SIGNTOOL(1) NSS Security Tools SIGNTOOL(1)
NAME
signtool - Digitally sign objects and files.
SYNOPSIS
signtool [[-b basename]] [[-c Compression Level]] [[-d cert-dir]]
[[-e extension]] [[-f filename]] [[-i installer script]]
[[-h]] [[-H]] [[-v]] [[-w]] [[-G nickname]] [[-J]]
[[-j directory]] [-k keyName] [[--keysize | -s size]] [[-l]]
[[-L]] [[-M]] [[-m metafile]] [[--norecurse]] [[-O]] [[-o]]
[[--outfile]] [[-p password]] [[-t|--token tokenname]] [[-z]]
[[-X]] [[-x name]] [[--verbose value]] [[--leavearc]]
[[-Z jarfile]] [directory-tree] [archive]
STATUS
This documentation is still work in progress. Please contribute to the
initial review in Mozilla NSS bug 836477[1]
DESCRIPTION
The Signing Tool, signtool, creates digital signatures and uses a Java
Archive (JAR) file to associate the signatures with files in a
directory. Electronic software distribution over any network involves
potential security problems. To help address some of these problems,
you can associate digital signatures with the files in a JAR archive.
Digital signatures allow SSL-enabled clients to perform two important
operations:
* Confirm the identity of the individual, company, or other entity
whose digital signature is associated with the files
* Check whether the files have been tampered with since being signed
If you have a signing certificate, you can use Netscape Signing Tool to
digitally sign files and package them as a JAR file. An object-signing
certificate is a special kind of certificate that allows you to
associate your digital signature with one or more files.
An individual file can potentially be signed with multiple digital
signatures. For example, a commercial software developer might sign the
files that constitute a software product to prove that the files are
indeed from a particular company. A network administrator manager might
sign the same files with an additional digital signature based on a
company-generated certificate to indicate that the product is approved
for use within the company.
The significance of a digital signature is comparable to the
significance of a handwritten signature. Once you have signed a file,
it is difficult to claim later that you didn't sign it. In some
situations, a digital signature may be considered as legally binding as
a handwritten signature. Therefore, you should take great care to
ensure that you can stand behind any file you sign and distribute.
For example, if you are a software developer, you should test your code
to make sure it is virus-free before signing it. Similarly, if you are
a network administrator, you should make sure, before signing any code,
that it comes from a reliable source and will run correctly with the
software installed on the machines to which you are distributing it.
Before you can use Netscape Signing Tool to sign files, you must have
an object-signing certificate, which is a special certificate whose
associated private key is used to create digital signatures. For
testing purposes only, you can create an object-signing certificate
with Netscape Signing Tool 1.3. When testing is finished and you are
ready to disitribute your software, you should obtain an object-signing
certificate from one of two kinds of sources:
* An independent certificate authority (CA) that authenticates your
identity and charges you a fee. You typically get a certificate from an
independent CA if you want to sign software that will be distributed
over the Internet.
* CA server software running on your corporate intranet or extranet.
Netscape Certificate Management System provides a complete management
solution for creating, deploying, and managing certificates, including
CAs that issue object-signing certificates.
You must also have a certificate for the CA that issues your signing
certificate before you can sign files. If the certificate authority's
certificate isn't already installed in your copy of Communicator, you
typically install it by clicking the appropriate link on the
certificate authority's web site, for example on the page from which
you initiated enrollment for your signing certificate. This is the case
for some test certificates, as well as certificates issued by Netscape
Certificate Management System: you must download the the CA certificate
in addition to obtaining your own signing certificate. CA certificates
for several certificate authorities are preinstalled in the
Communicator certificate database.
When you receive an object-signing certificate for your own use, it is
automatically installed in your copy of the Communicator client
software. Communicator supports the public-key cryptography standard
known as PKCS #12, which governs key portability. You can, for example,
move an object-signing certificate and its associated private key from
one computer to another on a credit-card-sized device called a smart
card.
OPTIONS
-b basename
Specifies the base filename for the .rsa and .sf files in the
META-INF directory to conform with the JAR format. For example, -b
signatures causes the files to be named signatures.rsa and
signatures.sf. The default is signtool.
-c#
Specifies the compression level for the -J or -Z option. The symbol
# represents a number from 0 to 9, where 0 means no compression and
9 means maximum compression. The higher the level of compression,
the smaller the output but the longer the operation takes. If the
-c# option is not used with either the -J or the -Z option, the
default compression value used by both the -J and -Z options is 6.
