a certificate reply received from a CA as the result of submitting a Certificate Sign-ing Signing
ing Request (see the -certreq subcommand) to that CA.
Which type of import is intended is indicated by the value of the -alias option.
• If the alias points to a key entry,
then keytool assumes you are importing a certificate reply. keytool checks whether the public key
in the certificate reply matches the public key stored with the alias, and exits if they are dif-ferent. different.
ferent.
• If the alias does not point to a key entry,
then keytool assumes you are adding a trusted certificate entry. In this case, the alias should not
already exist in the keystore. If the alias does already exist, then keytool outputs an error,
since there is already a trusted certificate for that alias, and does not import the certificate.
If the alias does not exist in the keystore, keytool creates a trusted certificate entry with the
specified alias and associates it with the imported certificate.
WARNING Regarding Importing Trusted Certificates
IMPORTANT: Be sure to check a certificate very carefully before importing it as a trusted certifi-cate! certificate!
cate!
View it first (using the -printcert subcommand, or the -import subcommand without the -noprompt
option), and make sure that the displayed certificate fingerprint(s) match the expected ones. For
example, suppose someone sends or emails you a certificate, and you put it in a file named
/tmp/cert.Beforeyou consider adding the certificate to your list of trusted certificates, you can
execute a -printcert subcommand to view its fingerprints, as in
keytool -printcert -file /tmp/cert
Owner: CN=ll, OU=ll, O=ll, L=ll, S=ll, C=ll
Issuer: CN=ll, OU=ll, O=ll, L=ll, S=ll, C=ll
Serial Number: 59092b34
Valid from: Thu Sep 25 18:01:13 PDT 1997 until: Wed Dec 24 17:01:13 PST 1997
Certificate Fingerprints:
MD5: 11:81:AD:92:C8:E5:0E:A2:01:2E:D4:7A:D7:5F:07:6F
SHA1: 20:B6:17:FA:EF:E5:55:8A:D0:71:1F:E8:D6:9D:C0:37:13:0E:5E:FE
Then call or otherwise contact the person who sent the certificate, and compare the fingerprint(s)
that you see with the ones that they show. Only if the fingerprints are equal is it guaranteed that
the certificate has not been replaced in transit with somebody else's (for example, an attacker's)
certificate. If such an attack took place, and you did not check the certificate before you imported
it, you would end up trusting anything the attacker has signed (for example, a JAR file with mali-cious malicious
cious class files inside).
Note: it is not required that you execute a -printcert subcommand prior to importing a certificate,
since before adding a certificate to the list of trusted certificates in the keystore, the -import
subcommand prints out the certificate information and prompts you to verify it. You then have the
option of aborting the import operation. Note, however, this is only the case if you invoke the
-import subcommand without the -noprompt option. If the -noprompt option is given, there is no inter-action interaction
action with the user.
Exporting Certificates
To export a certificate to a file, use the -export subcommand, as in
keytool -export -alias jane -file janecertfile.cer
This sample command exports jane's certificate to the file janecertfile.cer. That is, if jane is the
alias for a key entry, the command exports the certificate at the bottom of the certificate chain in
that keystore entry. This is the certificate that authenticates jane's public key.
If, instead, jane is the alias for a trusted certificate entry, then that trusted certificate is
exported.
Displaying Certificates
To print out the contents of a keystore entry, use the -list subcommand, as in
keytool -list -alias joe
If you don't specify an alias, as in
keytool -list
the contents of the entire keystore are printed.
To display the contents of a certificate stored in a file, use the -printcert subcommand, as in
keytool -printcert -file certfile.cer
This displays information about the certificate stored in the file certfile.cer.
Note: This works independently of a keystore, that is, you do not need a keystore in order to display
a certificate that's stored in a file.
Generating a Self-signed Certificate
A self-signed certificate is one for which the issuer (signer) is the same as the subject (the entity
whose public key is being authenticated by the certificate). Whenever the -genkey subcommand is
called to generate a new public/private key pair, it also wraps the public key into a self-signed
certificate.
