security(1) BSD General Commands Manual security(1)
NAME
security -- Command line interface to keychains and Security.framework
SYNOPSIS
security [-hilqv] [-p prompt] [command] [command_options] [command_args]
DESCRIPTION
A simple command line interface which lets you administer Keychains,
manipulate keys and certificates, and do just about anything the Security
framework is capable of from the command line. New commands are con-
stantly being added over time.
By default security will execute the command supplied and report if any-
thing went wrong.
If the -i or -p options are provided, security will enter interactive
mode and allow the user to enter multiple commands on stdin. When EOF is
read from stdin security will exit.
Here is a complete list of the options available:
-h If no arguments are specified show a list of all commands. If
arguments are provided show usage for each the specified com-
mands. This options is basically the same as the help command.
-i Run security in interactive mode. A prompt (security> by
default) will be displayed and the user will be able to type
commands on stdin until an EOF is encountered.
-l Before security exits run
/usr/bin/leaks -nocontext
on itself to see if the command(s) you executed leaks.
-p prompt
This option implies the -i option but changes the default prompt
to the argument specified instead.
-q Will make security less verbose.
-v Will make security more verbose.
SECURITY COMMAND SUMMARY
security provides a rich variety of commands (command in the SYNOPSIS),
each of which often has a wealth of options, to allow access to the broad
functionality provided by the Security framework. However, you don't
have to master every detail for security to be useful to you.
Here are brief descriptions of all the security commands:
help Show all commands. Or show usage for a command.
list-keychains Display or manipulate the keychain search list.
default-keychain Display or set the default keychain.
login-keychain Display or set the login keychain.
create-keychain Create keychains and add them to the search list.
delete-keychain Delete keychains and remove them from the search
list.
lock-keychain Lock the specified keychain.
unlock-keychain Unlock the specified keychain.
set-keychain-settings Set Nm settings for a keychain.
show-keychain-info Show the settings for keychain.
dump-keychain Dump the contents of one or more keychains.
create-keypair Create an asymmetric key pair.
add-generic-password Add a generic password item.
add-internet-password Add an internet password item.
add-certificates Add certificates to a keychain.
find-generic-password Find a generic password item.
find-internet-password Find an internet password item.
find-certificate Find a certificate item.
create-db Create a db using the DL.
import Import item(s) into a keychain.
export Export item(s) from a keychain.
install-mds Install (or re-install) the MDS database.
add-trusted-cert Add a certificate to Trust Settings.
remove-trusted-cert Remove a certificate to Trust Settings.
dump-trust-settings Display contents of Trust Settings.
user-trust-settings-enable
Display or manipulate user-level Trust Settings.
trust-settings-export Export Trust Settings.
trust-settings-import Import Trust Settings.
verify-cert Verify certificate(s).
authorize Authorize rights.
authorizationdb Make changes to the authorization policy data-
base.
execute-with-privileges
Execute tool with privileges.
leaks Run /usr/bin/leaks on this proccess.
COMMON COMMAND OPTIONS
This section describes the command_options that are available across all
security commands.
-h Show a usage message for the specified command. This option is
basically the same as the help command.
SECURITY COMMANDS
Here (finally) are details on all the security commands and the options
each accepts.
help [-h]
Show all commands. Or show usage for a command.
list-keychains [-h] [-d user|system|common] [-s [keychain...]]
Display or set the keychain search list.
Options:
-d user|system|common
Specify the preferences domain to be used.
-s Set the search list to the specified keychains
default-keychain [-h] [-d user|system|common] [-s [keychain]]
Display or set the default keychain.
Options:
-d user|system|common
Specify the preferences domain to be used.
-s Set the default keychain to the specified keychain.
Unset it if no keychain is specified.
login-keychain [-h] [-d user|system|common] [-s [keychain]]
Display or set the login keychain.
Options:
-d user|system|common
Specify the preferences domain to be used.
-s Set the login keychain to the specified keychain. Unset
it if no keychain is specified.
create-keychain [-hP] [-p password] [keychain...]
Create keychains and add them to the search list. if no keychains
are specified the user is prompted for one.
Options:
-P Prompt the user for a password using the Secu-
rityAgent.
-p password Use password as the password for the keychains
being created.
If neither -P or -p password are specified the user is prompted
for a password.
delete-keychain [-h] [keychain...]