-d certdir
Specifies your certificate database directory; that is, the
directory in which you placed your key3.db and cert7.db files. To
specify the current directory, use "-d." (including the period).
The Unix version of signtool assumes ~/.netscape unless told
otherwise. The NT version of signtool always requires the use of
the -d option to specify where the database files are located.
-e extension
Tells signtool to sign only files with the given extension; for
example, use -e".class" to sign only Java class files. Note that
with Netscape Signing Tool version 1.1 and later this option can
appear multiple times on one command line, making it possible to
specify multiple file types or classes to include.
-f commandfile
Specifies a text file containing Netscape Signing Tool options and
arguments in keyword=value format. All options and arguments can be
expressed through this file. For more information about the syntax
used with this file, see "Tips and Techniques".
-G nickname
Generates a new private-public key pair and corresponding
object-signing certificate with the given nickname. The newly
generated keys and certificate are installed into the key and
certificate databases in the directory specified by the -d option.
With the NT version of Netscape Signing Tool, you must use the -d
option with the -G option. With the Unix version of Netscape
Signing Tool, omitting the -d option causes the tool to install the
keys and certificate in the Communicator key and certificate
databases. If you are installing the keys and certificate in the
Communicator databases, you must exit Communicator before using
this option; otherwise, you risk corrupting the databases. In all
cases, the certificate is also output to a file named x509.cacert,
which has the MIME-type application/x-x509-ca-cert. Unlike
certificates normally used to sign finished code to be distributed
over a network, a test certificate created with -G is not signed by
a recognized certificate authority. Instead, it is self-signed. In
addition, a single test signing certificate functions as both an
object-signing certificate and a CA. When you are using it to sign
objects, it behaves like an object-signing certificate. When it is
imported into browser software such as Communicator, it behaves
like an object-signing CA and cannot be used to sign objects. The
-G option is available in Netscape Signing Tool 1.0 and later
versions only. By default, it produces only RSA certificates with
1024-byte keys in the internal token. However, you can use the -s
option specify the required key size and the -t option to specify
the token.
-i scriptname
Specifies the name of an installer script for SmartUpdate. This
script installs files from the JAR archive in the local system
after SmartUpdate has validated the digital signature. For more
details, see the description of -m that follows. The -i option
provides a straightforward way to provide this information if you
don't need to specify any metadata other than an installer script.
-J
Signs a directory of HTML files containing JavaScript and creates
as many archive files as are specified in the HTML tags. Even if
signtool creates more than one archive file, you need to supply the
key database password only once. The -J option is available only in
Netscape Signing Tool 1.0 and later versions. The -J option cannot
be used at the same time as the -Z option. If the -c# option is not
used with the -J option, the default compression value is 6. Note
that versions 1.1 and later of Netscape Signing Tool correctly
recognizes the CODEBASE attribute, allows paths to be expressed for
the CLASS and SRC attributes instead of filenames only, processes
LINK tags and parses HTML correctly, and offers clearer error
messages.
-j directory
Specifies a special JavaScript directory. This option causes the
specified directory to be signed and tags its entries as inline
JavaScript. This special type of entry does not have to appear in
the JAR file itself. Instead, it is located in the HTML page
containing the inline scripts. When you use signtool -v, these
entries are displayed with the string NOT PRESENT.
-k key ... directory
Specifies the nickname (key) of the certificate you want to sign
with and signs the files in the specified directory. The directory
to sign is always specified as the last command-line argument.
Thus, it is possible to write signtool -k MyCert -d . signdir You
may have trouble if the nickname contains a single quotation mark.
To avoid problems, escape the quotation mark using the escape
conventions for your platform. It's also possible to use the -k
option without signing any files or specifying a directory. For
example, you can use it with the -l option to get detailed
information about a particular signing certificate.
-l
Lists signing certificates, including issuing CAs. If any of your
certificates are expired or invalid, the list will so specify. This
option can be used with the -k option to list detailed information
about a particular signing certificate. The -l option is available
in Netscape Signing Tool 1.0 and later versions only.
-L
Lists the certificates in your database. An asterisk appears to the
left of the nickname for any certificate that can be used to sign
objects with signtool.