You may occasionally wish to generate a new self-signed certificate. For example, you may want to use
the same key pair under a different identity (distinguished name). For example, suppose you change
departments. You can then:
1. copy (clone) the original key entry. See -keyclone.
2. generate a new self-signed certificate for the cloned entry, using your new distinguished name.
See below.
3. generate a Certificate Signing Requests for the cloned entry, and import the reply certificate
or certificate chain. See the -certreq and -import subcommand.
4. delete the original (now obsolete) entry. See -delete.
To generate a self-signed certificate, use the -selfcert subcommand, as in
keytool -selfcert -alias dukeNew -keypass b92kqmp
-dname "cn=Duke Smith, ou=Purchasing, o=BlueSoft, c=US"
The generated certificate is stored as a single-element certificate chain in the keystore entry iden-tified identified
tified by the specified alias (in this case dukeNew) where it replaces the existing certificate
chain.
COMMAND AND OPTION NOTES
The various subcommands and their options are listed and described below. Note:
• All subcommand and option names are preceded by a minus sign (-).
• The options for each subcommand may be provided in any order.
• All items not italicized or in braces or square brackets are required to appear as is.
• Braces surrounding an option generally signify that a default value will be used if the option is
not specified on the command line. Braces are also used around the -v, -rfc, and -J options, which
only have meaning if they appear on the command line (that is, they don't have any "default" values
other than not existing).
• Brackets surrounding an option signify that the user is prompted for the value(s) if the option is
not specified on the command line. (For a -keypass option, if you do not specify the option on the
command line, keytool will first attempt to use the keystore password to recover the private key,
and if this fails, will then prompt you for the private key password.)
• Items in italics (option values) represent the actual values that must be supplied. For example,
here is the format of the -printcert subcommand:
keytool -printcert {-file cert_file} {-v}
When specifying a -printcert subcommand, replace cert_file with the actual file name, as in:
keytool -printcert -file VScert.cer
• Option values must be quoted if they contain a blank (space).
• The -help subcommand is the default. Thus, the command line
keytool
is equivalent to
keytool -help
Option Defaults
Below are the defaults for various option values.
-alias "mykey"
-keyalg "DSA"
-keysize 1024
-validity 90
-keystore the file named .keystore in the user's home directory
-file stdin if reading, stdout if writing
The signature algorithm ( -sigalg option) is derived from the algorithm of the underlying private
key: If the underlying private key is of type "DSA", the -sigalg private key is of type "RSA",
-sigalg defaults to "MD5withRSA".
Options that Appear for Most Subcommands
The -v option can appear for all subcommands except -help. If it appears, it signifies "verbose"
mode; detailed certificate information will be output.
There is also a -Jjavaoption option that may appear for any subcommand. If it appears, the specified
-javaoption string is passed through directly to the Java interpreter. (keytool is actually a "wrap-per" "wrapper"
per" around the interpreter.) This option should not contain any spaces. It is useful for adjusting
the execution environment or memory usage. For a list of possible interpreter options, type java -h
or java -X at the command line.
These options may appear for all commands operating on a keystore:
-storetype storetype
This qualifier specifies the type of keystore to be instantiated. The default keystore type is
the one that is specified as the value of the "keystore.type" property in the security proper-ties properties
ties file, which is returned by the static getDefaultType method in java.security.KeyStore.
-keystore keystore
The keystore (database file) location. Defaults to the file .keystore in the user's home
directory, as determined by the user.home system property.
-storepass storepass
The password which is used to protect the integrity of the keystore.
storepass must be at least 6 characters long. It must be provided to all subcommands that access the
keystore contents. For such subcommands, if a -storepass option is not provided at the command line,
the user is prompted for it.
When retrieving information from the keystore, the password is optional; if no password is given, the
integrity of the retrieved information cannot be checked and a warning is displayed.
Be careful with passwords - see Warning Regarding Passwords.
-provider provider_class_name
Used to specify the name of the cryptographic service provider's master class file when the
service provider is not listed in the security properties file.
Warning Regarding Passwords
Most commands operating on a keystore require the store password. Some commands require a private key
password.
