Certificates
Overview
Sub-menu: /certificate
The general menu is used to manage certificates, add templates, issue certificates, and manage CRL and SCEP Clients.
Certificate Template
Certificate templates are used to prepare a desired certificate for signing.
The Certificate template is deleted right after a certificate is signed or a certificate request command is executed
/certificate
add name=CA-Template common-name=CAtemp key-usage=key-cert-sign,crl-sign
add name=Server common-name=server
add name=Client common-name=client
To print out certificates:
[admin@4k11] /certificate> print detail
Flags: K - private-key; L - crl; C - smart-card-key; A - authority; I - issued, R - revoked; E - expired; T - trusted
0 name="CA-Template" key-type=rsa common-name="CAtemp" key-size=2048 subject-alt-name="" days-valid=365 key-usage=key-cert-sign,crl-sign
1 name="Server" key-type=rsa common-name="server" key-size=2048 subject-alt-name="" days-valid=365
key-usage=digital-signature,key-encipherment,data-encipherment,key-cert-sign,crl-sign,tls-server,tls-client
2 name="Client" key-type=rsa common-name="client" key-size=2048 subject-alt-name="" days-valid=365
key-usage=digital-signature,key-encipherment,data-encipherment,key-cert-sign,crl-sign,tls-server,tls-client
Certificate template properties
During the certificate template creation process, it is possible to define and configure multiple parameters to meet specific requirements.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| common-name (string) | Certificate common name |
| copy-from(name) | Certificate name from which to copy general settings |
| country (string) | Certificate issuer country |
| days-valid(days Default: 365) | Days certificate will be valid after signing |
| digest-algorithm (md5 | sha1 | sha256 | sha384 | sha512 Default: sha256) | Certificate public key algorithm |
| key-size (1024 | 1536 | 2048 | 4096 | 8192 | prime256v1 | secp384r1 | secp521r1 Default: 2048) | Certificate public key size |
| key-usage (code-sign | crl-sign | decipher-only | dvcs | encipher-only key-cert-sign | ocsp-sign | tls-client | content-commitment | data-encipherment | digital-signature | email-protect | key-agreement | key-encipherment | timestamp | tls-server Default: digital-signature,key-encipherment,data-encipherment,key-cert-sign,crl-sign,tls-server,tls-client) | Certificate usage |
| locality (string) | Certificate issuer locality |
| name (string) | Certificate name |
| organization (string) | Certificate issuer organization |
| state (string) | Certificate issuer state |
| subject-alt-name (DNS: | IP: | email:) | Certificate subject alternative name |
| trusted (no | yes) | Whether to trust certificate. If *yes,*certificate will be used for host certificate verification. |
| trust-store(all | capsman | dns | email | ipsec | mqtt | openflow | radius | sstp | userman | www | api | container | dot1x | fetch | lora | netwatch | ovpn | tr069 | wpa-eap Default: all) | Specify the service which can use a specific certificate for certificate verification or trust-chain creation (www, sstp). |
| unit (string) | Certificate issuer organizational unit |
Certificate properties
For a signed certificate, most properties are read-only, with the exception of name, trusted, and trust-store.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| acme-status (string) | ACME client status |
| common-name (string) | Certificate common name |
| copy-from(name) | Certificate name from which to copy general settings |
| country (string) | Certificate issuer country |
| days-valid(days) | Days certificate will be valid after signing |
| digest-algorithm (md5 | sha1 | sha256 | sha384 | sha512) | Certificate public key algorithm |
| directory-url*(string)* | ACME client directory URL |
| domain-names*(string)* | ACME client used domain names |
| key-size (1024 | 1536 | 2048 | 4096 | 8192 | prime256v1 | secp384r1 | secp521r1) | Certificate public key size |
| key-usage (code-sign | crl-sign | decipher-only | dvcs | encipher-only key-cert-sign | ocsp-sign | tls-client | content-commitment | data-encipherment | digital-signature | email-protect | key-agreement | key-encipherment | timestamp | tls-server) | Certificate usage |
| locality (string) | Certificate issuer locality |
| organization (string) | Certificate issuer organization |
| revoked*(date)* | Certificate revoke time (only for certificates that are signed and revoked in a specific device) |
| state (string) | Certificate issuer state |
| subject-alt-name (DNS | IP | email) | Certificate subject alternative name |
| trusted (no | yes) | Whether to trust the certificate. If yes, certificate will be used for host certificate verification. |
| trust-store(all | capsman | dns | email | ipsec | mqtt | openflow | radius | sstp | userman | www | api | container | dot1x | fetch | lora | netwatch | ovpn | tr069 | wpa-eap) | Specify service which can use a specific certificate for certificate verification or trust-chain creation (www, sstp). |
| unit (string) | Certificate issuer organizational unit |
| serial-number (string) | Certificate serial number |
| fingerprint (string) | Certificate fingerprint |
| akid (string) | Certificate authority ID |
| skid (string) | Certificate subject ID |
| issuer (string) | Certificate Authority |
| invalid-before (date) | Date and time before which a certificate expired |
| invalid-after*(date)* | Date and time after which a certificate expired |
| expires-after*(time)* | Time left before expiration |
| key-type (string) | Private key type |
| ca*(string)* | CA certificate name (shown only for certificates that are signed in a specific device) |
If the CA certificate is removed, all issued certificates in the chain are also removed.