--leavearc
Retains the temporary .arc (archive) directories that the -J option
creates. These directories are automatically erased by default.
Retaining the temporary directories can be an aid to debugging.
-m metafile
Specifies the name of a metadata control file. Metadata is signed
information attached either to the JAR archive itself or to files
within the archive. This metadata can be any ASCII string, but is
used mainly for specifying an installer script. The metadata file
contains one entry per line, each with three fields: field #1: file
specification, or + if you want to specify global metadata (that
is, metadata about the JAR archive itself or all entries in the
archive) field #2: the name of the data you are specifying; for
example: Install-Script field #3: data corresponding to the name in
field #2 For example, the -i option uses the equivalent of this
line: + Install-Script: script.js This example associates a MIME
type with a file: movie.qt MIME-Type: video/quicktime For
information about the way installer script information appears in
the manifest file for a JAR archive, see The JAR Format on Netscape
DevEdge.
-M
Lists the PKCS #11 modules available to signtool, including smart
cards. The -M option is available in Netscape Signing Tool 1.0 and
later versions only. For information on using Netscape Signing Tool
with smart cards, see "Using Netscape Signing Tool with Smart
Cards". For information on using the -M option to verify FIPS-140-1
validated mode, see "Netscape Signing Tool and FIPS-140-1".
--norecurse
Blocks recursion into subdirectories when signing a directory's
contents or when parsing HTML.
-o
Optimizes the archive for size. Use this only if you are signing
very large archives containing hundreds of files. This option makes
the manifest files (required by the JAR format) considerably
smaller, but they contain slightly less information.
--outfile outputfile
Specifies a file to receive redirected output from Netscape Signing
Tool.
-p password
Specifies a password for the private-key database. Note that the
password entered on the command line is displayed as plain text.
-s keysize
Specifies the size of the key for generated certificate. Use the -M
option to find out what tokens are available. The -s option can be
used with the -G option only.
-t token
Specifies which available token should generate the key and receive
the certificate. Use the -M option to find out what tokens are
available. The -t option can be used with the -G option only.
-v archive
Displays the contents of an archive and verifies the cryptographic
integrity of the digital signatures it contains and the files with
which they are associated. This includes checking that the
certificate for the issuer of the object-signing certificate is
listed in the certificate database, that the CA's digital signature
on the object-signing certificate is valid, that the relevant
certificates have not expired, and so on.
--verbosity value
Sets the quantity of information Netscape Signing Tool generates in
operation. A value of 0 (zero) is the default and gives full
information. A value of -1 suppresses most messages, but not error
messages.
-w archive
Displays the names of signers of any files in the archive.
-x directory
Excludes the specified directory from signing. Note that with
Netscape Signing Tool version 1.1 and later this option can appear
multiple times on one command line, making it possible to specify
several particular directories to exclude.
-z
Tells signtool not to store the signing time in the digital
signature. This option is useful if you want the expiration date of
the signature checked against the current date and time rather than
the time the files were signed.
-Z jarfile
Creates a JAR file with the specified name. You must specify this
option if you want signtool to create the JAR file; it does not do
so automatically. If you don't specify -Z, you must use an external
ZIP tool to create the JAR file. The -Z option cannot be used at
the same time as the -J option. If the -c# option is not used with
the -Z option, the default compression value is 6.
THE COMMAND FILE FORMAT
Entries in a Netscape Signing Tool command file have this general
format: keyword=value Everything before the = sign on a single line is
a keyword, and everything from the = sign to the end of line is a
value. The value may include = signs; only the first = sign on a line
is interpreted. Blank lines are ignored, but white space on a line with
keywords and values is assumed to be part of the keyword (if it comes
before the equal sign) or part of the value (if it comes after the
first equal sign). Keywords are case insensitive, values are generally
case sensitive. Since the = sign and newline delimit the value, it
should not be quoted.
Subsection
basename
Same as -b option.
compression
Same as -c option.
certdir
Same as -d option.
extension
Same as -e option.
generate
Same as -G option.
installscript
Same as -i option.
javascriptdir
Same as -j option.
htmldir
Same as -J option.
certname
Nickname of certificate, as with -k and -l -k options.
signdir
The directory to be signed, as with -k option.
list
Same as -l option. Value is ignored, but = sign must be present.
listall
Same as -L option. Value is ignored, but = sign must be present.
metafile
Same as -m option.
modules
Same as -M option. Value is ignored, but = sign must be present.
optimize
Same as -o option. Value is ignored, but = sign must be present.
password
Same as -p option.
keysize
Same as -s option.
token
Same as -t option.
verify
Same as -v option.
who
Same as -w option.
exclude
Same as -x option.
notime
Same as -z option. value is ignored, but = sign must be present.
jarfile
Same as -Z option.
outfile
Name of a file to which output and error messages will be
redirected. This option has no command-line equivalent.
