# community.crypto.openssl_csr module – Generate OpenSSL Certificate Signing Request (CSR)

Note

This module is part of the community.crypto collection (version 2.12.0).

To install it, use: `ansible-galaxy collection install community.crypto`. You need further requirements to be able to use this module, see Requirements for details.

To use it in a playbook, specify: `community.crypto.openssl_csr`.

## Synopsis

- Please note that the module regenerates an existing CSR if it does not match the module’s options, or if it seems to be corrupt. If you are concerned that this could overwrite your existing CSR, consider using the backup option.

- This module allows one to (re)generate OpenSSL certificate signing requests.

- This module supports the subjectAltName, keyUsage, extendedKeyUsage, basicConstraints and OCSP Must Staple extensions.

## Requirements

The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.

- cryptography >= 1.3

## Parameters

Parameter | Comments
--- | ---
attributes aliases: attr string | The attributes the resulting filesystem object should have. To get supported flags look at the man page for chattr on the target system. This string should contain the attributes in the same order as the one displayed by lsattr. The `=` operator is assumed as default, otherwise `+` or `-` operators need to be included in the string.

authority_cert_issuer

list / elements=string

Names that will be present in the authority cert issuer field of the certificate signing request.

Values must be prefixed by their options. (i.e., `email`, `URI`, `DNS`, `RID`, `IP`, `dirName`, `otherName` and the ones specific to your CA)

Example: `DNS:ca.example.org`

If specified, authority_cert_serial_number must also be specified.

Please note that commercial CAs ignore this value, respectively use a value of their own choice. Specifying this option is mostly useful for self-signed certificates or for own CAs.

Note that this is only supported if the `cryptography` backend is used!

The `AuthorityKeyIdentifier` extension will only be added if at least one of authority_key_identifier, authority_cert_issuer and authority_cert_serial_number is specified.

authority_cert_serial_number

integer

The authority cert serial number.

If specified, authority_cert_issuer must also be specified.

Note that this is only supported if the `cryptography` backend is used!

Please note that commercial CAs ignore this value, respectively use a value of their own choice. Specifying this option is mostly useful for self-signed certificates or for own CAs.

The `AuthorityKeyIdentifier` extension will only be added if at least one of authority_key_identifier, authority_cert_issuer and authority_cert_serial_number is specified.

authority_key_identifier

string

The authority key identifier as a hex string, where two bytes are separated by colons.

Example: `00:11:22:33:44:55:66:77:88:99:aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff:00:11:22:33`

Please note that commercial CAs ignore this value, respectively use a value of their own choice. Specifying this option is mostly useful for self-signed certificates or for own CAs.

Note that this is only supported if the `cryptography` backend is used!

The `AuthorityKeyIdentifier` extension will only be added if at least one of authority_key_identifier, authority_cert_issuer and authority_cert_serial_number is specified.

backup

boolean

Create a backup file including a timestamp so you can get the original CSR back if you overwrote it with a new one by accident.

Choices:

- `false` ← (default)

- `true`

basic_constraints aliases: basicConstraints list / elements=string | Indicates basic constraints, such as if the certificate is a CA.

basic_constraints_critical

aliases: basicConstraints_critical

boolean

Should the basicConstraints extension be considered as critical.

Choices:

- `false` ← (default)

- `true`

common_name aliases: CN, commonName string | The commonName field of the certificate signing request subject.
country_name aliases: C, countryName string | The countryName field of the certificate signing request subject.

create_subject_key_identifier

boolean

Create the Subject Key Identifier from the public key.

Please note that commercial CAs can ignore the value, respectively use a value of their own choice instead. Specifying this option is mostly useful for self-signed certificates or for own CAs.

Note that this is only supported if the `cryptography` backend is used!

