6 ts - Time Stamping Authority tool (client/server)
12 [B<-rand> file:file...]
13 [B<-config> configfile]
14 [B<-data> file_to_hash]
15 [B<-digest> digest_bytes]
16 [B<-md2>|B<-md4>|B<-md5>|B<-sha>|B<-sha1>|B<-mdc2>|B<-ripemd160>|B<...>]
17 [B<-policy> object_id]
26 [B<-config> configfile]
27 [B<-section> tsa_section]
28 [B<-queryfile> request.tsq]
29 [B<-passin> password_src]
30 [B<-signer> tsa_cert.pem]
31 [B<-inkey> private.pem]
32 [B<-chain> certs_file.pem]
33 [B<-policy> object_id]
36 [B<-out> response.tsr]
43 [B<-data> file_to_hash]
44 [B<-digest> digest_bytes]
45 [B<-queryfile> request.tsq]
48 [B<-CApath> trusted_cert_path]
49 [B<-CAfile> trusted_certs.pem]
50 [B<-untrusted> cert_file.pem]
54 The B<ts> command is a basic Time Stamping Authority (TSA) client and server
55 application as specified in RFC 3161 (Time-Stamp Protocol, TSP). A
56 TSA can be part of a PKI deployment and its role is to provide long
57 term proof of the existence of a certain datum before a particular
58 time. Here is a brief description of the protocol:
64 The TSA client computes a one-way hash value for a data file and sends
69 The TSA attaches the current date and time to the received hash value,
70 signs them and sends the time stamp token back to the client. By
71 creating this token the TSA certifies the existence of the original
72 data file at the time of response generation.
76 The TSA client receives the time stamp token and verifies the
77 signature on it. It also checks if the token contains the same hash
78 value that it had sent to the TSA.
82 There is one DER encoded protocol data unit defined for transporting a time
83 stamp request to the TSA and one for sending the time stamp response
84 back to the client. The B<ts> command has three main functions:
85 creating a time stamp request based on a data file,
86 creating a time stamp response based on a request, verifying if a
87 response corresponds to a particular request or a data file.
89 There is no support for sending the requests/responses automatically
90 over HTTP or TCP yet as suggested in RFC 3161. The users must send the
91 requests either by ftp or e-mail.
95 =head2 Time Stamp Request generation
97 The B<-query> switch can be used for creating and printing a time stamp
98 request with the following options:
102 =item B<-rand> file:file...
104 The files containing random data for seeding the random number
105 generator. Multiple files can be specified, the separator is B<;> for
106 MS-Windows, B<,> for VMS and B<:> for all other platforms. (Optional)
108 =item B<-config> configfile
110 The configuration file to use, this option overrides the
111 B<OPENSSL_CONF> environment variable. Only the OID section
112 of the config file is used with the B<-query> command. (Optional)
114 =item B<-data> file_to_hash
116 The data file for which the time stamp request needs to be
117 created. stdin is the default if neither the B<-data> nor the B<-digest>
118 parameter is specified. (Optional)
120 =item B<-digest> digest_bytes
122 It is possible to specify the message imprint explicitly without the data
123 file. The imprint must be specified in a hexadecimal format, two characters
124 per byte, the bytes optionally separated by colons (e.g. 1A:F6:01:... or
125 1AF601...). The number of bytes must match the message digest algorithm
128 =item B<-md2>|B<-md4>|B<-md5>|B<-sha>|B<-sha1>|B<-mdc2>|B<-ripemd160>|B<...>
130 The message digest to apply to the data file, it supports all the message
131 digest algorithms that are supported by the openssl B<dgst> command.
132 The default is SHA-1. (Optional)
134 =item B<-policy> object_id
136 The policy that the client expects the TSA to use for creating the
137 time stamp token. Either the dotted OID notation or OID names defined
138 in the config file can be used. If no policy is requested the TSA will
139 use its own default policy. (Optional)
143 No nonce is specified in the request if this option is
144 given. Otherwise a 64 bit long pseudo-random none is
145 included in the request. It is recommended to use nonce to
146 protect against replay-attacks. (Optional)
150 The TSA is expected to include its signing certificate in the
153 =item B<-in> request.tsq
155 This option specifies a previously created time stamp request in DER
156 format that will be printed into the output file. Useful when you need
157 to examine the content of a request in human-readable
161 =item B<-out> request.tsq
163 Name of the output file to which the request will be written. Default
164 is stdout. (Optional)
168 If this option is specified the output is human-readable text format
169 instead of DER. (Optional)
173 =head2 Time Stamp Response generation
175 A time stamp response (TimeStampResp) consists of a response status
176 and the time stamp token itself (ContentInfo), if the token generation was
177 successful. The B<-reply> command is for creating a time stamp
178 response or time stamp token based on a request and printing the
179 response/token in human-readable format. If B<-token_out> is not
180 specified the output is always a time stamp response (TimeStampResp),
181 otherwise it is a time stamp token (ContentInfo).
