rgca VS mkcert

Shameless plug, there's also https://github.com/linsomniac/rgca

I've been using it at work for the last year for our certs and it's been quite nice. It can do pre/post hooks as well, so it directly commits the updated CA serial files to our git repo.

I built a TLS certificate tool targeted towards my company usecase for internal certificates (developers, OpenVPN, internal certificates): https://github.com/linsomniac/rgca

It's big features are that the cert generation can entirely be controlled from the command line, config, or environment, or any combination of the above, and it has tooling for the situation where I have an existing cert but want to add or remove a name from it. It also has pre/post scripts so I can have it do things like add it to the Ansible repo, vault encrypt it, and commit it. Beats the 10+ year old script that didn't work with Subject Alt Names.

Over the last year I've written several CLIs in click and typed and settles on typer because there's a little less repetition. Typer let me do some really nice things in my certificate generation tool like chaining multiple config files, the environment, and the command line to create certs. https://github.com/linsomniac/rgca

I've always found the OpenSSL tools painful for managing internal self-signed certificates. At work we make fairly heavy use of them, and are starting to make even heavier use. Our use is more than EasyRSA can provide. So I've been working on a new CA tool:

https://github.com/linsomniac/rgca

In a nod to OpenSSL config files, it can take almost all values: from the command line, from the environment, or from one or more config files. It also allows "pre" and "post" commands so you can run a script after generating the cert, for example for server certs I have a "post" script that will copy it into the appropriate location in the Ansible repo, encrypt the key file, and commit it all.

I still need to implement a "renew" which will take an existing cert, update the expiration date, but also allow adding/removing SANs, possibly other features. But I've been using it to generate all our certs recently and it's working great.

At work we use self-signed certificates for internal and developer use. I inherited some scripts that wrapped the openssl CLI but weren't supporting new uses like the prevalence of Subject Alternatives Names. So I reimagined it and have published what I have so far here: https://github.com/linsomniac/rgca With an appropriate config file, the typical use would be: rgca ca new example.com rgca cert new user1.example.com rgca cert new --san test.example.com --san test2.example.com user2.example.com Basically everything can be configured by settings in (possibly multiple) config files, environment variables, and CLI options. Expected use is that things like the subject values (country, state, locality, email) are set in the config file, so the CLI can be short. Instead of: rgca cert new --C US --ST Colorado --L Fort Collins [...] It should be compatible with existing CA setups with OpenSSL CLI tools, it writes the "serial" and "index.txt" files. Looking for feedback on the direction this is going in. Thanks!

It can also run pre and post scripts to, say update your serial/index in git, and deploy keys to the server, say you are rekeying every 30 days...

Interested in feedback.

https://github.com/linsomniac/rgca

The experimental HTTPS flag relies on mkcert, designed for a single development system. If you run a Docker container, the flag won’t configure your local browser to trust its certificate.

The author mentions difficulties with HTTPS and trying stuff locally.

I've had some success with mkcert [1] to easily create certificates trusted by browsers, I can suggest to look into this. You are your own root CA, I think it can work without an internet connection.

[1] https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert/

Solution: mkcert – Your Zero-Configuration HTTPS Enabler Meet mkcert, a user-friendly, zero-configuration tool designed for creating locally-trusted development certificates. Find it on its GitHub page and follow the instructions tailored for your operating system. For Mac users employing Homebrew, simply execute the following commands in your terminal:

Well, Certifi does not ship with your company's certificates! So requesting internal services may come with additional painful extra steps! Also for a local development environment that uses mkcert for example!

My project, getlocalcert.net[1] may be the one you're thinking of.

Since I'm also building in this space, I'll give my perspective. Local certificate generation is complicated. If you spend the time, you can figure it out, but it's begging for a simpler solution. You can use tools like mkcert[2] for anything that's local to your machine. However, if you're already using ACME in production, maybe you'd prefer to use ACME locally? I think that's what Anchor offers, a unified approach.

There's a couple references in the Anchor blog about solving the distribution problem by building better tooling[3]. I'm eager to learn more, that's a tough nut to crack. My theory for getlocalcert is that the distribution problem is too difficult (for me) to solve, so I layer the tool on top of Let's Encrypt certificates instead. The end result for both tools is a trusted TLS certificate issued via ACME automation.

1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36674224

2. https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert

3. https://blog.anchor.dev/the-acme-gap-introducing-anchor-part...

Looks like step-ca/step-cli [1] and mkcert [2] have been mentioned. Another related tool is XCA [3] - a gui tool to manage CAs and server/client TLS certificates. It takes off some of the tedium in using openssl cli directly. It also stores the certs and keys in an encrypted database. It doesn't solve the problem of getting the root CA certificate into the system store or of hosting the revocation list. I use XCA to create and store the root CA. Intermediate CAs signed with it are passed to other issuers like vault and step-issuer.

[1] https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/

[2] https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert

[3] https://hohnstaedt.de/xca/

We use mkcert for this, it works wonderfully.

https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert