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freebsd/contrib/ntp/html/genkeys.htm
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<h3><tt>ntp-genkeys</tt> - generate public and private keys</h3>
<img align="left" src="pic/alice23.gif" alt="gif"><a href=
"http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~mills/pictures.htm">from <i>Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland</i>, Lewis Carroll</a>
<p>Alice holds the key.<br clear="left">
</p>
<hr>
<h4>Synopsis</h4>
<tt>ntp-genkeys</tt>
<h4>Description</h4>
<p>This program generates random keys used by either or both the
NTPv3/NTPv4 symmetric key or the NTPv4 public key (Autokey)
cryptographic authentication schemes. By default the program
generates the <tt>ntp.keys</tt> file containing 16 random symmetric
keys. In addition, if the <tt>rsaref20</tt> package is configured
for the software build, the program generates cryptographic values
used by the Autokey scheme. These values are incorporated as a set
of three files, <tt>ntpkey</tt> containing the RSA private key,
<tt>ntpkey_<i>host</i></tt> containing the RSA public key, where
<tt><i>host</i></tt> is the DNS name of the generating machine, and
<tt>ntpkey_dh</tt> containing the parameters for the Diffie-Hellman
key-agreement algorithm. All files and are in printable ASCII
format. A timestamp in NTP seconds is appended to each. Since the
algorithms are seeded by the system clock, each run of this program
produces a different file and file name.</p>
<p>The <tt>ntp.keys</tt> file contains 16 MD5 keys. Each key
consists of 16 characters randomized over the ASCII 95-character
printing subset. The file is read by the daemon at the location
specified by the <tt>keys</tt> configuration file command and made
visible only to root. An additional key consisting of a easily
remembered password should be added by hand for use with the <tt>
ntpq</tt> and <tt>ntpdc</tt> programs. The file must be distributed
by secure means to other servers and clients sharing the same
security compartment. While the key identifiers for MD5 and DES
keys must be in the range 1-65534, inclusive, the <tt>
ntp-genkeys</tt> program uses only the identifiers from 1 to 16.
The key identifier for each association is specified as the key
argument in the <tt>server</tt> or peer configuration file
command.</p>
<p>The <tt>ntpkey</tt> file contains the RSA private key. It is
read by the daemon at the location specified by the <tt>
privatekey</tt> argument of the <tt>crypto</tt> configuration file
command and made visible only to root. This file is useful only to
the machine that generated it and never shared with any other
daemon or application program.</p>
<p>The <tt>ntpkey_<i>host</i></tt> file contains the RSA public
key, where <tt><i>host</i></tt> is the DNS name of the host that
generated it. The file is read by the daemon at the location
specified by the <tt>publickey</tt> argument to the <tt>server</tt>
or <tt>peer</tt> configuration file command. This file can be
widely distributed and stored without using secure means, since the
data are public values.</p>
<p>The <tt>ntp_dh</tt> file contains two Diffie-Hellman parameters:
the prime modulus and the generator. The file is read by the daemon
at the location specified by the <tt>dhparams</tt> argument of the
<tt>crypto</tt> configuration file command. The file can be
distributed by insecure means to other servers and clients sharing
the same key agreement compartment, since the data are public
values.</p>
<p>The file formats begin with two lines, the first containing the
generating system DNS name and the second the datestamp. Lines
beginning with <tt>#</tt> are considered comments and ignored by
the daemon. In the <tt>ntp.keys</tt> file, the next 16 lines
contain the MD5 keys in order. If necessary, this file can be
further customized by an ordinary text editor. The format is
described in the following section. In the <tt>ntpkey</tt> and <tt>
ntpkey_<i>host</i></tt> files, the next line contains the modulus
length in bits followed by the key as a PEM encoded string. In the
<tt>ntpkey_dh</tt> file, the next line contains the prime length in
bytes followed by the prime as a PEM encoded string, and the next
and final line contains the generator length in bytes followed by
the generator as a PEM encoded string.</p>
<p>Note: See the file <tt>./source/rsaref.h</tt> in the <tt>
rsaref20</tt> package for explanation of return values, if
necessary.</p>
<h4>Symmetric Key File Format</h4>
In the case of DES, the keys are 56 bits long with, depending on
type, a parity check on each byte. In the case of MD5, the keys are
64 bits (8 bytes). <tt>ntpd</tt> reads its keys from a file
specified using the <tt>-k</tt> command line option or the <tt>
keys</tt> statement in the configuration file. While key number 0
is fixed by the NTP standard (as 56 zero bits) and may not be
changed, one or more of the keys numbered 1 through 15 may be
arbitrarily set in the keys file.
<p>The key file uses the same comment conventions as the
configuration file. Key entries use a fixed format of the form</p>
<p><i><tt>keyno type key</tt></i></p>
<p>where <i><tt>keyno</tt></i> is a positive integer, <i><tt>
type</tt></i> is a single character which defines the key format,
and <i><tt>key</tt></i> is the key itself.</p>
<p>The key may be given in one of three different formats,
controlled by the <i><tt>type</tt></i> character. The three key
types, and corresponding formats, are listed following.</p>
<dl>
<dt><tt>S</tt></dt>
<dd>The key is a 64-bit hexadecimal number in the format specified
in the DES specification; that is, the high order seven bits of
each octet are used to form the 56-bit key while the low order bit
of each octet is given a value such that odd parity is maintained
for the octet. Leading zeroes must be specified (i.e., the key must
be exactly 16 hex digits long) and odd parity must be maintained.
Hence a zero key, in standard format, would be given as <tt>
0101010101010101</tt>.</dd>
<dt><tt>N</tt></dt>
<dd>The key is a 64-bit hexadecimal number in the format specified
in the NTP standard. This is the same as the DES format, except the
bits in each octet have been rotated one bit right so that the
parity bit is now the high order bit of the octet. Leading zeroes
must be specified and odd parity must be maintained. A zero key in
NTP format would be specified as <tt>8080808080808080</tt>.</dd>
<dt><tt>A</tt></dt>
<dd>The key is a 1-to-8 character ASCII string. A key is formed
from this by using the low order 7 bits of each ASCII character in
the string, with zeroes added on the right when necessary to form a
full width 56-bit key, in the same way that encryption keys are
formed from Unix passwords.</dd>
<dt><tt>M</tt></dt>
<dd>The key is a 1-to-8 character ASCII string, using the MD5
authentication scheme. Note that both the keys and the
authentication schemes (DES or MD5) must be identical between a set
of peers sharing the same key number.</dd>
</dl>
<p>Note that the keys used by the <tt>ntpq</tt> and <tt>ntpdc</tt>
programs are checked against passwords requested by the programs
and entered by hand, so it is generally appropriate to specify
these keys in ASCII format.</p>
<h4>Files</h4>
The RSA Laboratories package <tt>rsaref20</tt> of cryptographic
routines is necessary in order to build and use this program.
<h4>Bugs</h4>
It can take quite a while to generate the RSA public/private key
pair and Diffie-Hellman parameters, from a few seconds on a modern
workstation to several minutes on older machines.
<hr>
<a href="index.htm"><img align="left" src="pic/home.gif" alt=
"gif"></a>
<address><a href="mailto:mills@udel.edu">David L. Mills
&lt;mills@udel.edu&gt;</a></address>
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