source: mod_gnutls/docs/mod_gnutls_manual.mdwn @ bce7907

% `mod_gnutls` Manual

* * * * *

`mod_gnutls` is a module for the Apache web server that provides HTTPS
(HTTP over Transport Layer Security (TLS) or the older Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL)) using the GnuTLS library.  More information about the
module can be found at [the project's website](https://mod.gnutls.org/).

* * * * *

Compilation & Installation
==========================

`mod_gnutls` uses the `./configure && make && make install` mechanism
common to many Open Source programs.  Most of the dirty work is
handled by either `./configure` or Apache's `apxs` utility. If you have
built Apache modules before, there shouldn't be any surprises for you.

The interesting options you can pass to configure are:

`--with-apxs=PATH` 
:   This option is used to specify the location of the apxs utility that
    was installed as part of apache. Specify the location of the
    binary, not the directory it is located in.

`--with-libgnutls=PATH`
:   Full path to the libgnutls-config program.

`--with-apr-memcache=PREFIX`
:   Prefix to where apr\_memcache is installed.

`--help`
:   Provides a list of all available configure options.

* * * * *

Integration
===========

To activate `mod_gnutls` just add the following line to your httpd.conf
and restart Apache:

    LoadModule gnutls_module modules/mod_gnutls.so

* * * * *

Configuration Directives
========================

`GnuTLSEnable`
--------------

Enable GnuTLS for this virtual host

    GnuTLSEnable [on|off]

Default: *off*\
Context: virtual host

This directive enables SSL/TLS Encryption for a Virtual Host.

`GnuTLSCache`
-------------

Configure SSL Session Cache

    GnuTLSCache [dbm|gdbm|memcache|none] [PATH|SERVERLIST|-]

Default: `GnuTLSCache none`\
Context: server config

This directive configures the SSL Session Cache for `mod_gnutls`.
This could be shared between machines of different architectures.

`dbm` (Requires Berkeley DBM)
:   Uses the default Berkeley DB backend of APR DBM to cache SSL
    Sessions results.  The argument is a relative or absolute path to
    be used as the DBM Cache file. This is compatible with most
    operating systems, but needs the Apache Runtime to be compiled
    with Berkeley DBM support.

`gdbm`
:   Uses the GDBM backend of APR DBM to cache SSL Sessions results.

    The argument is a relative or absolute path to be used as the DBM Cache
    file.  This is the recommended option.

`memcache`
:   Uses a memcached server to cache the SSL Session.

    The argument is a space separated list of servers. If no port
    number is supplied, the default of 11211 is used.  This can be
    used to share a session cache between all servers in a cluster.

`none`
:   Turns off all caching of SSL Sessions.

    This can significantly reduce the performance of `mod_gnutls` since
    even followup connections by a client must renegotiate parameters
    instead of reusing old ones.  This is the default, since it
    requires no configuration.

`GnuTLSCacheTimeout`
--------------------

Timeout for SSL Session Cache expiration

    GnuTLSCacheTimeout SECONDS

Default: `GnuTLSCacheTimeout 300`\
Context: server config

Sets the timeout for SSL Session Cache entries expiration.  This
directive is valid even if Session Tickets are used, and indicates the
expiration time of the ticket in seconds.

`GnuTLSSessionTickets`
----------------------

Enable Session Tickets for the server

    GnuTLSSessionTickets [on|off]

Default: `off`\
Context: server config, virtual host

To avoid storing data for TLS session resumption it is allowed to
provide client with a ticket, to use on return.  Use for servers with
limited storage, and don't combine with GnuTLSCache. For a pool of
servers this option is not recommended since the tickets are unique
for the issuing server only.


`GnuTLSCertificateFile`
-----------------------

Set to the PEM Encoded Server Certificate

    GnuTLSCertificateFile FILEPATH

Default: *none*\
Context: server config, virtual host

Takes an absolute or relative path to a PEM-encoded X.509 certificate to
use as this Server's End Entity (EE) certificate. If you need to supply
certificates for intermediate Certificate Authorities (iCAs), they
should be listed in sequence in the file, from EE to the iCA closest to
the root CA. Optionally, you can also include the root CA's certificate
as the last certificate in the list.