Sign Certificate
Certificates should be signed. In the following example, we will sign certificates and add a CRL URL for the server certificate:
/certificate
sign CA-Template
sign Client
sign Server ca-crl-host=192.168.88.1 name=ServerCA
Let's check if the certificates are signed:
[admin@MikroTik] /certificate> print
Flags: K - private-key; L - crl; A - authority; T - trusted
Columns: NAME, COMMON-name, FINGERPRINT
# NAME COMMON FINGERPRINT
0 K AT CA-Template CAtemp 0c7aaa7607a4dde1bbf33deaae6be7bac9fe4064ba47d64e8a73dcefad6cfc38
1 K AT Client client b3ff25ecb166ea41e15733a7493003f3ea66310c10390c33e98fe32364c3659f
2 KLAT ServerCA server 152b88c9d81f4b765a59e2302e01efd1fbf11ceeed6e59f4974e87787a5bb980
For a video example, click here.
The time of the key signing process depends on the key size of a specific certificate. With values of 4k and higher, it might take substantial time to sign this specific certificate on less powerful CPU-based devices.
Export Certificate
It is possible to export client certificates with keys and CA certificates in two formats - PEM or PKCS12.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| export-passphrase (string Default: none) sensitive | Passphrase that will be used for exported certificate private key encryption. |
| file-name (stringDefault: cert_export_[Certificate name].crt/key/pkcs12) | Exported certificate file name. |
| type (pem | pkcs12 Default: pem) | Exported certificate type. In case of PEM, certificate will be exported with CRT extension, if export-passphrase is specified, also an encrypted private KEY file will be exported. In case of PKCS12, certificate will be exported with P12 extension, if export-passphrase is specified, exported certificate will contain an encrypted private key. |
/certificate
- CA-Template
- ServerCA export-passphrase=yourpassphrase
- Client export-passphrase=yourpassphrase
Exported certificates are available under the /file section:
[admin@MikroTik] > file print
Columns: NAME, TYPE, SIZE, CREATION-TIME
# NAME TYPE SIZE CREATION-TIME
0 skins directory 2019-01-19 00:00:04
1 flash directory 2019-01-19 01:00:00
2 pub directory 2019-01-19 02:42:16
3 cert_export_CA-Template.crt .crt file 1119 2019-01-19 04:15:21
4 cert_export_ServerCA.crt .crt file 1229 2019-01-19 04:15:42
5 cert_export_ServerCA.key .key file 1858 2019-01-19 04:15:42
6 cert_export_Client.crt .crt file 1164 2019-01-19 04:15:55
7 cert_export_Client.key .key file 1858 2019-01-19 04:15:55
Exporting certificates requires "sensitive" user policy.
Import Certificate
To import certificates, certificates must be uploaded to a device using one of the file upload methods.
Certificates must be imported as a file.
Supported are PEM, DER, CRT, PKCS12 formats.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| name (string Default: file-name_number) | A certificate name that will be shown in the certificate manager |
| file-name (string) | A file name that will be imported |
| passphrase (string Default: none) sensitive | File passphrase if there is one |
| trusted (yes | no Default: yes) | Adds trusted flag for the imported certificate |
| trust-store(all | capsman | dns | email | ipsec | mqtt | openflow | radius | | sstp | userman | www | api | container | dot1x | fetch | lora | netwatch | ovpn | tr069 | wpa-eap Default: all) | Specify the service which can use a specific certificate for certificate verification or trust-chain creation (www, sstp). |
[admin@MikroTik] > /certificate/import file-name=certificate_file_name name=name_example passphrase=file_passphrase
certificates-imported: 2
private-keys-imported: 1
files-imported: 1
decryption-failures: 0
keys-with-no-: 0
[admin@MikroTik] > /certificate/print
Flags: K - PRIVATE-KEY; T - TRUSTED
Columns: NAME, COMMON-NAME
# NAME COMMON-NAME
0 KT name_example cert
1 T name_example_1 ca
Settings
/certificate/settings allows configuring Certificate Revocation List (CRL) settings.