Passwords can be specified on the command line (in the -storepass and -keypass options, respec-tively). respectively).
tively). However, a password should not be specified on a command line or in a script unless it is
for testing purposes, or you are on a secure system.
If you don't specify a required password option on a command line, you will be prompted for it. When
typing in a password at the password prompt, the password is currently echoed (displayed exactly as
typed), so be careful not to type it in front of anyone.
COMMANDS
See also COMMAND AND OPTION NOTES.
Adding Data to the Keystore
-genkey {-alias alias} {-keyalg keyalg} {-keysize keysize}
{-sigalg sigalg} [-dname dname] [-keypass keypass]
{-validity valDays} {-storetype storetype}
{-keystore keystore} [-storepass storepass]
[-provider provider_class_name] {-v}
{-Jjavaoption}
Generates a key pair (a public key and associated private key). Wraps the public key into an
X.509 v1 self-signed certificate, which is stored as a single-element certificate chain. This
certificate chain and the private key are stored in a new keystore entry identified by alias.
keyalg specifies the algorithm to be used to generate the key pair, and keysize specifies the
size of each key to be generated. sigalg specifies the algorithm that should be used to sign
the self-signed certificate; this algorithm must be compatible with keyalg. See Supported
Algorithms and Key Sizes.
dname specifies the X.500 Distinguished Name to be associated with alias, and is used as the
issuer and subject fields in the self-signed certificate. If no distinguished name is pro-vided provided
vided at the command line, the user will be prompted for one.
keypass is a password used to protect the private key of the generated key pair. If no pass-word password
word is provided, the user is prompted for it. If you press RETURN at the prompt, the key
password is set to the same password as that used for the keystore. keypass must be at least
6 characters long. Be careful with passwords: See Warning Regarding Passwords.
valDays tells the number of days for which the certificate should be considered valid.
-import {-alias alias} {-file cert_file} [-keypass keypass]
{-noprompt} {-trustcacerts} {-storetype storetype}
{-keystore keystore} [-storepass storepass]
[-provider provider_class_name]
{-v} {-Jjavaoption}
Reads the certificate or certificate chain (where the latter is supplied in a PKCS#7 formatted
reply) from the file cert_file, and stores it in the keystore entry identified by alias given,
the certificate or PKCS#7 reply is read from stdin.
keytool can import X.509 v1, v2, and v3 certificates, and PKCS#7 formatted certificate chains
consisting of certificates of that type. The data to be imported must be provided either in
binary encoding format, or in printable encoding format (also known as Base64 encoding) as
defined by the Internet RFC 1421 standard. In the latter case, the encoding must be bounded at
the beginning by a string that starts with "-----BEGIN", and bounded at the end by a string
that starts with "-----END".
You import a certification for two reasons:
1. to add it to the list of trusted certificates, or
2. to import a certificate reply received from a CA as the result of submitting a Certificate
Signing Request (see the -certreq command) to that CA.
Importing a New Trusted Certificate
When importing a new trusted certificate, alias must not yet exist in the keystore. Before adding the
certificate to the keystore, keytool tries to verify it by attempting to construct a chain of trust
from that certificate to a self-signed certificate (belonging to a root CA), using trusted certifi-cates certificates
cates that are already available in the keystore.
If the -trustcacerts option has been specified, additional certificates are considered for the chain
of trust, namely the certificates in a file named cacerts.
If keytool fails to establish a trust path from the certificate to be imported up to a self-signed
certificate (either from the keystore or the "cacerts" file), the certificate information is printed
out, and the user is prompted to verify it, e.g., by comparing the displayed certificate fingerprints
with the fingerprints obtained from some other (trusted) source of information, which might be the
certificate owner himself/herself. Be very careful to ensure the certificate is valid prior to
importing it as a "trusted" certificate! -- see WARNING Regarding Importing Trusted Certificates. The
user then has the option of aborting the import operation. If the -noprompt option is given, how-ever, however,
ever, there will be no interaction with the user.
Importing a Certificate Reply
When importing a certificate reply, the certificate reply is validated using trusted certificates
from the keystore, and optionally using the certificates configured in the cacerts keystore file (if
the -trustcacerts option was specified).