Delete keychains and remove them from the search list.
lock-keychain [-h] [-a|keychain]
Lock keychain. Or the default is none is specified. If the -a
options is specified all keychains are locked.
unlock-keychain [-hu] [-p password] [keychain]
Unlock keychain. Or the default is none is specified.
set-keychain-settings [-hlu] [-t timeout] [keychain]
Set settings for keychain. Or the default is none is specified.
-l Lock keychain when the system sleeps
-u Lock keychain after certain period of time speci-
fied using -t.
-t timeout Automatically lock keychain after timeout seconds
of inactivity.
show-keychain-info [-h]
Show the settings for keychain.
dump-keychain [-adhir]
Dump the contents of one or more keychains.
-a Dump acl of items.
-d Dump cleartext data of items.
-i Interactive acl editing mode.
-r Dump raw (possibly ciphertext) data of items.
create-keypair [-h] [-a alg] [-s size] [-f from_date] [-t to_date] [-v
days] [-k keychain] [-n name] [-A|-T app1:app2:...]
Create an asymmetric key pair.
add-generic-password [-h] [-a account_name] [-s service_name] [-w
password_data] [keychain]
Add a generic password item.
add-internet-password [-h] [-a account_name] [-d security_domain] [-p
path] [-P port] [-r protocol] [-s server_name] [-t authentication_type]
[-w password_data] [keychain]
Add an internet password item.
add-certificates [-h] [-k keychain] file...
Add certficates contained in the specified files to the default
keychain. The files must contain one DER encoded X509 certificate
each.
-k keychain Use keychain rather than the default keychain.
find-generic-password [-gh] [-a account-name] [-s service-name]
[-keychain...]
Find a generic password item.
find-internet-password [-gh] [-a account_name] [-d security_domain] [-p
path] [-P port] [-r protocol] [-s server_name] [-t authentication_type]
[keychain...]
Find an internet password item.
find-certificate [-ahmp] [-e email_address] [keychain...]
Find a certificate item. If no keychain arguments are provided,
security will search the default search list.
Options:
-a Find all matching certificates, not just the first
one.
-g dl|cspdl Use the AppleDL (default) or AppleCspDL
-e email_address
Match on "email_address" when searching.
-m Show the email addresses in the certificate.
-p Output certificate in pem form. The default is to
dump the attributes and keychain the cert is in.
Examples
security> find-certificate -a -p > allcerts.pem
Exports all certificates from all keychains into a pem
file called allcerts.pem.
security> find-certificate -a -e me@foo.com -p > certs.pem
Exports all certificates from all keychains with the
email address mb@foo.com into a pem file called
certs.pem.
create-db [-aho0] [-g dl|cspdl] [-m mode] [name]
Create a db using the DL. If name isn't provided security will
prompt the user to type a name.
Options:
-a Turn off autocommit
-g dl|cspdl Use the AppleDL (default) or AppleCspDL
-m mode Set the file permissions to mode.
-o Force using openparams argument
-0 Force using version 0 openparams
Examples
security> create-db -m 0644 test.db
security> create-db -g cspdl -a test2.db
export [-k keychain] [-t item_type] [-f item_format] [-w] [-p
item_format] [-P passphrase] [-o outfile]
Export one or more items from a keychain to one of a number of
external representations. If keychain isn't provided, items will
be exported from the user's default keychain.
Options:
-k keychain Specify keychain from which item(s) will be
exported.
-t item_type Specify the type of items to export. Possible
types are certs, allKeys, pubKeys, privKeys, iden-
tities, and all. The default is all. An identity
consists of both a certificate and the correspond-
ing provate key.
-f item_format Specify the format of the exported data. Possible
formats are openssl, bsafe, pkcs7, pkcs8, pkcs12,
x509, openssh1, openssh2, and pemseq. The default
is pemseq if more than one item is being exported.
The default is openssl if one key is being
exported. The default is x509 if one certificate
is being exported.
-w Specifies that private keys are to be wrapped on
export.
-p Specifies that PEM armour is to be applied to the
output data.
-P passphrase Specify the wrapping passphrase immediately. The
default is to obtain a secure passphrase via GUI.
-o outfile Write the output data to outfile. Default is to
write data to stdout.
