mysql_ssl_rsa_setup - Online in the Cloud

PROGRAM:

NAME

mysql_ssl_rsa_setup - create SSL/RSA files

SYNOPSIS

mysql_ssl_rsa_setup [options]

DESCRIPTION

This program creates the SSL certificate and key files and RSA key-pair files required to
support secure connections using SSL and secure password exchange using RSA over
unencrypted connections, if those files are missing. mysql_ssl_rsa_setup can also be used
to create new SSL files if the existing ones have expired.

Note
mysql_ssl_rsa_setup uses the openssl command, so its use is contingent on having
OpenSSL installed on your machine.

Another way to generate SSL and RSA files, for MySQL distributions compiled using
OpenSSL, is to have the server generated them automatically. See Section 6.3.13.1,
“Creating SSL and RSA Certificates and Keys using MySQL”.

Important
mysql_ssl_rsa_setup helps lower the barrier to using SSL by making it easier to
generate the required files. However, certificates generated by mysql_ssl_rsa_setup
are self-signed, which is not very secure. After you gain experience using the files
created by mysql_ssl_rsa_setup, consider obtaining a CA certificate from a registered
certificate authority.

Invoke mysql_ssl_rsa_setup like this:

shell> mysql_ssl_rsa_setup [options]

Typical options are --datadir to specify where to create the files, and --verbose to see
the openssl commands that mysql_ssl_rsa_setup executes.

mysql_ssl_rsa_setup attempts to create SSL and RSA files using a default set of file
names. It works as follows:

1. mysql_ssl_rsa_setup checks for the openssl binary at the locations specified by the
PATH environment variable. If openssl is not found, mysql_ssl_rsa_setup does nothing.
If openssl is present, mysql_ssl_rsa_setup looks for default SSL and RSA files in the
MySQL data directory specified by the --datadir option, or the compiled-in data
directory if that option is not given.

2. mysql_ssl_rsa_setup checks the data directory for SSL files with the following names:

ca.pem
server-cert.pem
server-key.pem

3. If any of those files are present, mysql_ssl_rsa_setup creates no SSL files.
Otherwise, it invokes openssl to create them, plus some additional files:

ca.pem Self-signed CA certificate
ca-key.pem CA private key
server-cert.pem Server certificate
server-key.pem Server private key
client-cert.pem Client certificate
client-key.pem Client private key

These files enable secure client connections using SSL; see Section 6.3.12.4,
“Configuring MySQL to Use Secure Connections”.

4. mysql_ssl_rsa_setup checks the data directory for RSA files with the following names:

private_key.pem Private member of private/public key pair
public_key.pem Public member of private/public key pair

5. If any of these files are present, mysql_ssl_rsa_setup creates no RSA files.
Otherwise, it invokes openssl to create them. These files enable secure password
exchange using RSA over unencrypted connections for accounts authenticated by the
sha256_password plugin; see Section 6.3.9.4, “The SHA-256 Authentication Plugin”.

For information about the characteristics of files created by mysql_ssl_rsa_setup, see
Section 6.3.13.1, “Creating SSL and RSA Certificates and Keys using MySQL”.

At startup, the MySQL server automatically uses the SSL files created by
mysql_ssl_rsa_setup to enable SSL if no explicit SSL options are given other than --ssl.
If you prefer to designate the files explicitly, use the --ssl-ca, --ssl-cert, and
--ssl-key options at startup to name the ca.pem, server-cert.pem, and server-key.pem
files, respectively.

The server also automatically uses the RSA files created by mysql_ssl_rsa_setup to enable
RSA if no explicit RSA options are given.

If the server is SSL-enabled, clients need only use --ssl on the command line to use SSL
for the connection. To specify certificate and key files explicitly, use the --ssl-ca,
--ssl-cert, and --ssl-key options to name the ca.pem, client-cert.pem, and client-key.pem
files, respectively. However, some additional client setup may be required first because
mysql_ssl_rsa_setup by default creates those files in the data directory. The permissions
for the data directory normally enable access only to the system account that runs the
MySQL server, so client programs cannot use files located there. To make the files
available, copy them to a directory that is readable (but not writable) by clients:

· For local clients, the MySQL installation directory can be used. For example, if the
data directory is a subdirectory of the installation directory and your current
location is the data directory, you can copy the files like this:

shell> cp ca.pem client-cert.pem client-key.pem ..

· For remote clients, distribute the files using a secure channel to ensure they are not
tampered with during transit.

If the SSL files used for a MySQL installation have expired, you can use
mysql_ssl_rsa_setup to create new ones:

1. Stop the server.

2. Rename or remove the existing SSL files. You may wish to make a backup of them first.
(The RSA files do not expire, so you need not remove them. mysql_ssl_rsa_setup will
see that they exist and not overwrite them.)

3. Run mysql_ssl_rsa_setup with the --datadir option to specify where to create the new
files.

4. Restart the server.

mysql_ssl_rsa_setup supports the following command-line options, which can be specified on
the command line or in the [mysql_ssl_rsa_setup], [mysql_install_db], and [mysqld] groups
of an option file. For information about option files used by MySQL programs, see
Section 4.2.6, “Using Option Files”.

· --help, ?

Display a help message and exit.

· --datadir=dir_name

The path to the directory that mysql_ssl_rsa_setup should check for default SSL and
RSA files and in which it should create files if they are missing. The default is the
compiled-in data directory.

· --suffix=str

The suffix for the Common Name attribute in X509 certificates. The suffix value is
limited to 17 characters. The default is based on the MySQL version number.

· --uid=name, -v

The name of the user who should be the owner of any created files. The value is a user
name, not a numeric user ID. In the absence of this option, files created by
mysql_ssl_rsa_setup are owned by the user who executes it. This option is valid only
if you execute the program as root on a system that supports the chown() system call.
This option was added in MySQL 5.7.8.

· --verbose, -v

Verbose mode. Produce more output about what the program does. For example, the
program shows the openssl commands it runs, and produces output to indicate whether it
skips SSL or RSA file creation because some default file already exists.

· --version, -V

Display version information and exit.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 1997, 2016, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

This documentation is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it only under
the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation;
version 2 of the License.

This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with the program;
if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA or see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

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