The methods of determining whether the certificate reply is trusted are described in the following:
If the reply is a single X.509 certificate, keytool attempts to establish a trust chain, starting at
the certificate reply and ending at a self-signed certificate (belonging to a root CA). The certifi-cate certificate
cate reply and the hierarchy of certificates used to authenticate the certificate reply form the new
certificate chain of alias.
If the reply is a PKCS#7 formatted certificate chain, the chain is first ordered (with the user cer-tificate certificate
tificate first and the self-signed root CA certificate last), before keytool attempts to match the
root CA certificate provided in the reply with any of the trusted certificates in the keystore or the
cacerts keystore file (if the -trustcacerts option was specified). If no match can be found, the
information of the root CA certificate is printed out, and the user is prompted to verify it, for
example, by comparing the displayed certificate fingerprints with the fingerprints obtained from some
other (trusted) source of information, which might be the root CA itself. The user then has the
option of aborting the import operation. If the -noprompt option is given, however, there will be no
interaction with the user.
The new certificate chain of alias replaces the old certificate chain associated with this entry. The
old chain can only be replaced if a valid keypass, the password used to protect the private key of
the entry, is supplied. If no password is provided, and the private key password is different from
the keystore password, the user is prompted for it. Be careful with passwords: See Warning Regarding
Passwords.
The cacerts Certificates File
A certificates file named "cacerts" resides in the security properties directory, java.home/lib/secu-rity, java.home/lib/security,
rity, where java.home is the runtime environment's directory (the jre directory in the SDK or the
top-level directory of the Java 2 Runtime Environment).
The "cacerts" file represents a system-wide keystore with CA certificates. System administrators can
configure and manage that file using keytool, specifying "jks" as the keystore type. The "cacerts"
keystore file ships with several root CA certificates with the following aliases and X.500 owner dis-tinguished distinguished
tinguished names:
Alias: thawtepersonalfreemailca Owner DN: EmailAddress=personal-freemail@thawte.com, CN=Thawte
Personal Freemail CA, OU=Certification Services Division, O=Thawte Consulting, L=Cape Town,
ST=Western Cape, C=ZA
Alias: thawtepersonalbasicca Owner DN: EmailAddress=personal-basic@thawte.com, CN=Thawte Per-sonal Personal
sonal Basic CA, OU=Certification Services Division, O=Thawte Consulting, L=Cape Town, ST=Western
Cape, C=ZA
Alias: thawtepersonalpremiumca Owner DN: EmailAddress=personal-premium@thawte.com, CN=Thawte
Personal Premium CA, OU=Certification Services Division, O=Thawte Consulting, L=Cape Town,
ST=Western Cape, C=ZA
Alias: thawteserverca Owner DN: EmailAddress=server-certs@thawte.com, CN=Thawte Server CA,
OU=Certification Services Division, O=Thawte Consulting cc, L=Cape Town, ST=Western Cape, C=ZA
Alias: thawtepremiumserverca Owner DN: EmailAddress=premium-server@thawte.com, CN=Thawte Premium
Server CA, OU=Certification Services Division, O=Thawte Consulting cc, L=Cape Town, ST=Western
Cape, C=ZA
Alias: verisignclass1ca Owner DN: OU=Class 1 Public Primary Certification Authority,
O="VeriSign, Inc.", C=US
Alias: verisignclass2ca Owner DN: OU=Class 2 Public Primary Certification Authority,
O="VeriSign, Inc.", C=US
Alias: verisignclass3ca Owner DN: OU=Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority,
O="VeriSign, Inc.", C=US
Alias: verisignclass4ca Owner DN: OU=Class 4 Public Primary Certification Authority,
O="VeriSign, Inc.", C=US
Alias: verisignserverca Owner DN: OU=Secure Server Certification Authority, O="RSA Data Secu-rity, Security,
rity, Inc.", C=US
Alias: baltimorecodesigningca Owner DN: CN=Baltimore CyberTrust Code Signing Root,
OU=CyberTrust, O=Baltimore, C=IE
Alias: gtecybertrustca Owner DN: CN=GTE CyberTrust Root, O=GTE Corporation, C=US
Alias: gtecybertrust5ca Owner DN: CN=GTE CyberTrust Root 5, OU="GTE CyberTrust Solutions, Inc.",
O=GTE Corporation, C=US
The initial password of the "cacerts" keystore file is "changeit". System administrators should
change that password and the default access permission of that file upon installing the SDK.
