community.crypto.x509_certificate_pipe module – Generate and/or check OpenSSL certificates

Note

This module is part of the community.crypto collection (version 3.2.1).

You might already have this collection installed if you are using the ansible package. It is not included in ansible-core. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list.

To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community.crypto. You need further requirements to be able to use this module, see Requirements for details.

To use it in a playbook, specify: community.crypto.x509_certificate_pipe.

New in community.crypto 1.3.0

Synopsis
Requirements
Parameters
Attributes
Notes
See Also
Examples
Return Values

Synopsis

It implements a notion of provider (one of selfsigned and ownca) for your certificate.
It uses the cryptography python library to interact with OpenSSL.
The ownca provider is intended for generating an OpenSSL certificate signed with your own CA (Certificate Authority) certificate (self-signed certificate).
This module allows one to (re)generate OpenSSL certificates.

Requirements

The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.

cryptography >= 3.3 (if using selfsigned or ownca provider)

Parameters

Parameter	Comments
content string	The existing certificate.
csr_content string	Content of the Certificate Signing Request (CSR) used to generate this certificate. This is mutually exclusive with `csr_path`.
csr_path path	Path to the Certificate Signing Request (CSR) used to generate this certificate. This is mutually exclusive with `csr_content`.
force boolean	Generate the certificate, even if it already exists. Choices: `false` ← (default) `true`
ignore_timestamps boolean added in community.crypto 2.0.0	Whether the “not before” and “not after” timestamps should be ignored for idempotency checks. It is better to keep the default value `true` when using relative timestamps (like `+0s` for now). Choices: `false` `true` ← (default)
ownca_content string	Content of the CA (Certificate Authority) certificate. This is only used by the `ownca` provider. This is mutually exclusive with `ownca_path`.
ownca_create_authority_key_identifier boolean	Create a Authority Key Identifier from the CA’s certificate. If the CSR provided a authority key identifier, it is ignored. The Authority Key Identifier is generated from the CA certificate’s Subject Key Identifier, if available. If it is not available, the CA certificate’s public key will be used. This is only used by the `ownca` provider. Choices: `false` `true` ← (default)
ownca_create_subject_key_identifier string	Whether to create the Subject Key Identifier (SKI) from the public key. A value of `create_if_not_provided` (default) only creates a SKI when the CSR does not provide one. A value of `always_create` always creates a SKI. If the CSR provides one, that one is ignored. A value of `never_create` never creates a SKI. If the CSR provides one, that one is used. This is only used by the `ownca` provider. Choices: `"create_if_not_provided"` ← (default) `"always_create"` `"never_create"`
ownca_digest string	The digest algorithm to be used for the `ownca` certificate. This is only used by the `ownca` provider. Default: `"sha256"`
ownca_not_after string	The point in time at which the certificate stops being valid. Time can be specified either as relative time or as absolute timestamp. Time will always be interpreted as UTC. Valid format is `[+-]timespec \| ASN.1 TIME` where timespec can be an integer + `[w \| d \| h \| m \| s]` (for example `+32w1d2h`). If this value is not specified, the certificate will stop being valid 10 years from now. Note that this value is not used to determine whether an existing certificate should be regenerated. This can be changed by setting the `ignore_timestamps` option to `false`. Please note that you should avoid relative timestamps when setting `ignore_timestamps=false`. This is only used by the `ownca` provider. On macOS 10.15 and onwards, TLS server certificates must have a validity period of 825 days or fewer. Please see https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210176 for more details. Default: `"+3650d"`
ownca_not_before string	The point in time the certificate is valid from. Time can be specified either as relative time or as absolute timestamp. Time will always be interpreted as UTC. Valid format is `[+-]timespec \| ASN.1 TIME` where timespec can be an integer + `[w \| d \| h \| m \| s]` (for example `+32w1d2h`). If this value is not specified, the certificate will start being valid from now. Note that this value is not used to determine whether an existing certificate should be regenerated. This can be changed by setting the `ignore_timestamps` option to `false`. Please note that you should avoid relative timestamps when setting `ignore_timestamps=false`. This is only used by the `ownca` provider. Default: `"+0s"`