185 =item B<-config> configfile
187 The configuration file to use, this option overrides the
188 B<OPENSSL_CONF> environment variable. See B<CONFIGURATION FILE
189 OPTIONS> for configurable variables. (Optional)
191 =item B<-section> tsa_section
193 The name of the config file section conatining the settings for the
194 response generation. If not specified the default TSA section is
195 used, see B<CONFIGURATION FILE OPTIONS> for details. (Optional)
197 =item B<-queryfile> request.tsq
199 The name of the file containing a DER encoded time stamp request. (Optional)
201 =item B<-passin> password_src
203 Specifies the password source for the private key of the TSA. See
204 B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> in L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)>. (Optional)
206 =item B<-signer> tsa_cert.pem
208 The signer certificate of the TSA in PEM format. The TSA signing
209 certificate must have exactly one extended key usage assigned to it:
210 timeStamping. The extended key usage must also be critical, otherwise
211 the certificate is going to be refused. Overrides the B<signer_cert>
212 variable of the config file. (Optional)
214 =item B<-inkey> private.pem
216 The signer private key of the TSA in PEM format. Overrides the
217 B<signer_key> config file option. (Optional)
219 =item B<-chain> certs_file.pem
221 The collection of certificates in PEM format that will all
222 be included in the response in addition to the signer certificate if
223 the B<-cert> option was used for the request. This file is supposed to
224 contain the certificate chain for the signer certificate from its
225 issuer upwards. The B<-reply> command does not build a certificate
226 chain automatically. (Optional)
228 =item B<-policy> object_id
230 The default policy to use for the response unless the client
231 explicitly requires a particular TSA policy. The OID can be specified
232 either in dotted notation or with its name. Overrides the
233 B<default_policy> config file option. (Optional)
235 =item B<-in> response.tsr
237 Specifies a previously created time stamp response or time stamp token
238 (if B<-token_in> is also specified) in DER format that will be written
239 to the output file. This option does not require a request, it is
240 useful e.g. when you need to examine the content of a response or
241 token or you want to extract the time stamp token from a response. If
242 the input is a token and the output is a time stamp response a default
243 'granted' status info is added to the token. (Optional)
247 This flag can be used together with the B<-in> option and indicates
248 that the input is a DER encoded time stamp token (ContentInfo) instead
249 of a time stamp response (TimeStampResp). (Optional)
251 =item B<-out> response.tsr
253 The response is written to this file. The format and content of the
254 file depends on other options (see B<-text>, B<-token_out>). The default is
259 The output is a time stamp token (ContentInfo) instead of time stamp
260 response (TimeStampResp). (Optional)
264 If this option is specified the output is human-readable text format
265 instead of DER. (Optional)
269 Specifying an engine (by its unique B<id> string) will cause B<ts>
270 to attempt to obtain a functional reference to the specified engine,
271 thus initialising it if needed. The engine will then be set as the default
272 for all available algorithms. Default is builtin. (Optional)
276 =head2 Time Stamp Response verification
278 The B<-verify> command is for verifying if a time stamp response or time
279 stamp token is valid and matches a particular time stamp request or
280 data file. The B<-verify> command does not use the configuration file.
284 =item B<-data> file_to_hash
286 The response or token must be verified against file_to_hash. The file
287 is hashed with the message digest algorithm specified in the token.
288 The B<-digest> and B<-queryfile> options must not be specified with this one.
291 =item B<-digest> digest_bytes
293 The response or token must be verified against the message digest specified
294 with this option. The number of bytes must match the message digest algorithm
295 specified in the token. The B<-data> and B<-queryfile> options must not be
296 specified with this one. (Optional)
298 =item B<-queryfile> request.tsq
300 The original time stamp request in DER format. The B<-data> and B<-digest>
301 options must not be specified with this one. (Optional)
303 =item B<-in> response.tsr
305 The time stamp response that needs to be verified in DER format. (Mandatory)
309 This flag can be used together with the B<-in> option and indicates
310 that the input is a DER encoded time stamp token (ContentInfo) instead
311 of a time stamp response (TimeStampResp). (Optional)
313 =item B<-CApath> trusted_cert_path
315 The name of the directory containing the trused CA certificates of the
316 client. See the similar option of L<verify(1)|verify(1)> for additional
317 details. Either this option or B<-CAfile> must be specified. (Optional)
320 =item B<-CAfile> trusted_certs.pem
322 The name of the file containing a set of trusted self-signed CA
323 certificates in PEM format. See the similar option of
324 L<verify(1)|verify(1)> for additional details. Either this option
325 or B<-CApath> must be specified.