IMPORTANT: Verify Your cacerts File Since you trust the CAs in the cacerts file as entities for sign-ing signing
ing and issuing certificates to other entities, you must manage the cacerts file carefully. The cac-erts cacerts
erts file should contain only certificates of the CAs you trust. It is your responsibility to verify
the trusted root CA certificates bundled in the cacerts file and make your own trust decisions. To
remove an untrusted CA certificate from the cacerts file, use the delete option of the keytool com-mand. command.
mand. You can find the You can find the cacerts file in the JRE installation directory. Contact
your system administrator if you do not have permission to edit this file.
-selfcert {-alias alias} {-sigalg sigalg} {-dname dname}
{-validity valDays} [-keypass keypass]
{-storetype storetype} {-keystore keystore}
[-storepass storepass]
[-provider provider_class_name]
{-v} {-Jjavaoption}
Generates an X.509 v1 self-signed certificate, using keystore information including the pri-vate private
vate key and public key associated with alias. If dname is supplied at the command line, it
is used as the X.500 Distinguished Name for both the issuer and subject of the certificate.
Otherwise, the X.500 Distinguished Name associated with alias (at the bottom of its existing
certificate chain) is used.
The generated certificate is stored as a single-element certificate chain in the keystore
entry identified by alias, where it replaces the existing certificate chain.
sigalg specifies the algorithm that should be used to sign the certificate. See Supported
Algorithms and Key Sizes.
In order to access the private key, the appropriate password must be provided, since private
keys are protected in the keystore with a password. If keypass is not provided at the command
line, and is different from the password used to protect the integrity of the keystore, the
user is prompted for it. Be careful with passwords: See Warning Regarding Passwords.
valDays tells the number of days for which the certificate should be considered valid.
-identitydb {-file idb_file} {-storetype storetype}
{-keystore keystore} [-storepass storepass]
[-provider provider_class_name]
{-v} {-Jjavaoption}
Reads the JDK 1.1.x-style identity database from the file idb_file, and adds its entries to
the keystore. If no file is given, the identity database is read from stdin. If a keystore
does not exist, it is created.
Only identity database entries ("identities") that were marked as trusted will be imported in
the keystore. All other identities will be ignored. For each trusted identity, a keystore
entry will be created. The identity's name is used as the alias for the keystore entry.
The private keys from trusted identities will all be encrypted under the same password,
storepass. This is the same password that is used to protect the keystore's integrity. Users
can later assign individual passwords to those private keys by using the -keypasswd keytool
command option.
An identity in an identity database may hold more than one certificate, each certifying the
same public key. But a keystore key entry for a private key has that private key and a single
"certificate chain" (initially just a single certificate), where the first certificate in the
chain contains the public key corresponding to the private key. When importing the information
from an identity, only the first certificate of the identity is stored in the keystore. This
is because an identity's name in an identity database is used as the alias for its correspond-ing corresponding
ing keystore entry, and alias names are unique within a keystore,
Exporting Data
-certreq {-alias alias} {-sigalg sigalg} {-file certreq_file}
[-keypass keypass]
{-storetype storetype} {-keystore keystore}
[-storepass storepass]
[-provider provider_class_name]
{-v} {-Jjavaoption}
Generates a Certificate Signing Request (CSR), using the PKCS#10 format.
A CSR is intended to be sent to a certificate authority (CA). The CA will authenticate the
certificate requestor (usually off-line) and will return a certificate or certificate chain,
used to replace the existing certificate chain (which initially consists of a self-signed cer-tificate) certificate)
tificate) in the keystore.