ownca_path path	Remote absolute path of the CA (Certificate Authority) certificate. This is only used by the `ownca` provider. This is mutually exclusive with `ownca_content`.
ownca_privatekey_content string	Content of the CA (Certificate Authority) private key to use when signing the certificate. This is only used by the `ownca` provider. This is mutually exclusive with `ownca_privatekey_path`.
ownca_privatekey_passphrase string	The passphrase for the `ownca_privatekey_path` resp. `ownca_privatekey_content`. This is only used by the `ownca` provider.
ownca_privatekey_path path	Path to the CA (Certificate Authority) private key to use when signing the certificate. This is only used by the `ownca` provider. This is mutually exclusive with `ownca_privatekey_content`.
ownca_version integer	The version of the `ownca` certificate. Nowadays it should almost always be `3`. This is only used by the `ownca` provider. Choices: `3` ← (default)
privatekey_content string	Content of the private key to use when signing the certificate. This is mutually exclusive with `privatekey_path`.
privatekey_passphrase string	The passphrase for the `privatekey_path` resp. `privatekey_content`. This is required if the private key is password protected.
privatekey_path path	Path to the private key to use when signing the certificate. This is mutually exclusive with `privatekey_content`.
provider string / required	Name of the provider to use to generate/retrieve the OpenSSL certificate. The `entrust` provider has been removed from community.crypto 3.0.0 due to sunsetting of the ECS API. Choices: `"ownca"` `"selfsigned"`
select_crypto_backend string	Determines which crypto backend to use. The default choice is `auto`, which tries to use `cryptography` if available. If set to `cryptography`, will try to use the cryptography library. Note that with community.crypto 3.0.0, all values behave the same. This option will be deprecated in a later version. We recommend to not set it explicitly. Choices: `"auto"` ← (default) `"cryptography"`
selfsigned_create_subject_key_identifier string	Whether to create the Subject Key Identifier (SKI) from the public key. A value of `create_if_not_provided` (default) only creates a SKI when the CSR does not provide one. A value of `always_create` always creates a SKI. If the CSR provides one, that one is ignored. A value of `never_create` never creates a SKI. If the CSR provides one, that one is used. This is only used by the `selfsigned` provider. Choices: `"create_if_not_provided"` ← (default) `"always_create"` `"never_create"`
selfsigned_digest string	Digest algorithm to be used when self-signing the certificate. This is only used by the `selfsigned` provider. Default: `"sha256"`
selfsigned_not_after aliases: selfsigned_notAfter string	The point in time at which the certificate stops being valid. Time can be specified either as relative time or as absolute timestamp. Time will always be interpreted as UTC. Valid format is `[+-]timespec \| ASN.1 TIME` where timespec can be an integer + `[w \| d \| h \| m \| s]` (for example `+32w1d2h`). If this value is not specified, the certificate will stop being valid 10 years from now. Note that this value is not used to determine whether an existing certificate should be regenerated. This can be changed by setting the `ignore_timestamps` option to `false`. Please note that you should avoid relative timestamps when setting `ignore_timestamps=false`. This is only used by the `selfsigned` provider. On macOS 10.15 and onwards, TLS server certificates must have a validity period of 825 days or fewer. Please see https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210176 for more details. Default: `"+3650d"`
selfsigned_not_before aliases: selfsigned_notBefore string	The point in time the certificate is valid from. Time can be specified either as relative time or as absolute timestamp. Time will always be interpreted as UTC. Valid format is `[+-]timespec \| ASN.1 TIME` where timespec can be an integer + `[w \| d \| h \| m \| s]` (for example `+32w1d2h`). If this value is not specified, the certificate will start being valid from now. Note that this value is not used to determine whether an existing certificate should be regenerated. This can be changed by setting the `ignore_timestamps` option to `false`. Please note that you should avoid relative timestamps when setting `ignore_timestamps=false`. This is only used by the `selfsigned` provider. Default: `"+0s"`
selfsigned_version integer	Version of the `selfsigned` certificate. Nowadays it should almost always be `3`. This is only used by the `selfsigned` provider. Choices: `3` ← (default)