`GnuTLSKeyFile`
---------------

Set to the PEM Encoded Server Certificate

    GnuTLSCertificateFile FILEPATH

Default: *none*\
Context: server config, virtual host

Takes an absolute or relative path to the Server Private Key.  This
key cannot currently be password protected.

**Security Warning:**\
 This private key must be protected. It is read while Apache is still
running as root, and does not need to be readable by the nobody or
apache user.

`GnuTLSPGPCertificateFile`
--------------------------

Set to a base64 Encoded Server OpenPGP Certificate

    GnuTLSPGPCertificateFile FILEPATH

Default: *none*\
Context: server config, virtual host

Takes an absolute or relative path to a base64 Encoded OpenPGP
Certificate to use as this Server's Certificate.

`GnuTLSPGPKeyFile`
------------------

Set to the Server OpenPGP Secret Key

    GnuTLSPGPKeyFile FILEPATH

Default: *none*\
Context: server config, virtual host

Takes an absolute or relative path to the Server Private Key. This key
cannot currently be password protected.

**Security Warning:**\
 This private key must be protected. It is read while Apache is still
running as root, and does not need to be readable by the nobody or
apache user.

`GnuTLSClientVerify`
--------------------

Enable Client Certificate Verification\

    GnuTLSClientVerify [ignore|request|require]

Default: `ignore`\
Context: server config, virtual host, directory, .htaccess

This directive controls the use of SSL Client Certificate
Authentication. If used in the .htaccess context, it can force TLS
re-negotiation.

`ignore`
:   `mod_gnutls` will ignore the contents of any SSL Client Certificates
    sent. It will not request that the client sends a certificate.

`request`
:   The client certificate will be requested, but not required.
    The Certificate will be validated if sent.  The output of the
    validation status will be stored in the `SSL_CLIENT_VERIFY`
    environment variable and can be `SUCCESS`, `FAILED` or `NONE`.

`require`
:   A Client certificate will be required. Any requests without a valid
    client certificate will be denied.  The `SSL_CLIENT_VERIFY`
    environment variable will only be set to `SUCCESS`.

`GnuTLSClientCAFile`
--------------------

Set to the PEM Encoded Certificate Authority Certificate

    GnuTLSClientCAFile FILEPATH

Default: *none*
Context: server config, virtual host

Takes an absolute or relative path to a PEM Encoded Certificate to use
as a Certificate Authority with Client Certificate Authentication.
This file may contain a list of trusted authorities.

`GnuTLSPGPKeyringFile`
----------------------

Set to a base64 Encoded key ring

    GnuTLSPGPKeyringFile FILEPATH

Default: *none*\
Context: server config, virtual host

Takes an absolute or relative path to a base64 Encoded Certificate
list (key ring) to use as a means of verification of Client
Certificates.  This file should contain a list of trusted signers.

`GnuTLSDHFile`
--------------

Set to the PKCS \#3 encoded Diffie Hellman parameters

    GnuTLSDHFile FILEPATH

Default: *none*\
Context: server config, virtual host

Takes an absolute or relative path to a PKCS \#3 encoded DH
parameters.Those are used when the DHE key exchange method is enabled.
You can generate this file using `certtool --generate-dh-params --bits
2048`.  If not set `mod_gnutls` will use the included parameters.

`GnuTLSSRPPasswdFile`
---------------------

Set to the SRP password file for SRP ciphersuites

    GnuTLSSRPPasswdFile FILEPATH

Default: *none*\
Context: server config, virtual host

Takes an absolute or relative path to an SRP password file. This is
the same format as used in libsrp.  You can generate such file using
the command `srptool --passwd /etc/tpasswd --passwd-conf
/etc/tpasswd.conf -u test` to set a password for user test.  This
password file holds the username, a password verifier and the
dependency to the SRP parameters.

`GnuTLSSRPPasswdConfFile`
-------------------------

Set to the SRP password.conf file for SRP ciphersuites

    GnuTLSSRPPasswdConfFile FILEPATH 

Default: *none*\
Context: server config, virtual host

Takes an absolute or relative path to an SRP password.conf file. This
is the same format as used in `libsrp`.  You can generate such file
using the command `srptool --create-conf /etc/tpasswd.conf`.  This
file holds the SRP parameters and is associate with the password file
(the verifiers depends on these parameters).