Examples
security> export -k login.keychain -t certs -o /tmp/certs.pem
security> export -k newcert.keychain -t identities -f pkcs12 -o
/tmp/mycerts.p12
import inputfile [-k keychain] [-t item_type] [-f item_format] [-w] [-P
passphrase] [-a attributeName attributeValue]
Import one or more items from inputfile into a keychain. If
keychain isn't provided, items will be imported into the user's
default keychain.
Options:
-k keychain Specify keychain into which item(s) will be
imported.
-t item_type Specify the type of items to import. Possible
types are cert, pub, priv, session, cert, and agg.
Pub, priv, and session refer to keys; agg is one
of the aggregate types (pkcs12 and PEM sequence).
The command can often figure out what item_type an
item contains based in the filename and/or
item_format.
-f item_format Specify the format of the exported data. Possible
formats are openssl, bsafe, raw, pkcs7, pkcs8,
pkcs12, x509, openssh1, openssh2, and pemseq. The
command can often figure out what format an item
is in based in the filename and/or item_type.
-w Specifies that private keys are wrapped and must
be unwrapped on import.
-P passphrase Specify the unwrapping passphrase immediately. The
default is to obtain a secure passphrase via GUI.
-a attributeName attributeValue
Specify Optional extended attribute name and
value. Can be used multiple times. This is only
valid when importing keys (only).
Examples
security> import /tmp/certs.pem -k
security> import /tmp/mycerts.p12 -t agg -k newcert.keychain
security> import /tmp/mycerts.p12 -f pkcs12 -k newcert.keychain
install-mds
Install (or re-install) the Module Directory Services (MDS) data-
base. This is a system tool which is not normally used by users.
There are no options.
add-trusted-cert [-d] [-r resultType] [-p policy] [-a appPath] [-s
policyString] [-e allowedError] [-u keyUsage] [-k keychain] [-i
settingsFileIn] [-o settingsFileOut] [-D] certFile
Add certificate (in DER or PEM format) from certFile to per-user
or local Admin Trust Settings. When modifying per-user Trust Set-
tings, user authentication is required via an authentication dia-
log. When modifying admin Trust Settings, the process must be run-
ning as root, or admin authentication is required.
Options:
-d Add to admin cert store; default is user.
-r resultType resultType = trustRoot|trustAsRoot|deny|unspeci-
fied; default is trustRoot.
-p policy Specify policy constraint (ssl, smime, codeSign,
IPSec, iChat, basic, swUpdate, pkgSign, pkinit-
Client, pkinitServer, eap).
-r resultType resultType = trustRoot|trustAsRoot|deny|unspeci-
fied; default is trustRoot.
-a appPath Specify application constraint.
-s policyString
Specify policy-specific string.
-e allowedError
Specify allowed error, an integer.
-u keyUsage Specify key usage, an integer.
-k keychain Specify keychain to which cert is added.
-i settingsFileIn
Input trust settings file; default is user domain.
-o settingsFileOut
Output trust settings file; default is user
domain.
-D Add default setting instead of per-cert setting.
No certFile is specified when using this option
Examples
security> add-trusted-cert /tmp/cert.der
security> add-trusted-cert -d .tmp/cert.der
remove-trusted-cert [-d] [-D] certFile
Remove certificate (in DER or PEM format) in certFile from per-user
or local Admin Trust Settings. When modifying per-user Trust Set-
tings, user authentication is required via an authentication dialog.
When modifying admin Trust Settings, the process must be running as
root, or admin authentication is required.
Options:
-d Remove from admin cert store; default is user.
-D Remove Default Root Cert setting instead of an
actual cert setting. No certFile is specified when
using this option.
dump-trust-settings [-s] [-d]
Display Trust Settings.
Options:
-s Display trusted system certs; default is user.
-d Display trusted admin certs; default is user.
user-trust-settings-enable [-d] [-e]
Display or manipulate user-level Trust Settings. With no arguments,
shows the current state of the user-level Trust Settings enable.
Otherwise enables or disables user-level Trust Settings.
Options:
-d Disable user-level Trust Settings.
-e Enable user-level Trust Settings.
trust-settings-export [-s] [-d] settings_file
Export Trust Settings to the specified file.
Options:
-s Export system Trust Settings; default is user.
-d Export admin Trust Settings; default is user.
trust-settings-import [-d] settings_file
Import Trust Settings from the specified file. When modifying per-
user Trust Settings, user authentication is required via an authen-
tication dialog. When modifying admin Trust Settings, the process
must be running as root, or admin authentication is required.