Choices:

- `false` ← (default)

- `true`

crl_distribution_points list / elements=dictionary added in community.crypto 1.4.0 | Allows to specify one or multiple CRL distribution points. Only supported by the `cryptography` backend.
crl_issuer list / elements=string | Information about the issuer of the CRL.
full_name list / elements=string | Describes how the CRL can be retrieved. Mutually exclusive with relative_name. Example: `URI:https://ca.example.com/revocations.crl`.

reasons

list / elements=string

List of reasons that this distribution point can be used for when performing revocation checks.

Choices:

- `"key_compromise"`

- `"ca_compromise"`

- `"affiliation_changed"`

- `"superseded"`

- `"cessation_of_operation"`

- `"certificate_hold"`

- `"privilege_withdrawn"`

- `"aa_compromise"`

relative_name list / elements=string | Describes how the CRL can be retrieved relative to the CRL issuer. Mutually exclusive with full_name. Example: `/CN=example.com`. Can only be used when cryptography >= 1.6 is installed.
digest string | The digest used when signing the certificate signing request with the private key. Default: `"sha256"`
email_address aliases: E, emailAddress string | The emailAddress field of the certificate signing request subject.
extended_key_usage aliases: extKeyUsage, extendedKeyUsage list / elements=string | Additional restrictions (for example client authentication, server authentication) on the allowed purposes for which the public key may be used.

extended_key_usage_critical

aliases: extKeyUsage_critical, extendedKeyUsage_critical

boolean

Should the extkeyUsage extension be considered as critical.

Choices:

- `false` ← (default)

- `true`

force

boolean

Should the certificate signing request be forced regenerated by this ansible module.

Choices:

- `false` ← (default)

- `true`

group string | Name of the group that should own the filesystem object, as would be fed to chown. When left unspecified, it uses the current group of the current user unless you are root, in which case it can preserve the previous ownership.
key_usage aliases: keyUsage list / elements=string | This defines the purpose (for example encipherment, signature, certificate signing) of the key contained in the certificate.

key_usage_critical

aliases: keyUsage_critical

boolean

Should the keyUsage extension be considered as critical.

Choices:

- `false` ← (default)

- `true`

locality_name aliases: L, localityName string | The localityName field of the certificate signing request subject.

mode

any

The permissions the resulting filesystem object should have.

For those used to /usr/bin/chmod remember that modes are actually octal numbers. You must either add a leading zero so that Ansible’s YAML parser knows it is an octal number (like `0644` or `01777`) or quote it (like `'644'` or `'1777'`) so Ansible receives a string and can do its own conversion from string into number.

Giving Ansible a number without following one of these rules will end up with a decimal number which will have unexpected results.

As of Ansible 1.8, the mode may be specified as a symbolic mode (for example, `u+rwx` or `u=rw,g=r,o=r`).

If `mode` is not specified and the destination filesystem object does not exist, the default `umask` on the system will be used when setting the mode for the newly created filesystem object.

If `mode` is not specified and the destination filesystem object does exist, the mode of the existing filesystem object will be used.

Specifying `mode` is the best way to ensure filesystem objects are created with the correct permissions. See CVE-2020-1736 for further details.

name_constraints_critical

boolean

added in community.crypto 1.1.0

Should the Name Constraints extension be considered as critical.

Choices:

- `false` ← (default)

- `true`

name_constraints_excluded list / elements=string added in community.crypto 1.1.0 | For CA certificates, this specifies a list of identifiers which describe subtrees of names that this CA is not allowed to issue certificates for. Values must be prefixed by their options. (i.e., `email`, `URI`, `DNS`, `RID`, `IP`, `dirName`, `otherName` and the ones specific to your CA).
name_constraints_permitted list / elements=string added in community.crypto 1.1.0 | For CA certificates, this specifies a list of identifiers which describe subtrees of names that this CA is allowed to issue certificates for. Values must be prefixed by their options. (i.e., `email`, `URI`, `DNS`, `RID`, `IP`, `dirName`, `otherName` and the ones specific to your CA).

ocsp_must_staple

aliases: ocspMustStaple

boolean

Indicates that the certificate should contain the OCSP Must Staple extension (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7633).