`GnuTLSPriorities`
------------------

Set the allowed ciphers, key exchange algorithms, MACs and compression
methods

    GnuTLSPriorities NORMAL:+CIPHER_0:+CIPHER_1:...:+CIPHER_N

Default: *none*\
Context: server config, virtual host

Takes a semi-colon separated list of ciphers, key exchange methods
Message authentication codes and compression methods to enable.
The allowed keywords are specified in the `gnutls_priority_init()`
function of GnuTLS.

Full details can be found at [the GnuTLS documentation](http://gnutls.org/manual/html_node/Priority-Strings.html#Priority-Strings).
In brief you can specify a set of ciphersuites from the choices:

`NONE`
:   The empty list.

`EXPORT`
:   A list with all the supported cipher combinations
    including the `EXPORT` strength algorithms.

`PERFORMANCE`
:   A list with all the secure cipher combinations sorted in terms of performance.

`NORMAL`
:   A list with all the secure cipher combinations sorted
    with respect to security margin (subjective term).

`SECURE`
:   A list with all the secure cipher combinations including
    the 256-bit ciphers sorted with respect to security margin.

Additionally you can add or remove algorithms using the `+` and `!`
prefixes respectively.

For example, in order to disable the `ARCFOUR` cipher from the `NORMAL` set
you can use the string `NORMAL:!ARCFOUR-128`

Other options such as the protocol version and the compression method
can be specified using the `VERS-` and `COMP-` prefixes.

So in order to remove or add a specific TLS version from the `NORMAL`
set, use `NORMAL:!VERS-SSL3.0`.  And to enable zlib compression use
`NORMAL:+COMP-DEFLATE`.


However it is recommended not to add compression at this level.  With
the `NONE` set, in order to be usable, you have to specify a complete
set of combinations of protocol versions, cipher algorithms
(`AES-128-CBC`), key exchange algorithms (`RSA`), message
authentication codes (`SHA1`) and compression methods (`COMP-NULL`).

You can find a list of all supported Ciphers, Versions, MACs, etc.  by
running `gnutls-cli --list`.

The special keyword `%COMPAT` will disable some security features such
as protection against statistical attacks to ciphertext data in order to
achieve maximum compatibility (some broken mobile clients need this).

`GnuTLSExportCertificates`
--------------------------

Export the PEM encoded certificates to CGIs

    GnuTLSExportCertificates [on|off]

Default: `off`\
Context: server config, virtual host

This directive enables exporting the full certificates of the server and
the client to CGI scripts. The exported certificates will be PEM-encoded
(if X.509) or ASCII-armored (if OpenPGP).
With GnuTLSExportCertificates enabled, `mod_gnutls` exports the same
environment variables to the CGI process as `mod_ssl`.

* * * * *

Configuration Examples
======================

Simple Standard SSL Example
---------------------------

The following is an example of standard SSL Hosting, using one IP
Addresses for each virtual host

     # Load the module into Apache.
     LoadModule gnutls_module modules/mod_gnutls.so
     GnuTLSCache gdbm /var/cache/www-tls-cache
     GnuTLSCacheTimeout 500
     # With normal SSL Websites, you need one IP Address per-site.
     Listen 1.2.3.1:443
     Listen 1.2.3.2:443
     Listen 1.2.3.3:443
     Listen 1.2.3.4:443
     <VirtualHost 1.2.3.1:443>
     GnuTLSEnable on
     GnuTLSPriorities NONE:+AES-128-CBC:+3DES-CBC:+ARCFOUR-128:+RSA:+DHE-RSA:+DHE-DSS:+SHA1:+MD5:+COMP-NULL
     DocumentRoot /www/site1.example.com/html
     ServerName site1.example.com:443
     GnuTLSCertificateFile conf/ssl/site1.crt
     GnuTLSKeyFile conf/ss/site1.key
     </VirtualHost>
     <VirtualHost 1.2.3.2:443>
     # This virtual host enables SRP authentication
     GnuTLSEnable on
     GnuTLSPriorities NORMAL:+SRP
     DocumentRoot /www/site2.example.com/html
     ServerName site2.example.com:443
     GnuTLSSRPPasswdFile conf/ssl/tpasswd.site2
     GnuTLSSRPPasswdConfFile conf/ssl/tpasswd.site2.conf
     </VirtualHost>
     <VirtualHost 1.2.3.3:443>
     # This server enables SRP, OpenPGP and X.509 authentication.
     GnuTLSEnable on
     GnuTLSPriorities NORMAL:+SRP:+SRP-RSA:+SRP-DSS
     DocumentRoot /www/site3.example.com/html
     ServerName site3.example.com:443
     GnuTLSCertificateFile conf/ssl/site3.crt
     GnuTLSKeyFile conf/ss/site3.key
     GnuTLSClientVerify ignore
     GnuTLSPGPCertificateFile conf/ss/site3.pub.asc
     GnuTLSPGPKeyFile conf/ss/site3.sec.asc
     GnuTLSSRPPasswdFile conf/ssl/tpasswd.site3
     GnuTLSSRPPasswdConfFile conf/ssl/tpasswd.site3.conf
     </VirtualHost>
     <VirtualHost 1.2.3.4:443>
     GnuTLSEnable on
     # %COMPAT disables some security features to enable maximum compatibility with clients.
     GnuTLSPriorities NONE:+AES-128-CBC:+ARCFOUR-128:+RSA:+SHA1:+MD5:+COMP-NULL:%COMPAT
     DocumentRoot /www/site4.example.com/html
     ServerName site4.example.com:443
     GnuTLSCertificateFile conf/ssl/site4.crt
     GnuTLSKeyFile conf/ss/site4.key
     </VirtualHost>

