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community.crypto.openssl_privatekey – Generate OpenSSL private keys

Note

This plugin is part of the community.crypto collection (version 1.4.0).

To install it use: ansible-galaxy collection install community.crypto.

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

Synopsis

  • Keys are generated in PEM format.
  • One can generate RSA, DSA, ECC or EdDSA private keys.
  • Please note that the module regenerates private keys if they don’t match the module’s options. In particular, if you provide another passphrase (or specify none), change the keysize, etc., the private key will be regenerated. If you are concerned that this could overwrite your private key, consider using the backup option.
  • The module can use the cryptography Python library, or the pyOpenSSL Python library. By default, it tries to detect which one is available. This can be overridden with the select_crypto_backend option. Please note that the PyOpenSSL backend was deprecated in Ansible 2.9 and will be removed in community.crypto 2.0.0.
  • This module allows one to (re)generate OpenSSL private keys.

Requirements

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

  • Either cryptography >= 1.2.3 (older versions might work as well)
  • Or pyOpenSSL

Parameters

Parameter Choices/Defaults Comments
attributes
string
added in 2.3 of ansible.builtin
The attributes the resulting file or directory 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.

aliases: attr
backup
boolean
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
Create a backup file including a timestamp so you can get the original private key back if you overwrote it with a new one by accident.
cipher
string
The cipher to encrypt the private key. (Valid values can be found by running `openssl list -cipher-algorithms` or `openssl list-cipher-algorithms`, depending on your OpenSSL version.)
When using the cryptography backend, use auto.
curve
string
    Choices:
  • secp224r1
  • secp256k1
  • secp256r1
  • secp384r1
  • secp521r1
  • secp192r1
  • brainpoolP256r1
  • brainpoolP384r1
  • brainpoolP512r1
  • sect163k1
  • sect163r2
  • sect233k1
  • sect233r1
  • sect283k1
  • sect283r1
  • sect409k1
  • sect409r1
  • sect571k1
  • sect571r1
Note that not all curves are supported by all versions of cryptography.
For maximal interoperability, secp384r1 or secp256r1 should be used.
We use the curve names as defined in the IANA registry for TLS.
Please note that all curves except secp224r1, secp256k1, secp256r1, secp384r1 and secp521r1 are discouraged for new private keys.
force
boolean
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
Should the key be regenerated even if it already exists.
format
string
added in 1.0.0 of community.crypto
    Choices:
  • pkcs1
  • pkcs8
  • raw
  • auto
  • auto_ignore ←
Determines which format the private key is written in. By default, PKCS1 (traditional OpenSSL format) is used for all keys which support it. Please note that not every key can be exported in any format.
The value auto selects a fromat based on the key format. The value auto_ignore does the same, but for existing private key files, it will not force a regenerate when its format is not the automatically selected one for generation.
Note that if the format for an existing private key mismatches, the key is *regenerated* by default. To change this behavior, use the format_mismatch option.
The format option is only supported by the cryptography backend. The pyopenssl backend will fail if a value different from auto_ignore is used.
format_mismatch
string
added in 1.0.0 of community.crypto
    Choices:
  • regenerate ←
  • convert
Determines behavior of the module if the format of a private key does not match the expected format, but all other parameters are as expected.
If set to regenerate (default), generates a new private key.
If set to convert, the key will be converted to the new format instead.
Only supported by the cryptography backend.
group
string
Name of the group that should own the file/directory, as would be fed to chown.
mode
raw
The permissions the resulting file or directory 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 file does not exist, the default umask on the system will be used when setting the mode for the newly created file.
If mode is not specified and the destination file does exist, the mode of the existing file will be used.
Specifying mode is the best way to ensure files are created with the correct permissions. See CVE-2020-1736 for further details.
owner
string
Name of the user that should own the file/directory, as would be fed to chown.
passphrase
string