328 =item B<-untrusted> cert_file.pem
330 Set of additional untrusted certificates in PEM format which may be
331 needed when building the certificate chain for the TSA's signing
332 certificate. This file must contain the TSA signing certificate and
333 all intermediate CA certificates unless the response includes them.
338 =head1 CONFIGURATION FILE OPTIONS
340 The B<-query> and B<-reply> commands make use of a configuration file
341 defined by the B<OPENSSL_CONF> environment variable. See L<config(5)|config(5)>
342 for a general description of the syntax of the config file. The
343 B<-query> command uses only the symbolic OID names section
344 and it can work without it. However, the B<-reply> command needs the
345 config file for its operation.
347 When there is a command line switch equivalent of a variable the
348 switch always overrides the settings in the config file.
352 =item B<tsa> section, B<default_tsa>
354 This is the main section and it specifies the name of another section
355 that contains all the options for the B<-reply> command. This default
356 section can be overridden with the B<-section> command line switch. (Optional)
360 See L<ca(1)|ca(1)> for description. (Optional)
364 See L<ca(1)|ca(1)> for description. (Optional)
368 See L<ca(1)|ca(1)> for description. (Optional)
372 The name of the file containing the hexadecimal serial number of the
373 last time stamp response created. This number is incremented by 1 for
374 each response. If the file does not exist at the time of response
375 generation a new file is created with serial number 1. (Mandatory)
377 =item B<crypto_device>
379 Specifies the OpenSSL engine that will be set as the default for
380 all available algorithms. The default value is builtin, you can specify
381 any other engines supported by OpenSSL (e.g. use chil for the NCipher HSM).
386 TSA signing certificate in PEM format. The same as the B<-signer>
387 command line option. (Optional)
391 A file containing a set of PEM encoded certificates that need to be
392 included in the response. The same as the B<-chain> command line
397 The private key of the TSA in PEM format. The same as the B<-inkey>
398 command line option. (Optional)
400 =item B<default_policy>
402 The default policy to use when the request does not mandate any
403 policy. The same as the B<-policy> command line option. (Optional)
405 =item B<other_policies>
407 Comma separated list of policies that are also acceptable by the TSA
408 and used only if the request explicitly specifies one of them. (Optional)
412 The list of message digest algorithms that the TSA accepts. At least
413 one algorithm must be specified. (Mandatory)
417 The accuracy of the time source of the TSA in seconds, milliseconds
418 and microseconds. E.g. secs:1, millisecs:500, microsecs:100. If any of
419 the components is missing zero is assumed for that field. (Optional)
421 =item B<clock_precision_digits>
423 Specifies the maximum number of digits, which represent the fraction of
424 seconds, that need to be included in the time field. The trailing zeroes
425 must be removed from the time, so there might actually be fewer digits,
426 or no fraction of seconds at all. Supported only on UNIX platforms.
427 The maximum value is 6, default is 0.
432 If this option is yes the responses generated by this TSA can always
433 be ordered, even if the time difference between two responses is less
434 than the sum of their accuracies. Default is no. (Optional)
438 Set this option to yes if the subject name of the TSA must be included in
439 the TSA name field of the response. Default is no. (Optional)
441 =item B<ess_cert_id_chain>
443 The SignedData objects created by the TSA always contain the
444 certificate identifier of the signing certificate in a signed
445 attribute (see RFC 2634, Enhanced Security Services). If this option
446 is set to yes and either the B<certs> variable or the B<-chain> option
447 is specified then the certificate identifiers of the chain will also
448 be included in the SigningCertificate signed attribute. If this
449 variable is set to no, only the signing certificate identifier is
450 included. Default is no. (Optional)
454 =head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
456 B<OPENSSL_CONF> contains the path of the configuration file and can be
457 overridden by the B<-config> command line option.
461 All the examples below presume that B<OPENSSL_CONF> is set to a proper
462 configuration file, e.g. the example configuration file
463 openssl/apps/openssl.cnf will do.