Choices:

- `false` ← (default)

- `true`

ocsp_must_staple_critical

aliases: ocspMustStaple_critical

boolean

Should the OCSP Must Staple extension be considered as critical.

Note that according to the RFC, this extension should not be marked as critical, as old clients not knowing about OCSP Must Staple are required to reject such certificates (see https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7633#section-4).

Choices:

- `false` ← (default)

- `true`

organization_name aliases: O, organizationName string | The organizationName field of the certificate signing request subject.
organizational_unit_name aliases: OU, organizationalUnitName string | The organizationalUnitName field of the certificate signing request subject.
owner string | Name of the user that should own the filesystem object, as would be fed to chown. When left unspecified, it uses the current user unless you are root, in which case it can preserve the previous ownership. Specifying a numeric username will be assumed to be a user ID and not a username. Avoid numeric usernames to avoid this confusion.
path path / required | The name of the file into which the generated OpenSSL certificate signing request will be written.
privatekey_content string added in community.crypto 1.0.0 | The content of the private key to use when signing the certificate signing request. Either privatekey_path or privatekey_content must be specified if state is `present`, but not both.
privatekey_passphrase string | The passphrase for the private key. This is required if the private key is password protected.
privatekey_path path | The path to the private key to use when signing the certificate signing request. Either privatekey_path or privatekey_content must be specified if state is `present`, but not both.

return_content

boolean

added in community.crypto 1.0.0

If set to `true`, will return the (current or generated) CSR’s content as csr.

Choices:

- `false` ← (default)

- `true`

select_crypto_backend

string

Determines which crypto backend to use.

The default choice is `auto`, which tries to use `cryptography` if available.

If set to `cryptography`, will try to use the cryptography library.

Choices:

- `"auto"` ← (default)

- `"cryptography"`

selevel string | The level part of the SELinux filesystem object context. This is the MLS/MCS attribute, sometimes known as the `range`. When set to `_default`, it will use the `level` portion of the policy if available.
serole string | The role part of the SELinux filesystem object context. When set to `_default`, it will use the `role` portion of the policy if available.
setype string | The type part of the SELinux filesystem object context. When set to `_default`, it will use the `type` portion of the policy if available.
seuser string | The user part of the SELinux filesystem object context. By default it uses the `system` policy, where applicable. When set to `_default`, it will use the `user` portion of the policy if available.

state

string

Whether the certificate signing request should exist or not, taking action if the state is different from what is stated.

Choices:

- `"absent"`

- `"present"` ← (default)

state_or_province_name aliases: ST, stateOrProvinceName string | The stateOrProvinceName field of the certificate signing request subject.
subject dictionary | Key/value pairs that will be present in the subject name field of the certificate signing request. If you need to specify more than one value with the same key, use a list as value. If the order of the components is important, use subject_ordered. Mutually exclusive with subject_ordered.

subject_alt_name

aliases: subjectAltName

list / elements=string

Subject Alternative Name (SAN) extension to attach to the certificate signing request.

Values must be prefixed by their options. (These are `email`, `URI`, `DNS`, `RID`, `IP`, `dirName`, `otherName`, and the ones specific to your CA).

Note that if no SAN is specified, but a common name, the common name will be added as a SAN except if `useCommonNameForSAN` is set to false.

More at https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5280#section-4.2.1.6.

subject_alt_name_critical

aliases: subjectAltName_critical

boolean

Should the subjectAltName extension be considered as critical.

Choices:

- `false` ← (default)

- `true`

subject_key_identifier

string

The subject key identifier as a hex string, where two bytes are separated by colons.

Example: `00:11:22:33:44:55:66:77:88:99:aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff:00:11:22:33`

Please note that commercial CAs ignore this value, respectively use a value of their own choice. Specifying this option is mostly useful for self-signed certificates or for own CAs.

Note that this option can only be used if create_subject_key_identifier is `false`.