The passphrase for the private key.
path
path / required
Name of the file in which the generated TLS/SSL private key will be written. It will have 0600 mode if mode is not explicitly set.
regenerate
string
added in 1.0.0 of community.crypto
    Choices:
  • never
  • fail
  • partial_idempotence
  • full_idempotence ←
  • always
Allows to configure in which situations the module is allowed to regenerate private keys. The module will always generate a new key if the destination file does not exist.
By default, the key will be regenerated when it doesn't match the module's options, except when the key cannot be read or the passphrase does not match. Please note that this changed for Ansible 2.10. For Ansible 2.9, the behavior was as if full_idempotence is specified.
If set to never, the module will fail if the key cannot be read or the passphrase isn't matching, and will never regenerate an existing key.
If set to fail, the module will fail if the key does not correspond to the module's options.
If set to partial_idempotence, the key will be regenerated if it does not conform to the module's options. The key is not regenerated if it cannot be read (broken file), the key is protected by an unknown passphrase, or when they key is not protected by a passphrase, but a passphrase is specified.
If set to full_idempotence, the key will be regenerated if it does not conform to the module's options. This is also the case if the key cannot be read (broken file), the key is protected by an unknown passphrase, or when they key is not protected by a passphrase, but a passphrase is specified. Make sure you have a backup when using this option!
If set to always, the module will always regenerate the key. This is equivalent to setting force to yes.
Note that if format_mismatch is set to convert and everything matches except the format, the key will always be converted, except if regenerate is set to always.
return_content
boolean
added in 1.0.0 of community.crypto
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
If set to yes, will return the (current or generated) private key's content as privatekey.
Note that especially if the private key is not encrypted, you have to make sure that the returned value is treated appropriately and not accidentally written to logs etc.! Use with care!
Use Ansible's no_log task option to avoid the output being shown. See also https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/reference_appendices/faq.html#how-do-i-keep-secret-data-in-my-playbook.
select_crypto_backend
string
    Choices:
  • auto ←
  • cryptography
  • pyopenssl
Determines which crypto backend to use.
The default choice is auto, which tries to use cryptography if available, and falls back to pyopenssl.
If set to pyopenssl, will try to use the pyOpenSSL library.
If set to cryptography, will try to use the cryptography library.
Please note that the pyopenssl backend has been deprecated in Ansible 2.9, and will be removed in community.crypto 2.0.0. From that point on, only the cryptography backend will be available.
selevel
string
The level part of the SELinux file 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 file context.
When set to _default, it will use the role portion of the policy if available.
setype
string
The type part of the SELinux file context.
When set to _default, it will use the type portion of the policy if available.
seuser
string
The user part of the SELinux file 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.
size
integer
Default:
4096
Size (in bits) of the TLS/SSL key to generate.
state
string
    Choices:
  • absent
  • present ←
Whether the private key should exist or not, taking action if the state is different from what is stated.
type
string
    Choices:
  • DSA
  • ECC
  • Ed25519
  • Ed448
  • RSA ←
  • X25519
  • X448
The algorithm used to generate the TLS/SSL private key.
Note that ECC, X25519, X448, Ed25519 and Ed448 require the cryptography backend. X25519 needs cryptography 2.5 or newer, while X448, Ed25519 and Ed448 require cryptography 2.6 or newer. For ECC, the minimal cryptography version required depends on the curve option.
unsafe_writes
boolean
added in 2.2 of ansible.builtin
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
Influence when to use atomic operation to prevent data corruption or inconsistent reads from the target file.
By default this module uses atomic operations to prevent data corruption or inconsistent reads from the target files, but sometimes systems are configured or just broken in ways that prevent this. One example is docker mounted files, 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 files 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.