EXTENDED EXAMPLES
The following example will do this and that
Listing Available Signing Certificates
You use the -L option to list the nicknames for all available
certificates and check which ones are signing certificates.
signtool -L
using certificate directory: /u/jsmith/.netscape
S Certificates
- ------------
BBN Certificate Services CA Root 1
IBM World Registry CA
VeriSign Class 1 CA - Individual Subscriber - VeriSign, Inc.
GTE CyberTrust Root CA
Uptime Group Plc. Class 4 CA
* Verisign Object Signing Cert
Integrion CA
GTE CyberTrust Secure Server CA
AT&T Directory Services
* test object signing cert
Uptime Group Plc. Class 1 CA
VeriSign Class 1 Primary CA
- ------------
Certificates that can be used to sign objects have *'s to their left.
Two signing certificates are displayed: Verisign Object Signing Cert
and test object signing cert.
You use the -l option to get a list of signing certificates only,
including the signing CA for each.
signtool -l
using certificate directory: /u/jsmith/.netscape
Object signing certificates
---------------------------------------
Verisign Object Signing Cert
Issued by: VeriSign, Inc. - Verisign, Inc.
Expires: Tue May 19, 1998
test object signing cert
Issued by: test object signing cert (Signtool 1.0 Testing
Certificate (960187691))
Expires: Sun May 17, 1998
---------------------------------------
For a list including CAs, use the -L option.
Signing a File
1. Create an empty directory.
mkdir signdir
2. Put some file into it.
echo boo > signdir/test.f
3. Specify the name of your object-signing certificate and sign the
directory.
signtool -k MySignCert -Z testjar.jar signdir
using key "MySignCert"
using certificate directory: /u/jsmith/.netscape
Generating signdir/META-INF/manifest.mf file..
--> test.f
adding signdir/test.f to testjar.jar
Generating signtool.sf file..
Enter Password or Pin for "Communicator Certificate DB":
adding signdir/META-INF/manifest.mf to testjar.jar
adding signdir/META-INF/signtool.sf to testjar.jar
adding signdir/META-INF/signtool.rsa to testjar.jar
tree "signdir" signed successfully
4. Test the archive you just created.
signtool -v testjar.jar
using certificate directory: /u/jsmith/.netscape
archive "testjar.jar" has passed crypto verification.
status path
------------ -------------------
verified test.f
Using Netscape Signing Tool with a ZIP Utility
To use Netscape Signing Tool with a ZIP utility, you must have the
utility in your path environment variable. You should use the zip.exe
utility rather than pkzip.exe, which cannot handle long filenames. You
can use a ZIP utility instead of the -Z option to package a signed
archive into a JAR file after you have signed it:
cd signdir
zip -r ../myjar.jar *
adding: META-INF/ (stored 0%)
adding: META-INF/manifest.mf (deflated 15%)
adding: META-INF/signtool.sf (deflated 28%)
adding: META-INF/signtool.rsa (stored 0%)
adding: text.txt (stored 0%)
Generating the Keys and Certificate
The signtool option -G generates a new public-private key pair and
certificate. It takes the nickname of the new certificate as an
argument. The newly generated keys and certificate are installed into
the key and certificate databases in the directory specified by the -d
option. With the NT version of Netscape Signing Tool, you must use the
-d option with the -G option. With the Unix version of Netscape Signing
Tool, omitting the -d option causes the tool to install the keys and
certificate in the Communicator key and certificate databases. In all
cases, the certificate is also output to a file named x509.cacert,
which has the MIME-type application/x-x509-ca-cert.
