make-ssl-cert(8)

💖 make-ssl-cert — hey bestie, let's make you a cert 💖

okay so real talk, this is make-ssl-cert, and it lives in section 8 of the System Manager's Manual 🌸 she's a little beauty.

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✨ NAME ✨

make-ssl-cert — a Debconf wrapper for openssl 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

make-ssl-cert [OPTION]... template output-combined-key-certificate
make-ssl-cert [OPTION]... template output-key output-certificate
make-ssl-cert [OPTION]... generate-default-snakeoil

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so make-ssl-cert is literally just a simple debconf-to-openssl wrapper that makes self-signed certificates for you 🦋 no drama, no tears, she handles it.

here's the tea ☕ — she needs a source template to work from, like for example /usr/share/ssl-cert/ssleay.cnf, and then she drops the brand new generated certificate into whatever output file(s) you told her about. slay 💅

and ooooh bestie, if you invoke her with generate-default-snakeoil? she's gonna generate these two iconic files for you:

• /etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem 👑
• /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key 🔑

ngl "snakeoil" is such a vibe. she said default certs? we're calling them SNAKEOIL. iconic behavior fr fr 🐍

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✨ OPTIONS ✨

here's the whole rundown, bestie — every single one, no skips 💜

• --force-overwrite — always make a new certificate, even if the file is already sitting right there. and for the girlies on backwards compatibility with 1.0.x, you can also hand her this option as the last argument too. flexible queen ✨
• --no-overwrite — never ever overwrite a file that already exists 😤 even if the old certificate's key length is too small, or even if it's using an obsolete signature algorithm. she said hands off, that's somebody's file. periodt 🫶
• --expiration-days N — makes the new certificate expire in N days, bestie ⏳ the default is 3650. so yeah, ten years, she's playing the long game 🌈

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✨ SEE ALSO ✨

• openssl(1) — go say hi to her mum 💖

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✨ AUTHOR ✨

the program author is Thom May <thom@debian.org> 🎀 and the manual page was written for completeness by Fabio M. Di Nitto <fabbione@fabbione.net>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but like, may be used by others too, she's not gatekeeping 💅).

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okay that's the whole page bestie, you're officially certified 📜✨ this was page make-ssl-cert(8) straight outta the System Manager's Manual — go forth and generate something gorgeous 💖🦋🌸