See Also

See also

community.crypto.openssl_privatekey_pipe

The official documentation on the community.crypto.openssl_privatekey_pipe module.

community.crypto.openssl_privatekey_info

The official documentation on the community.crypto.openssl_privatekey_info module.

community.crypto.x509_certificate

The official documentation on the community.crypto.x509_certificate module.

community.crypto.x509_certificate_pipe

The official documentation on the community.crypto.x509_certificate_pipe module.

community.crypto.openssl_csr

The official documentation on the community.crypto.openssl_csr module.

community.crypto.openssl_csr_pipe

The official documentation on the community.crypto.openssl_csr_pipe module.

community.crypto.openssl_dhparam

The official documentation on the community.crypto.openssl_dhparam module.

community.crypto.openssl_pkcs12

The official documentation on the community.crypto.openssl_pkcs12 module.

community.crypto.openssl_publickey

The official documentation on the community.crypto.openssl_publickey module.

Examples

- name: Generate an OpenSSL private key with the default values (4096 bits, RSA)
  community.crypto.openssl_privatekey:
    path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem

- name: Generate an OpenSSL private key with the default values (4096 bits, RSA) and a passphrase
  community.crypto.openssl_privatekey:
    path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
    passphrase: ansible
    cipher: aes256

- name: Generate an OpenSSL private key with a different size (2048 bits)
  community.crypto.openssl_privatekey:
    path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
    size: 2048

- name: Force regenerate an OpenSSL private key if it already exists
  community.crypto.openssl_privatekey:
    path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
    force: yes

- name: Generate an OpenSSL private key with a different algorithm (DSA)
  community.crypto.openssl_privatekey:
    path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
    type: DSA

Return Values

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

Key Returned Description
backup_file
string
changed and if backup is yes
Name of backup file created.

Sample:
/path/to/privatekey.pem.2019-03-09@11:22~
curve
string
changed or success, and type is ECC
Elliptic curve used to generate the TLS/SSL private key.

Sample:
secp256r1
filename
string
changed or success
Path to the generated TLS/SSL private key file.

Sample:
/etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
fingerprint
dictionary
changed or success
The fingerprint of the public key. Fingerprint will be generated for each hashlib.algorithms available.
The PyOpenSSL backend requires PyOpenSSL >= 16.0 for meaningful output.

Sample:
{'md5': '84:75:71:72:8d:04:b5:6c:4d:37:6d:66:83:f5:4c:29', 'sha1': '51:cc:7c:68:5d:eb:41:43:88:7e:1a:ae:c7:f8:24:72:ee:71:f6:10', 'sha224': 'b1:19:a6:6c:14:ac:33:1d:ed:18:50:d3:06:5c:b2:32:91:f1:f1:52:8c:cb:d5:75:e9:f5:9b:46', 'sha256': '41:ab:c7:cb:d5:5f:30:60:46:99:ac:d4:00:70:cf:a1:76:4f:24:5d:10:24:57:5d:51:6e:09:97:df:2f:de:c7', 'sha384': '85:39:50:4e:de:d9:19:33:40:70:ae:10:ab:59:24:19:51:c3:a2:e4:0b:1c:b1:6e:dd:b3:0c:d9:9e:6a:46:af:da:18:f8:ef:ae:2e:c0:9a:75:2c:9b:b3:0f:3a:5f:3d', 'sha512': 'fd:ed:5e:39:48:5f:9f:fe:7f:25:06:3f:79:08:cd:ee:a5:e7:b3:3d:13:82:87:1f:84:e1:f5:c7:28:77:53:94:86:56:38:69:f0:d9:35:22:01:1e:a6:60:...:0f:9b'}
privatekey
string
added in 1.0.0 of community.crypto
 if state is present and return_content is yes
The (current or generated) private key's content.
Will be Base64-encoded if the key is in raw format.
size
integer
changed or success
Size (in bits) of the TLS/SSL private key.

Sample:
4096
type
string
changed or success
Algorithm used to generate the TLS/SSL private key.

Sample:
RSA


Authors

  • Yanis Guenane (@Spredzy)
  • Felix Fontein (@felixfontein)

© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2021 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.11/collections/community/crypto/openssl_privatekey_module.html