By default, CRL is not utilized, and certificates are not verified for revocation status.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| builtin-trust-store (all | default | capsman | dns | email | ipsec | mqtt | openflow | radius | | sstp | userman | www | api | container | dot1x | fetch | lora | netwatch | ovpn | tr069 | wpa-eap | untrusted Default: default) | Services that can use built-in trust store authorities for certificate verification. The current defaults:
|
| crl-download (yes | no Default: no) | Whether to automatically download/update CRL |
| crl-store (ram | system Default: ram) | Where to store downloaded CRL information CRL will be automatically renewed every hour for certificates which have "trusted=yes" using http protocol (ldap and ftp are currently unsupported) |
| crl-use (yes | no Default: no) | Whether to use CRL |
If /certificate/settings/set crl-use is set to yes, RouterOS will check CRL for each certificate in a certificate chain, therefore, an entire certificate chain should be installed into a device - starting from Root CA, intermediate CAs (if there are such), and certificate that is used for a specific service.
An example on importing a root certificate.
ACME client
The ACME client automates the acquisition and renewal of multiple TLS certificates via ACME.
To add a new ACME client via CLI, use the command /certificate/add-acme.
Existing ACME clients appear in the Certificates view and are marked with the a(acme-manage) flag.
Domain names must resolve to the router, and TCP port 80 must be accessible from the WAN (HTTP-01 challenge is used). For example.sn.mynetname.net domain name, DNS-01 challenge is used.
Certificates are automatically renewed when 80% of their validity period has elapsed.
If the certificate is not retrieved during the initial setup, a new ACME client must be added.
Properties
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| directory-url (string) | ACME directory URL |
| domain-names (string) | comma-separated list of domain names |
| eab-hmac-key (string) | HMAC key for ACME External Account Binding |
| eab-kid (string) | Key identifier |
| name (string) | ACME client name |
Let's Encrypt certificate
To retrieve a Let's Encrypt certificate with automatic certificate renewal, you must manually provide the ACME directory URL (https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory) and domain-name.
/certificate/add-acme directory-url=https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory domain-names=[DOMAIN_NAME]
To generate a Let's Encrypt certificate for /ip cloud name (ie. example.sn.mynetname.net), as domain-name provide dns-name from /ip/cloud menu or use "[/ip/cloud/get dns-name]"
/certificate/add-acme directory-url=https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory domain-names=[/ip/cloud/get -name]
SCEP
SCEP is using the HTTP protocol and base64 encoded GET requests. Most of the requests are without authentication and cipher, however, important ones can be protected if necessary (ciphered or signed using a received public key).
SCEP client in RouterOS will:
- Get CA certificate from CA server or RA (if used).
- User should compare the fingerprint of the CA certificate or if it comes from the right server.
- Generate a self-signed certificate with a temporary key.
- Send a certificate request to the server.
- If the server responds with status x, then the client keeps requesting until the server sends an error or approval.
The SCEP server supports the issuance of one certificate only. RouterOS also supports renew and next-ca options:
- renew - the possibility to renew the old certificate automatically with the same CA.
- next-ca - the possibility to change the current CA certificate to the new one.
The client polls the server for any changes, if the server advertises that the next-ca is available, then the client may request the next CA or wait until the CA almost expires and then request the next-ca.
The RouterOS client by default will try to use POST, AES, and SHA256 if the server advertises that. If the above algorithms are not supported, then the client will try to use 3DES, DES and SHA1, MD5.
SCEP certificates are renewed when 3/4 of their validity time has passed.
Built-in trust store authorities
RouterOS contains a list of built-in root certificate authorities that specific services can use for host certificate verification.
The list of services that can use built-in root certificate authorities can be found in the Settings section.
It is possible to use DoH with certificate validation without the need to manually import the relevant root certificate.
The list of built-in root certificate authorities is accessible in System → Certificates → Built In CA