Note that this is only supported if the `cryptography` backend is used!

subject_ordered

list / elements=dictionary

added in community.crypto 2.0.0

A list of dictionaries, where every dictionary must contain one key/value pair. This key/value pair will be present in the subject name field of the certificate signing request.

If you want to specify more than one value with the same key in a row, you can use a list as value.

Mutually exclusive with subject, and any other subject field option, such as country_name, state_or_province_name, locality_name, organization_name, organizational_unit_name, common_name, or email_address.

unsafe_writes

boolean

Influence when to use atomic operation to prevent data corruption or inconsistent reads from the target filesystem object.

By default this module uses atomic operations to prevent data corruption or inconsistent reads from the target filesystem objects, but sometimes systems are configured or just broken in ways that prevent this. One example is docker mounted filesystem objects, which cannot be updated atomically from inside the container and can only be written in an unsafe manner.

This option allows Ansible to fall back to unsafe methods of updating filesystem objects when atomic operations fail (however, it doesn’t force Ansible to perform unsafe writes).

IMPORTANT! Unsafe writes are subject to race conditions and can lead to data corruption.

Choices:

- `false` ← (default)

- `true`

use_common_name_for_san

aliases: useCommonNameForSAN

boolean

If set to `true`, the module will fill the common name in for `subject_alt_name` with `DNS:` prefix if no SAN is specified.

Choices:

- `false`

- `true` ← (default)

version

integer

The version of the certificate signing request.

The only allowed value according to RFC 2986 is 1.

This option no longer accepts unsupported values since community.crypto 2.0.0.

Choices:

- `1` ← (default)

## Attributes

Attribute | Support | Description
--- | --- | ---
check_mode | Support: full | Can run in `check_mode` and return changed status prediction without modifying target.
diff_mode | Support: full | Will return details on what has changed (or possibly needs changing in `check_mode`), when in diff mode.
safe_file_operations | Support: full | Uses Ansible’s strict file operation functions to ensure proper permissions and avoid data corruption.

## Notes

Note

- If the certificate signing request already exists it will be checked whether subjectAltName, keyUsage, extendedKeyUsage and basicConstraints only contain the requested values, whether OCSP Must Staple is as requested, and if the request was signed by the given private key.

## See Also

See also

community.crypto.openssl_csr_pipe

  Generate OpenSSL Certificate Signing Request (CSR).

community.crypto.x509_certificate

  Generate and/or check OpenSSL certificates.

community.crypto.x509_certificate_pipe

  Generate and/or check OpenSSL certificates.

community.crypto.openssl_dhparam

  Generate OpenSSL Diffie-Hellman Parameters.

community.crypto.openssl_pkcs12

  Generate OpenSSL PKCS#12 archive.

community.crypto.openssl_privatekey

  Generate OpenSSL private keys.

community.crypto.openssl_privatekey_pipe

  Generate OpenSSL private keys without disk access.

community.crypto.openssl_publickey

  Generate an OpenSSL public key from its private key.

community.crypto.openssl_csr_info

  Provide information of OpenSSL Certificate Signing Requests (CSR).

## Examples

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL Certificate Signing Request
      community.crypto.openssl_csr:
        path: /etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.csr
        privatekey_path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
        common_name: www.ansible.com

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL Certificate Signing Request with an inline key
      community.crypto.openssl_csr:
        path: /etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.csr
        privatekey_content: "{{ private_key_content }}"
        common_name: www.ansible.com

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL Certificate Signing Request with a passphrase protected private key
      community.crypto.openssl_csr:
        path: /etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.csr
        privatekey_path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
        privatekey_passphrase: ansible
        common_name: www.ansible.com

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL Certificate Signing Request with Subject information
      community.crypto.openssl_csr:
        path: /etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.csr
        privatekey_path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
        country_name: FR
        organization_name: Ansible
        email_address: jdoe@ansible.com
        common_name: www.ansible.com

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL Certificate Signing Request with subjectAltName extension
      community.crypto.openssl_csr:
        path: /etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.csr
        privatekey_path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
        subject_alt_name: 'DNS:www.ansible.com,DNS:m.ansible.com'