Server Name Indication Example
------------------------------

`mod_gnutls` can also use "Server Name Indication", as specified in
RFC 3546.  This allows hosting many SSL Websites, with a Single IP
Address.  Currently all the recent browsers support this
standard. Here is an example, using SNI: ` `


     # Load the module into Apache.
     LoadModule gnutls_module modules/mod_gnutls.so
     # With normal SSL Websites, you need one IP Address per-site.
     Listen 1.2.3.1:443
     # This could also be 'Listen *:443',
     # just like '*:80' is common for non-https
     # No caching. Enable session tickets. Timeout is still used for
     # ticket expiration.
     GnuTLSCacheTimeout 600
     # This tells apache, that for this IP/Port combination, we want to use
     # Name Based Virtual Hosting. In the case of Server Name Indication,
     # it lets mod_gnutls pick the correct Server Certificate.
     NameVirtualHost 1.2.3.1:443
     <VirtualHost 1.2.3.1:443>
     GnuTLSEnable on
     GnuTLSSessionTickets on
     GnuTLSPriorities NORMAL
     DocumentRoot /www/site1.example.com/html
     ServerName site1.example.com:443
     GnuTLSCertificateFile conf/ssl/site1.crt
     GnuTLSKeyFile conf/ss/site1.key
     </VirtualHost>
     <VirtualHost 1.2.3.1:443>
     GnuTLSEnable on
     GnuTLSPriorities NORMAL
     DocumentRoot /www/site2.example.com/html
     ServerName site2.example.com:443
     GnuTLSCertificateFile conf/ssl/site2.crt
     GnuTLSKeyFile conf/ss/site2.key
     </VirtualHost>
     <VirtualHost 1.2.3.1:443>
     GnuTLSEnable on
     GnuTLSPriorities NORMAL
     DocumentRoot /www/site3.example.com/html
     ServerName site3.example.com:443
     GnuTLSCertificateFile conf/ssl/site3.crt
     GnuTLSKeyFile conf/ss/site3.key
     </VirtualHost>
     <VirtualHost 1.2.3.1:443>
     GnuTLSEnable on
     GnuTLSPriorities NORMAL
     DocumentRoot /www/site4.example.com/html
     ServerName site4.example.com:443
     GnuTLSCertificateFile conf/ssl/site4.crt
     GnuTLSKeyFile conf/ss/site4.key
     </VirtualHost>


* * * * *

Performance Issues
==================

`mod_gnutls` by default uses conservative settings for the server.
You can fine tune the configuration to reduce the load on a busy
server.  The following examples do exactly this:


     # Load the module into Apache.
     LoadModule gnutls_module modules/mod_gnutls.so
     # Using 4 memcache servers to distribute the SSL Session Cache.
     GnuTLSCache memcache "mc1.example.com mc2.example.com mc3.example.com mc4.example.com"
     GnuTLSCacheTimeout 600
     Listen 1.2.3.1:443
     NameVirtualHost 1.2.3.1:443
     <VirtualHost 1.2.3.1:443>
     GnuTLSEnable on
     # Here we disable the Perfect forward secrecy ciphersuites (DHE)
     # and disallow AES-256 since AES-128 is just fine.
     GnuTLSPriorities NORMAL:!DHE-RSA:!DHE-DSS:!AES-256-CBC:%COMPAT
     DocumentRoot /www/site1.example.com/html
     ServerName site1.example.com:443
     GnuTLSCertificateFile conf/ssl/site1.crt
     GnuTLSKeyFile conf/ss/site1.key
     </VirtualHost>
     <VirtualHost 1.2.3.1:443>
     GnuTLSEnable on
     # Here we instead of disabling the DHE ciphersuites we use
     # Diffie Hellman parameters of smaller size than the default (2048 bits).
     # Using small numbers from 768 to 1024 bits should be ok once they are
     # regenerated every few hours.
     # Use "certtool --generate-dh-params --bits 1024" to get those
     GnuTLSDHFile /etc/apache2/dh.params
     GnuTLSPriorities NORMAL:!AES-256-CBC:%COMPAT
     DocumentRoot /www/site2.example.com/html
     ServerName site2.example.com:443
     GnuTLSCertificateFile conf/ssl/site2.crt
     GnuTLSKeyFile conf/ss/site2.key
     </VirtualHost>

* * * * *

Environment Variables
=====================

`mod_gnutls` exports the following environment variables to scripts.
These are compatible with `mod_ssl`.

`HTTPS`
-------

Can be `on` or `off`

`SSL_VERSION_LIBRARY`
---------------------

The version of the GnuTLS library

`SSL_VERSION_INTERFACE`
-----------------------

The version of this module

`SSL_PROTOCOL`
--------------

The SSL or TLS protocol name (such as `TLS 1.0` etc.)

`SSL_CIPHER`
------------

The SSL or TLS cipher suite name

`SSL_COMPRESS_METHOD`
---------------------

The negotiated compression method (`NULL` or `DEFLATE`)

`SSL_SRP_USER`
--------------

The SRP username used for authentication (only set when
`GnuTLSSRPPasswdFile` and `GnuTLSSRPPasswdConfFile` are configured).

`SSL_CIPHER_USEKEYSIZE` & `SSL_CIPHER_ALGKEYSIZE`
-------------------------------------------------

The number if bits used in the used cipher algorithm.

This does not fully reflect the security level since the size of
RSA or DHE key exchange parameters affect the security level too.

`SSL_DH_PRIME_BITS`
-------------------

The number if bits in the modulus for the DH group, if DHE or static
DH is used.

This will not be set if DH is not used.

`SSL_CIPHER_EXPORT`
-------------------

`True` or `False`. Whether the cipher suite negotiated is an export one.

`SSL_SESSION_ID`
----------------

The session ID negotiated in this session. Can be the same during client
reloads.

`SSL_CLIENT_V_REMAIN`
---------------------

The number of days until the client's certificate is expired.

`SSL_CLIENT_V_START`
--------------------

The activation time of client's certificate.

`SSL_CLIENT_V_END`
------------------

The expiration time of client's certificate.

`SSL_CLIENT_S_DN`
-----------------

The distinguished name of client's certificate in RFC2253 format.

`SSL_CLIENT_I_DN`
-----------------

The SSL or TLS cipher suite name

`SSL_CLIENT_S_AN%`
------------------

These will contain the alternative names of the client certificate (`%` is
a number starting from zero).

The values will be prepended by `DNSNAME:`, `RFC822NAME:` or `URI:`
depending on the type.

If it is not supported the value `UNSUPPORTED` will be set.

`SSL_SERVER_M_SERIAL`
---------------------

The serial number of the server's certificate.

`SSL_SERVER_M_VERSION`
----------------------

The version of the server's certificate.

`SSL_SERVER_A_SIG`
------------------

The algorithm used for the signature in server's certificate.

`SSL_SERVER_A_KEY`
------------------

The public key algorithm in server's certificate.

`SSL_SERVER1_CERT`
------------------

The PEM-encoded server certificate.

`SSL_SERVER_CERT_TYPE`
----------------------

The certificate type can be `X.509` or `OPENPGP`.

`SSL_CLIENT_CERT_TYPE`
----------------------

The certificate type can be `X.509` or `OPENPGP`.