Options:
-d Import admin Trust Settings; default is user.
verify-cert [-c certFile] [-r rootCertFile] [-p policy] [-k keychain] [-n]
[-l] [-e emailAddress] [-s sslHost] [-q]
Verify one or more certificates.
Options:
-c certFile Certificate to verify, in DER or PEM format. Can be
specified more than once; leaf certificate has to be
specified first.
-r rootCertFile
Root certificate, in DER or PEM format. Can be spec-
ified more than once. If not specified, the system
anchor certificates are used. If one root certifi-
cate is specified, and zero (non-root) certificates
are specified, the root certificate is verified
against itself.
-p policy Specify verification policy (ssl, smime, codeSign,
IPSec, iChat, basic, swUpdate, pkgSign, pkinit-
Client, pkinitServer, eap). Default is basic.
-k keychain Keychain to search for intermediate certs. Can be
specified multiple times. Default is the current
user's keychain search list.
-n Avoid searching any keychains.
-l Species that the leaf certificate is a CA cert. By
default, a leaf certificate with a Basic Constraints
extension with the CA bit set fails verification.
-e emailAddress
Specify email address for the smime policy.
-s sslHost Specify SSL host name for the ssl policy.
-q Quiet, no stdout or stderr.
Examples
security> verify-cert -c applestore0.cer -c applestore1.cer -p ssl
-s store.apple.com
security> verify-cert -r serverbasic.crt
authorize [-updPiew] [right...]
Authorize requested right(s). The extend-rights flag will be passed
by default.
Options:
-u Allow user interaction.
-p Allow returning partial rights.
-d Destroy acquired rights.
-P Pre-authorize rights only.
-l Operate authorization in least privileged mode.
-i Internalize authref passed on stdin.
-e Externalize authref to stdout
-w Wait while holding AuthorizationRef until stdout is
closed. This will allow client to read externalized
AuthorizationRef from pipe.
Examples
security> security authorize -ud my-right
Basic authorization of my-right.
security> security -q authorize -uew my-right | security -q
authorize -i my-right
Authorizing a right and passing it to another command as a
way to add authorization to shell scripts.
authorizationdb read <right-name>
authorizationdb write <right-name> [allow|deny|<rulename>]
authorizationdb remove <right-name>
Read/Modify authorization policy database. Without a rulename write
will read a dictionary as a plist from stdin.
Examples
security> security authorizationdb read system.privilege.admin >
/tmp/aewp-def
Read definition of system.privilege.admin right.
security> security authorizationdb write system.preferences <
/tmp/aewp-def
Set system.preferences to definition of system.privi-
lege.admin right.
security> security authorizationdb write system.preferences
authenticate-admin
Every change to preferences requires an Admin user to
authenticate.
execute-with-privileges <program> [args...]
Execute tool with privileges. On success stdin will be read and
forwarded to the tool.
leaks [-h] [-cycles] [-nocontext] [-nostacks] [-exclude symbol]
Run /usr/bin/leaks on this proccess. This is to help find memory
leaks after running certain commands.
Options:
-cycles Use a stricter algorithm (See leaks(1) for details).
-nocontext Withhold the hex dumps of the leaked memory.
-nostacks Don't show stack traces of leaked memory.
-exclude symbol
Ignore leaks called from symbol.
ENVIRONMENT
MallocStackLogging
When using the leaks command or the -l option it's probably a
good idea to set this environment variable before security is
started. Doing so will allow leaks to display symbolic back-
traces.
FILES
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist
Propertylist file containing the current users default keychain
and keychain search list.
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist
Propertylist file containing the system default keychain and
keychain search list. This is used by processes started at
boottime, or those requesting to use the system search domain,
such as system daemons.
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security-common.plist
Propertylist file containing the a common keychain search list
which is appended to every users searchlist and to the system
search list as well.
SEE ALSO
certtool(1), leaks(1)
HISTORY
security was first introduced in Mac OS X version 10.3
AUTHORS
Michael Brouwer
BUGS
security still needs a lot more commands before it can be considered com-
plete. In particular it should someday supersede both the certtool and
systemkeychain commands.
Darwin October 28, 2007 Darwin
Mac OS X 10.5 - Generated Sun Oct 28 21:02:23 EDT 2007