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL CSR with subjectAltName extension with dynamic list
      community.crypto.openssl_csr:
        path: /etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.csr
        privatekey_path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
        subject_alt_name: "{{ item.value | map('regex_replace', '^', 'DNS:') | list }}"
      with_dict:
        dns_server:
        - www.ansible.com
        - m.ansible.com

    - name: Force regenerate an OpenSSL Certificate Signing Request
      community.crypto.openssl_csr:
        path: /etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.csr
        privatekey_path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
        force: true
        common_name: www.ansible.com

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL Certificate Signing Request with special key usages
      community.crypto.openssl_csr:
        path: /etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.csr
        privatekey_path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
        common_name: www.ansible.com
        key_usage:
          - digitalSignature
          - keyAgreement
        extended_key_usage:
          - clientAuth

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL Certificate Signing Request with OCSP Must Staple
      community.crypto.openssl_csr:
        path: /etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.csr
        privatekey_path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
        common_name: www.ansible.com
        ocsp_must_staple: true

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL Certificate Signing Request for WinRM Certificate authentication
      community.crypto.openssl_csr:
        path: /etc/ssl/csr/winrm.auth.csr
        privatekey_path: /etc/ssl/private/winrm.auth.pem
        common_name: username
        extended_key_usage:
        - clientAuth
        subject_alt_name: otherName:1.3.6.1.4.1.311.20.2.3;UTF8:username@localhost

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL Certificate Signing Request with a CRL distribution point
      community.crypto.openssl_csr:
        path: /etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.csr
        privatekey_path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
        common_name: www.ansible.com
        crl_distribution_points:
          - full_name:
              - "URI:https://ca.example.com/revocations.crl"
            crl_issuer:
              - "URI:https://ca.example.com/"
            reasons:
              - key_compromise
              - ca_compromise
              - cessation_of_operation

## Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key | Description
--- | ---
backup_file string | Name of backup file created. Returned: changed and if backup is `true` Sample: `"/path/to/www.ansible.com.csr.2019-03-09@11:22~"`
basicConstraints list / elements=string | Indicates if the certificate belongs to a CA Returned: changed or success Sample: `["CA:TRUE", "pathLenConstraint:0"]`
csr string added in community.crypto 1.0.0 | The (current or generated) CSR’s content. Returned: if state is `present` and return_content is `true`
extendedKeyUsage list / elements=string | Additional restriction on the public key purposes Returned: changed or success Sample: `["clientAuth"]`
filename string | Path to the generated Certificate Signing Request Returned: changed or success Sample: `"/etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.csr"`
keyUsage list / elements=string | Purpose for which the public key may be used Returned: changed or success Sample: `["digitalSignature", "keyAgreement"]`
name_constraints_excluded list / elements=string added in community.crypto 1.1.0 | List of excluded subtrees the CA cannot sign certificates for. Returned: changed or success Sample: `["email:.com"]`
name_constraints_permitted list / elements=string added in community.crypto 1.1.0 | List of permitted subtrees to sign certificates for. Returned: changed or success Sample: `["email:.somedomain.com"]`
ocsp_must_staple boolean | Indicates whether the certificate has the OCSP Must Staple feature enabled Returned: changed or success Sample: `false`
privatekey string | Path to the TLS/SSL private key the CSR was generated for Will be `none` if the private key has been provided in privatekey_content. Returned: changed or success Sample: `"/etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem"`
subject list / elements=list | A list of the subject tuples attached to the CSR Returned: changed or success Sample: `[["CN", "www.ansible.com"], ["O", "Ansible"]]`
subjectAltName list / elements=string | The alternative names this CSR is valid for Returned: changed or success Sample: `["DNS:www.ansible.com", "DNS:m.ansible.com"]`

### Authors

- Yanis Guenane (@Spredzy)

- Felix Fontein (@felixfontein)

### Collection links

Issue Tracker Repository (Sources) Submit a bug report Request a feature Communication