The private key and X.500 Distinguished Name associated with alias are used to create the
PKCS#10 certificate request. In order to access the private key, the appropriate password must
be provided, since private keys are protected in the keystore with a password. If keypass is
not provided at the command line, and is different from the password used to protect the
integrity of the keystore, the user is prompted for it.
Be careful with passwords: See Warning Regarding Passwords.
sigalg specifies the algorithm that should be used to sign the CSR. See Supported Algorithms
and Key Sizes.
The CSR is stored in the file certreq_file. If no file is given, the CSR is output to stdout.
Use the import command to import the response from the CA.
-export {-alias alias} {-file cert_file} {-storetype storetype}
{-keystore keystore} [-storepass storepass]
[-provider provider_class_name]
{-rfc} {-v} {-Jjavaoption}
Reads (from the keystore) the certificate associated with alias, and stores it in the file
cert_file.
If no file is given, the certificate is output to stdout.
The certificate is by default output in binary encoding, but will instead be output in the
printable encoding format, as defined by the Internet RFC 1421 standard, if the -rfc option is
specified.
If alias refers to a trusted certificate, that certificate is output. Otherwise, alias refers
to a key entry with an associated certificate chain. In that case, the first certificate in
the chain is returned. This certificate authenticates the public key of the entity addressed
by alias.
Displaying Data
-list {-alias alias} {-storetype storetype} {-keystore keystore}
[-storepass storepass]
[-provider provider_class_name]
{-v | -rfc} {-Jjavaoption}
Prints (to stdout) the contents of the keystore entry identified by alias. If no alias is
specified, the contents of the entire keystore are printed.
This command by default prints the MD5 fingerprint of a certificate. If the -v option is
specified, the certificate is printed in human-readable format, with additional information
such as the owner, issuer, and serial number. If the -rfc option is specified, certificate
contents are printed using the printable encoding format, as defined by the Internet RFC 1421
standard
You cannot specify both -v and -rfc.
-printcert {-file cert_file} {-v} {-Jjavaoption}
Reads the certificate from the file cert_file, and prints its contents in a human-readable
format. If no file is given, the certificate is read from stdin.
The certificate may be either binary encoded or in printable encoding format, as defined by
the Internet RFC 1421 standard.
Note: This option can be used independently of a keystore.
Managing the Keystore
-keyclone {-alias alias} [-dest dest_alias] [-keypass keypass]
{-new new_keypass} {-storetype storetype}
{-keystore keystore} [-storepass storepass]
[-provider provider_class_name]
{-v} {-Jjavaoption}
Creates a new keystore entry, which has the same private key and certificate chain as the
original entry.
The original entry is identified by alias (which defaults to "mykey" if not provided). The new
(destination) entry is identified by dest_alias. If no destination alias is supplied at the
command line, the user is prompted for it.
If the private key password is different from the keystore password, then the entry will only
be cloned if a valid keypass is supplied. This is the password used to protect the private
key associated with alias. If no key password is supplied at the command line, and the pri-vate private
vate key password is different from the keystore password, the user is prompted for it. The
private key in the cloned entry may be protected with a different password, if desired. If no
-new option is supplied at the command line, the user is prompted for the new entry's password
(and may choose to let it be the same as for the cloned entry's private key).
Be careful with passwords: See Warning Regarding Passwords.
This command can be used to establish multiple certificate chains corresponding to a given key
pair, or for backup purposes.
-storepasswd {-new new_storepass} {-storetype storetype}
{-keystore keystore} [-storepass storepass]
[-provider provider_class_name]
{-v} {-Jjavaoption}
Changes the password used to protect the integrity of the keystore contents. The new password
is new_storepass, which must be at least 6 characters long.
Be careful with passwords: Warning Regarding Passwords.
-keypasswd {-alias alias} [-keypass old_keypass]
[-new new_keypass] {-storetype storetype}
{-keystore keystore} [-storepass storepass]
[-provider provider_class_name]
{-v} {-Jjavaoption}
Changes the password under which the private key identified by alias is protected, from
old_keypass to new_keypass.
If the -keypass option is not provided at the command line, and the private key password is
different from the keystore password, the user is prompted for it.
If the -new option is not provided at the command line, the user is prompted for it.