Attributes

Attribute	Support	Description
check_mode	Support: full Since community.crypto 3.0.0 the module ignores check mode and always behaves as if check mode is not active.	Can run in `check_mode` and return changed status prediction without modifying target.
diff_mode	Support: full	Will return details on what has changed (or possibly needs changing in `check_mode`), when in diff mode.
idempotent	Support: partial If relative timestamps are used and `ignore_timestamps=false`, the module is not idempotent. The option `force=true` generally disables idempotency.	When run twice in a row outside check mode, with the same arguments, the second invocation indicates no change. This assumes that the system controlled/queried by the module has not changed in a relevant way.

Notes

Note

All ASN.1 TIME values should be specified following the YYYYMMDDHHMMSSZ pattern.
Date specified should be UTC. Minutes and seconds are mandatory.
For security reason, when you use ownca provider, you should NOT run community.crypto.x509_certificate on a target machine, but on a dedicated CA machine. It is recommended not to store the CA private key on the target machine. Once signed, the certificate can be moved to the target machine.
For the selfsigned provider, csr_path and csr_content are optional. If not provided, a certificate without any information (Subject, Subject Alternative Names, Key Usage, etc.) is created.

Examples

---
- name: Generate a Self Signed OpenSSL certificate
  community.crypto.x509_certificate_pipe:
    provider: selfsigned
    privatekey_path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
    csr_path: /etc/ssl/csr/ansible.com.csr
  register: result
- name: Print the certificate
  ansible.builtin.debug:
    var: result.certificate

# In the following example, both CSR and certificate file are stored on the
# machine where ansible-playbook is executed, while the OwnCA data (certificate,
# private key) are stored on the remote machine.

- name: (1/2) Generate an OpenSSL Certificate with the CSR provided inline
  community.crypto.x509_certificate_pipe:
    provider: ownca
    content: "{{ lookup('ansible.builtin.file', '/etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.crt') }}"
    csr_content: "{{ lookup('ansible.builtin.file', '/etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.csr') }}"
    ownca_cert: /path/to/ca_cert.crt
    ownca_privatekey: /path/to/ca_cert.key
    ownca_privatekey_passphrase: hunter2
  register: result

- name: (2/2) Store certificate
  ansible.builtin.copy:
    dest: /etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.crt
    content: "{{ result.certificate }}"
  delegate_to: localhost
  when: result is changed

# In the following example, the certificate from another machine is signed by
# our OwnCA whose private key and certificate are only available on this
# machine (where ansible-playbook is executed), without having to write
# the certificate file to disk on localhost. The CSR could have been
# provided by community.crypto.openssl_csr_pipe earlier, or also have been
# read from the remote machine.

- name: (1/3) Read certificate's contents from remote machine
  ansible.builtin.slurp:
    src: /etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.crt
  register: certificate_content

- name: (2/3) Generate an OpenSSL Certificate with the CSR provided inline
  community.crypto.x509_certificate_pipe:
    provider: ownca
    content: "{{ certificate_content.content | b64decode }}"
    csr_content: "{{ the_csr }}"
    ownca_cert: /path/to/ca_cert.crt
    ownca_privatekey: /path/to/ca_cert.key
    ownca_privatekey_passphrase: hunter2
  delegate_to: localhost
  register: result

- name: (3/3) Store certificate
  ansible.builtin.copy:
    dest: /etc/ssl/csr/www.ansible.com.crt
    content: "{{ result.certificate }}"
  when: result is changed

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key	Description
certificate string	The (current or generated) certificate’s content. Returned: changed or success

Authors

Yanis Guenane (@Spredzy)
Markus Teufelberger (@MarkusTeufelberger)
Felix Fontein (@felixfontein)

Collection links

© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2025 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
https://docs.ansible.com/projects/ansible/latest/collections/community/crypto/x509_certificate_pipe_module.html