.. _mozilla_projects_nss_tools_signtool: NSS tools : signtool ==================== .. container:: | Name |    signtool — Digitally sign objects and files. | Synopsis |    signtool [-k keyName] `-h <-h>`__ `-H <-H>`__ `-l <-l>`__ `-L <-L>`__ `-M <-M>`__ `-v <-v>`__ `-w <-w>`__ |    `-G nickname <-G_nickname>`__ `-s size <--keysize>`__ `-b basename <-b_basename>`__ [[-c Compression |    Level] ] [[-d cert-dir] ] [[-i installer script] ] [[-m metafile] ] [[-x |    name] ] [[-f filename] ] [[-t|--token tokenname] ] [[-e extension] ] [[-o] |    ] [[-z] ] [[-X] ] [[--outfile] ] [[--verbose value] ] [[--norecurse] ] |    [[--leavearc] ] [[-j directory] ] [[-Z jarfile] ] [[-O] ] [[-p password] ] |    [directory-tree] [archive] | 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 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". |    -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 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. |    -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. For more information about the use of |            the -G option, see "Generating Test Object-Signing |            Certificates""Generating Test Object-Signing Certificates" on page |            1241. |    -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. |    -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. |    -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@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 |    [1]\ `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, and Sun. |    Authors: Elio Maldonado , Deon Lackey |    . | Copyright |    (c) 2010, Red Hat, Inc. Licensed under the GNU Public License version 2. | References |    Visible links |    1. `http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/ `__