465 =head2 Time Stamp Request
467 To create a time stamp request for design1.txt with SHA-1
468 without nonce and policy and no certificate is required in the response:
470 openssl ts -query -data design1.txt -no_nonce \
473 To create a similar time stamp request with specifying the message imprint
476 openssl ts -query -digest b7e5d3f93198b38379852f2c04e78d73abdd0f4b \
477 -no_nonce -out design1.tsq
479 To print the content of the previous request in human readable format:
481 openssl ts -query -in design1.tsq -text
483 To create a time stamp request which includes the MD-5 digest
484 of design2.txt, requests the signer certificate and nonce,
485 specifies a policy id (assuming the tsa_policy1 name is defined in the
486 OID section of the config file):
488 openssl ts -query -data design2.txt -md5 \
489 -policy tsa_policy1 -cert -out design2.tsq
491 =head2 Time Stamp Response
493 Before generating a response a signing certificate must be created for
494 the TSA that contains the B<timeStamping> critical extended key usage extension
495 without any other key usage extensions. You can add the
496 'extendedKeyUsage = critical,timeStamping' line to the user certificate section
497 of the config file to generate a proper certificate. See L<req(1)|req(1)>,
498 L<ca(1)|ca(1)>, L<x509(1)|x509(1)> for instructions. The examples
499 below assume that cacert.pem contains the certificate of the CA,
500 tsacert.pem is the signing certificate issued by cacert.pem and
501 tsakey.pem is the private key of the TSA.
503 To create a time stamp response for a request:
505 openssl ts -reply -queryfile design1.tsq -inkey tsakey.pem \
506 -signer tsacert.pem -out design1.tsr
508 If you want to use the settings in the config file you could just write:
510 openssl ts -reply -queryfile design1.tsq -out design1.tsr
512 To print a time stamp reply to stdout in human readable format:
514 openssl ts -reply -in design1.tsr -text
516 To create a time stamp token instead of time stamp response:
518 openssl ts -reply -queryfile design1.tsq -out design1_token.der -token_out
520 To print a time stamp token to stdout in human readable format:
522 openssl ts -reply -in design1_token.der -token_in -text -token_out
524 To extract the time stamp token from a response:
526 openssl ts -reply -in design1.tsr -out design1_token.der -token_out
528 To add 'granted' status info to a time stamp token thereby creating a
531 openssl ts -reply -in design1_token.der -token_in -out design1.tsr
533 =head2 Time Stamp Verification
535 To verify a time stamp reply against a request:
537 openssl ts -verify -queryfile design1.tsq -in design1.tsr \
538 -CAfile cacert.pem -untrusted tsacert.pem
540 To verify a time stamp reply that includes the certificate chain:
542 openssl ts -verify -queryfile design2.tsq -in design2.tsr \
545 To verify a time stamp token against the original data file:
546 openssl ts -verify -data design2.txt -in design2.tsr \
549 To verify a time stamp token against a message imprint:
550 openssl ts -verify -digest b7e5d3f93198b38379852f2c04e78d73abdd0f4b \
551 -in design2.tsr -CAfile cacert.pem
553 You could also look at the 'test' directory for more examples.
557 If you find any bugs or you have suggestions please write to
558 Zoltan Glozik <zglozik@opentsa.org>. Known issues:
562 =item * No support for time stamps over SMTP, though it is quite easy
563 to implement an automatic e-mail based TSA with L<procmail(1)|procmail(1)>
564 and L<perl(1)|perl(1)>. HTTP server support is provided in the form of
565 a separate apache module. HTTP client support is provided by
566 L<tsget(1)|tsget(1)>. Pure TCP/IP protocol is not supported.
568 =item * The file containing the last serial number of the TSA is not
569 locked when being read or written. This is a problem if more than one
570 instance of L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)> is trying to create a time stamp
571 response at the same time. This is not an issue when using the apache
572 server module, it does proper locking.
574 =item * Look for the FIXME word in the source files.
576 =item * The source code should really be reviewed by somebody else, too.
578 =item * More testing is needed, I have done only some basic tests (see
587 Zoltan Glozik <zglozik@opentsa.org>, OpenTSA project (http://www.opentsa.org)
591 L<tsget(1)|tsget(1)>, L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)>, L<req(1)|req(1)>,
592 L<x509(1)|x509(1)>, L<ca(1)|ca(1)>, L<genrsa(1)|genrsa(1)>,
593 L<config(5)|config(5)>