IKE Public Key Databases and Commands

The ikecert(1M) command manipulates the local host's public-key databases. Because IKE uses these databases to authenticate the Phase 1 exchange when the ike.config file requires public key certificates, the directories must be populated before activating the in.iked daemon. Three subcommands handle each of the three databases: certlocal, certdb, and certrldb.

ikecert certlocal Command

The certlocal subcommand manages the private-key database in the /etc/inet/secret/ike.privatekeys directory. Options to the subcommand enable you to add, view, and remove private keys. The command also creates either a self-signed certificate or a certificate request. The -ks option creates a self-signed certificate, and the -kc option creates a certificate request.

Parameters that you pass to the certlocal subcommand when you create a private key must be reflected in the ike.config file, as shown in the following table.

Table 21–2 Correspondences Between ike certlocal and ike.config Values

certlocal options	ike.config entry	Notes
-A Subject Alternate Name	cert_trust Subject Alternate Name	A nickname that uniquely identifies the certificate. Possible values are IP address, email address, and domain name.
-D X.509 Distinguished Name	cert_root X.509 Distinguished Name	The full name of the certificate authority that includes Country, Organization name, Organizational Unit, and Common Name.
-t dsa-sha1	auth_method dss_sig	Slightly slower than RSA. Is not patented.
-t rsa-md5 -t rsa-sha1	auth_method rsa_sig	Slightly faster than DSA. Patent expired in September 2000.  The RSA public key must be large enough to encrypt the biggest payload, Typically, an identity payload, such as Distinguished Name, is the biggest.
-t rsa-md5 -t rsa-sha1	auth_method rsa_encrypt	RSA encryption hides identities in IKE from eavesdroppers, but requires that the IKE peers know each other's public keys.

If you issue a certificate request with the ikecert certlocal –kc command, you send the output of the command to your vendor. The vendor then creates keying material. You use the vendor's keying material as input to the certdb and certrldb subcommands.

ikecert certdb Command

The certdb subcommand manages the public-key database, /etc/inet/ike/publickeys. Options to the subcommand enable you to add, view, and remove public keys and certificates. The command accepts, as input, certificates that were generated by the ikecert certlocal –ks command on a communicating system. See How to Configure IKE With Self-Signed Public Certificates for the procedure. The command also accepts the certificate that you receive from a PKI or CA as input. See How to Configure IKE With Public Keys Signed by a Certificate Authority for the procedure.

ikecert certrldb Command

The certrldb subcommand manages the certificate revocation list (CRL) database, /etc/inet/ike/crls. The crls database maintains the revocation lists for public keys. Certificates that are no longer valid are on this list. When PKIs provide you with CRLs, you install them in the CRL database with the ikecert certrldb command. See How to Update a Certificate Revocation List for the procedure.

/etc/inet/ike/publickeys Directory

The /etc/inet/ike/publickeys directory contains the public part of a public-private key pair and its certificate in files, or “slots”. The /etc/inet/ike directory is protected at 0755. The public-key databases that are stored under it are world-readable (0644). You use the ikecert certdb command to populate the directory.

The files contain, in encoded form, the X.509 distinguished name of a certificate that was generated on another system. If you are using self-signed certificates, you use the certificate that you receive from the administrator of the communicating system as input to the command. If you are using certificates from a PKI, you install two pieces of keying material from the vendor into this database — a certificate based on material you sent to the vendor, and a CA from the vendor.

An evaluation copy of the iPlanet CMS, a PKI, is available on the Media Kit in the installation package.

/etc/inet/secret/ike.privatekeys Directory

The ike.privatekeys directory holds private key files that are part of a public-private key pair, keying material for ISAKMP SAs. The directory is protected at 0700. The private key in this database must have a public key counterpart in the publickeys database.The ikecert certlocal command populates this directory. Private keys are not effective until their public key counterparts, self-signed certificates or CAs, are installed in the /etc/inet/ike/publickeys directory.

/etc/inet/ike/crls Directory

The /etc/inet/ike/crls directory contains certificate revocation list (CRL) files. Each file corresponds to a public certificate file in the /etc/inet/ike/publickeys/ directory. PKI vendors provide the CRLs for their certificates. You use the ikecert certrldb command to populate the database.