Be careful with passwords: See Warning Regarding Passwords.
-delete [-alias alias] {-storetype storetype}
{-keystore keystore} [-storepass storepass]
[-provider provider_class_name]
{-v} {-Jjavaoption}
Deletes from the keystore the entry identified by alias. The user is prompted for the alias,
if no alias is provided at the command line.
Getting Help
-help Lists all the command and their options.
EXAMPLES
Suppose you want to create a keystore for managing your public/private key pair and certificates from
entities you trust.
Generating Your Key Pair
The first thing you need to do is create a keystore and generate the key pair. You could use a com-mand command
mand such as the following:
keytool -genkey -dname "cn=Mark Jones, ou=Java, o=Sun, c=US"
-alias business -keypass kpi135 -keystore /working/mykeystore
-storepass ab987c -validity 180
(Please note: This must be typed as a single line. Multiple lines are used in the examples just for
legibility purposes.)
This command creates the keystore named mykeystore in the working directory (assuming it does not
already exist), and assigns it the password ab987c. It generates a public/private key pair for the
entity whose "distinguished name" has a common name of MarkJones, organizational unit of Java, orga-nization organization
nization of Sun and two-letter country code of US. It uses the default "DSA" key generation algo-rithm algorithm
rithm to create the keys, both 1024 bits long.
It creates a self-signed certificate (using the default "SHA1withDSA" signature algorithm) that
includes the public key and the distinguished name information. This certificate will be valid for
180 days, and is associated with the private key in a keystore entry referred to by the alias busi-ness. business.
ness. The private key is assigned the password kpi135.
The command could be significantly shorter if option defaults were accepted. As a matter of fact, no
options are required; defaults are used for unspecified options that have default values, and you are
prompted for any required values. Thus, you could simply have the following:
keytool -genkey
In this case, a keystore entry with alias mykey is created, with a newly-generated key pair and a
certificate that is valid for 90 days. This entry is placed in the keystore named .keystore in your
home directory. (The keystore is created if it doesn't already exist.) You will be prompted for the
distinguished name information, the keystore password, and the private key password.
The rest of the examples assume you executed the -genkey command without options specified, and that
you responded to the prompts with values equal to those given in the first -genkey command, above (a
private key password of kpi135, and so forth.)
Requesting a Signed Certificate
from a Certification Authority
So far all we've got is a self-signed certificate. A certificate is more likely to be trusted by oth-ers others
ers if it is signed by a Certification Authority (CA). To get such a signature, you first generate a
Certificate Signing Request (CSR), via the following:
keytool -certreq -file MarkJ.csr
This creates a CSR (for the entity identified by the default alias mykey and puts the request in the
file named MarkJ.csr. Submit this file to a CA, such as VeriSign, Inc. The CA will authenticate you,
the requestor (usually off-line), and then will return a certificate, signed by them, authenticating
your public key. (In some cases, they will actually return a chain of certificates, each one authen-ticating authenticating
ticating the public key of the signer of the previous certificate in the chain.)
Importing a Certificate for the CA
You need to replace your self-signed certificate with a certificate chain, where each certificate in
the chain authenticates the public key of the signer of the previous certificate in the chain, up to
a "root" CA.
Before you import the certificate reply from a CA, you need one or more "trusted certificates" in
your keystore or in the cacerts keystore file (which is described in importcommand):
• If the certificate reply is a certificate chain, you just need the top certificate of the chain
(that is, the "root" CA certificate authenticating that CA's public key).
• If the certificate reply is a single certificate, you need a certificate for the issuing CA (the
one that signed it), and if that certificate is not self-signed, you need a certificate for its
signer, and so on, up to a self-signed "root" CA certificate.
The cacerts keystore file ships with five VeriSign root CA certificates, so you probably won't need
to import a VeriSign certificate as a trusted certificate in your keystore. But if you request a
signed certificate from a different CA, and a certificate authenticating that CA's public key hasn't
been added to cacerts, you will need to import a certificate from the CA as a "trusted certificate".
