pamrsakp8

Usage

Overview

The pamrsakp is a utility script for creating RSA keypairs that can be used with the pam_rsa PAM-authentication module.

Arguments

All six arguments are required.

*

user User for whom the RSA keypair is created.

*

hostname Target hostname for which the RSA keypair is created. The generated public key (which is actually contained within an X509 PEM-format certificate) is meant to be stored on the target host.

*

pubdir Directory into which pamrsakp should output the generated RSA public key

*

privdir Directory into which pamrsakp should create a subdirectory based on a SHA1 hashed hostname. Depending on the value of hashtype, pamrsakp creates the RSA private key in the subdirectory either with a SHA1 hashed name, or with a name that is not hashed. NOTE: NEVER EVER LOSE YOUR PRIVATE KEY.

*

hashtype Specify sha1 to generate RSA private key with its filename SHA1 hashed or specify none for no hashing.

*

usepassphrase Specify yes to protect your RSA private key with passphrase-based encryption. THIS IS RECOMMENDED UNLESS YOU ARE SURE OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING. You will be prompted for a passphrase and the passphrase will be read from standard input. Specify no for an unencrypted RSA private key. Use with caution.

Examples

Issuing a command:

pamrsakp spock startrek.example.com /safedir/pub /safedir/priv sha1 yes

creates an RSA keypair for user spock. The public key is to be stored on host startrek.example.com. User spock would presumably use a USB memory stick (or other portable media) to store the corresponding RSA private key. Private key's filename is based on a SHA1 hash, and the private key itself is encrypted with a passphrase.

Files

/etc/security/pamrsakp.cnf

pamrsakp's OpenSSL defaults

Notes

This script requires bash and will probably explode if any other shell is used