Certificates contain standard information about the entity they
identify, such as the common name and organization name. Netscape
Signing Tool prompts you for this information when you run the command
with the -G option. However, all of the requested fields are optional
for test certificates. If you do not enter a common name, the tool
provides a default name. In the following example, the user input is in
boldface:
signtool -G MyTestCert
using certificate directory: /u/someuser/.netscape
Enter certificate information. All fields are optional. Acceptable
characters are numbers, letters, spaces, and apostrophes.
certificate common name: Test Object Signing Certificate
organization: Netscape Communications Corp.
organization unit: Server Products Division
state or province: California
country (must be exactly 2 characters): US
username: someuser
email address: someuser AT netscape.com
Enter Password or Pin for "Communicator Certificate DB": [Password will not echo]
generated public/private key pair
certificate request generated
certificate has been signed
certificate "MyTestCert" added to database
Exported certificate to x509.raw and x509.cacert.
The certificate information is read from standard input. Therefore, the
information can be read from a file using the redirection operator (<)
in some operating systems. To create a file for this purpose, enter
each of the seven input fields, in order, on a separate line. Make sure
there is a newline character at the end of the last line. Then run
signtool with standard input redirected from your file as follows:
signtool -G MyTestCert inputfile
The prompts show up on the screen, but the responses will be
automatically read from the file. The password will still be read from
the console unless you use the -p option to give the password on the
command line.
Using the -M Option to List Smart Cards
You can use the -M option to list the PKCS #11 modules, including smart
cards, that are available to signtool:
signtool -d "c:\netscape\users\jsmith" -M
using certificate directory: c:\netscape\users\username
Listing of PKCS11 modules
-----------------------------------------------
1. Netscape Internal PKCS #11 Module
(this module is internally loaded)
slots: 2 slots attached
status: loaded
slot: Communicator Internal Cryptographic Services Version 4.0
token: Communicator Generic Crypto Svcs
slot: Communicator User Private Key and Certificate Services
token: Communicator Certificate DB
2. CryptOS
(this is an external module)
DLL name: core32
slots: 1 slots attached
status: loaded
slot: Litronic 210
token:
-----------------------------------------------
Using Netscape Signing Tool and a Smart Card to Sign Files
The signtool command normally takes an argument of the -k option to
specify a signing certificate. To sign with a smart card, you supply
only the fully qualified name of the certificate.
To see fully qualified certificate names when you run Communicator,
click the Security button in Navigator, then click Yours under
Certificates in the left frame. Fully qualified names are of the format
smart card:certificate, for example "MyCard:My Signing Cert". You use
this name with the -k argument as follows:
signtool -k "MyCard:My Signing Cert" directory
Verifying FIPS Mode
Use the -M option to verify that you are using the FIPS-140-1 module.
signtool -d "c:\netscape\users\jsmith" -M
using certificate directory: c:\netscape\users\jsmith
Listing of PKCS11 modules
-----------------------------------------------
1. Netscape Internal PKCS #11 Module
(this module is internally loaded)
slots: 2 slots attached
status: loaded
slot: Communicator Internal Cryptographic Services Version 4.0
token: Communicator Generic Crypto Svcs
slot: Communicator User Private Key and Certificate Services
token: Communicator Certificate DB
-----------------------------------------------
This Unix example shows that Netscape Signing Tool is using a
FIPS-140-1 module:
signtool -d "c:\netscape\users\jsmith" -M
using certificate directory: c:\netscape\users\jsmith
Enter Password or Pin for "Communicator Certificate DB": [password will not echo]
Listing of PKCS11 modules
-----------------------------------------------
1. Netscape Internal FIPS PKCS #11 Module
(this module is internally loaded)
slots: 1 slots attached
status: loaded
slot: Netscape Internal FIPS-140-1 Cryptographic Services
token: Communicator Certificate DB
-----------------------------------------------
SEE ALSO
signver (1)
The NSS wiki has information on the new database design and how to
configure applications to use it.
o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto
o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
For information about NSS and other tools related to NSS (like JSS),
check out the NSS project wiki at
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. The NSS site relates
directly to NSS code changes and releases.
Mailing lists: https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-crypto
IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki
AUTHORS
The NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape,
Red Hat, Sun, Oracle, Mozilla, and Google.
Authors: Elio Maldonado <emaldona AT redhat.com>, Deon Lackey
<dlackey AT redhat.com>.
LICENSE
Licensed under the Mozilla Public License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL
was not distributed with this file, You can obtain one at
http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
NOTES
1. Mozilla NSS bug 836477
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=836477
nss-tools 3.90.0 Nov 13 2013 SIGNTOOL(1)
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