A certificate from a CA is usually either self-signed, or signed by another CA (in which case you
also need a certificate authenticating that CA's public key). Suppose company ABC, Inc., is a CA,
and you obtain a file named ABCCA.cer that is purportedly a self-signed certificate from ABC, authen-ticating authenticating
ticating that CA's public key.
Be very careful to ensure the certificate is valid prior to importing it as a "trusted" certificate!
View it first (using the -printcert subcommand, or the -import subcommand without the -noprompt
option), and make sure that the displayed certificate fingerprint(s) match the expected ones. You can
call the person who sent the certificate, and compare the fingerprint(s) that you see with the ones
that they show (or that a secure public key repository shows). Only if the fingerprints are equal is
it guaranteed that the certificate has not been replaced in transit with somebody else's (for exam-ple, example,
ple, an attacker's) certificate. If such an attack took place, and you did not check the certificate
before you imported it, you would end up trusting anything the attacker has signed.
If you trust that the certificate is valid, then you can add it to your keystore via the following:
keytool -import -alias abc -file ABCCA.cer
This creates a "trusted certificate" entry in the keystore, with the data from the file ABCCA.cer,
and assigns the alias abc to the entry.
Importing the Certificate
Reply from the CA
Once you've imported a certificate authenticating the public key of the CA you submitted your cer-tificate certificate
tificate signing request to (or there's already such a certificate in the cacerts file), you can
import the certificate reply and thereby replace your self-signed certificate with a certificate
chain. This chain is the one returned by the CA in response to your request (if the CA reply is a
chain), or one constructed (if the CA reply is a single certificate) using the certificate reply and
trusted certificates that are already available in the keystore where you import the reply or in the
cacerts keystore file.
For example, suppose you sent your certificate signing request to VeriSign. You can then import the
reply via the following, which assumes the returned certificate is named VSMarkJ.cer:
keytool -import -trustcacerts -file VSMarkJ.cer
Exporting a Certificate Authenticating Your
Public Key
Suppose you have used the jarsigner(1) tool to sign a Java ARchive (JAR) file. Clients that want to
use the file will want to authenticate your signature.
One way they can do this is by first importing your public key certificate into their keystore as a
"trusted" entry. You can export the certificate and supply it to your clients. As an example, you can
copy your certificate to a file named MJ.cer via the following, assuming the entry is aliased by
mykey:
keytool -export -alias mykey -file MJ.cer
Given that certificate, and the signed JAR file, a client can use the jarsigner(1) tool to authenti-cate authenticate
cate your signature.
Changing Your Distinguished
Name but Keeping your Key Pair
Suppose your distinguished name changes, for example because you have changed departments or moved to
a different city. If desired, you may still use the public/private key pair you've previously used,
and yet update your distinguished name. For example, suppose your name is Susan Miller, and you cre-ated created
ated your initial key entry with the alias sMiller and the distinguished name
"cn=Susan Miller, ou=Finance Department, o=BlueSoft, c=us"
Suppose you change from the Finance Department to the Accounting Department. You can still use the
previously-generated public/private key pair and yet update your distinguished name by doing the fol-lowing. following.
lowing. First, copy (clone) your key entry:
keytool -keyclone -alias sMiller -dest sMillerNew
(This prompts for the store password and for the initial and destination private key passwords, since
they aren't provided at the command line.) Now you need to change the certificate chain associated
with the copy, so that the first certificate in the chain uses your different distinguished name.
Start by generating a self-signed certificate with the appropriate name:
keytool -selfcert -alias sMillerNew
-dname "cn=Susan Miller, ou=Accounting Department, o=BlueSoft, c=us"
Then generate a Certificate Signing Request based on the information in this new certificate:
keytool -certreq -alias sMillerNew
When you get the CA certificate reply, import it:
keytool -import -alias sMillerNew -file VSSMillerNew.cer
After importing the certificate reply, you may want to remove the initial key entry that used your
old distinguished name:
keytool -delete -alias sMiller
SEE ALSO
jar(1), jarsigner(1)
See (or search java.sun.com) for the following:
Security in the Java 2 Platform @
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/security1.2/index.html
22 June 2004 keytool(1)
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