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# openssl_privatekey – Generate OpenSSL private keys

- Synopsis
- Requirements
- Parameters
- See Also
- Examples
- Return Values
- Status

## Synopsis

- This module allows one to (re)generate OpenSSL private keys.
- One can generate RSA, DSA, ECC or EdDSA private keys.
- Keys are generated in PEM format.
- Please note that the module regenerates private keys if they don’t match the module’s options. In particular, if you provide another passphrase (or specify none), change the keysize, etc., the private key will be regenerated. If you are concerned that this could overwrite your private key, consider using the backup option.
- The module can use the cryptography Python library, or the pyOpenSSL Python library. By default, it tries to detect which one is available. This can be overridden with the select_crypto_backend option. Please note that the PyOpenSSL backend was deprecated in Ansible 2.9 and will be removed in Ansible 2.13.”

## Requirements

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

- Either cryptography >= 1.2.3 (older versions might work as well)
- Or pyOpenSSL

## Parameters

Parameter | Choices/Defaults | Comments
--- | --- | ---
attributes string |  | The attributes the resulting file or directory should have. To get supported flags look at the man page for chattr on the target system. This string should contain the attributes in the same order as the one displayed by lsattr. The `=` operator is assumed as default, otherwise `+` or `-` operators need to be included in the string. aliases: attr
backup boolean added in 2.8 | Choices: no ← yes | Create a backup file including a timestamp so you can get the original private key back if you overwrote it with a new one by accident.
cipher string added in 2.4 |  | The cipher to encrypt the private key. (Valid values can be found by running `openssl list -cipher-algorithms` or `openssl list-cipher-algorithms`, depending on your OpenSSL version.) When using the `cryptography` backend, use `auto`.
curve string added in 2.8 | Choices: secp384r1 secp521r1 secp224r1 secp192r1 secp256r1 secp256k1 brainpoolP256r1 brainpoolP384r1 brainpoolP512r1 sect571k1 sect409k1 sect283k1 sect233k1 sect163k1 sect571r1 sect409r1 sect283r1 sect233r1 sect163r2 | Note that not all curves are supported by all versions of `cryptography`. For maximal interoperability, `secp384r1` or `secp256r1` should be used. We use the curve names as defined in the IANA registry for TLS.
force boolean | Choices: no ← yes | Should the key be regenerated even if it already exists.
group string |  | Name of the group that should own the file/directory, as would be fed to chown.
mode string |  | The permissions the resulting file or directory should have. For those used to /usr/bin/chmod remember that modes are actually octal numbers. You must either add a leading zero so that Ansible's YAML parser knows it is an octal number (like `0644` or `01777`) or quote it (like `'644'` or `'1777'`) so Ansible receives a string and can do its own conversion from string into number. Giving Ansible a number without following one of these rules will end up with a decimal number which will have unexpected results. As of Ansible 1.8, the mode may be specified as a symbolic mode (for example, `u+rwx` or `u=rw,g=r,o=r`). As of Ansible 2.6, the mode may also be the special string `preserve`. When set to `preserve` the file will be given the same permissions as the source file.
owner string |  | Name of the user that should own the file/directory, as would be fed to chown.
passphrase string added in 2.4 |  | The passphrase for the private key.
path path / required |  | Name of the file in which the generated TLS/SSL private key will be written. It will have 0600 mode.
select_crypto_backend string added in 2.8 | Choices: auto ← cryptography pyopenssl | Determines which crypto backend to use. The default choice is `auto`, which tries to use `cryptography` if available, and falls back to `pyopenssl`. If set to `pyopenssl`, will try to use the pyOpenSSL library. If set to `cryptography`, will try to use the cryptography library. Please note that the `pyopenssl` backend has been deprecated in Ansible 2.9, and will be removed in Ansible 2.13. From that point on, only the `cryptography` backend will be available.
selevel string | Default: "s0" | The level part of the SELinux file context. This is the MLS/MCS attribute, sometimes known as the `range`. When set to `_default`, it will use the `level` portion of the policy if available.
serole string |  | The role part of the SELinux file context. When set to `_default`, it will use the `role` portion of the policy if available.
setype string |  | The type part of the SELinux file context. When set to `_default`, it will use the `type` portion of the policy if available.
seuser string |  | The user part of the SELinux file context. By default it uses the `system` policy, where applicable. When set to `_default`, it will use the `user` portion of the policy if available.
size integer | Default: 4096 | Size (in bits) of the TLS/SSL key to generate.
state string | Choices: absent present ← | Whether the private key should exist or not, taking action if the state is different from what is stated.
type string | Choices: DSA ECC Ed25519 Ed448 RSA ← X25519 X448 | The algorithm used to generate the TLS/SSL private key. Note that `ECC`, `X25519`, `X448`, `Ed25519` and `Ed448` require the `cryptography` backend. `X25519` needs cryptography 2.5 or newer, while `X448`, `Ed25519` and `Ed448` require cryptography 2.6 or newer. For `ECC`, the minimal cryptography version required depends on the curve option.
unsafe_writes boolean | Choices: no ← yes | Influence when to use atomic operation to prevent data corruption or inconsistent reads from the target file. By default this module uses atomic operations to prevent data corruption or inconsistent reads from the target files, but sometimes systems are configured or just broken in ways that prevent this. One example is docker mounted files, which cannot be updated atomically from inside the container and can only be written in an unsafe manner. This option allows Ansible to fall back to unsafe methods of updating files when atomic operations fail (however, it doesn't force Ansible to perform unsafe writes). IMPORTANT! Unsafe writes are subject to race conditions and can lead to data corruption.

## See Also

See also

openssl_certificate – Generate and/or check OpenSSL certificates
  The official documentation on the openssl_certificate module.
openssl_csr – Generate OpenSSL Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
  The official documentation on the openssl_csr module.
openssl_dhparam – Generate OpenSSL Diffie-Hellman Parameters
  The official documentation on the openssl_dhparam module.
openssl_pkcs12 – Generate OpenSSL PKCS#12 archive
  The official documentation on the openssl_pkcs12 module.
openssl_publickey – Generate an OpenSSL public key from its private key
  The official documentation on the openssl_publickey module.

## Examples

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL private key with the default values (4096 bits, RSA)
      openssl_privatekey:
        path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL private key with the default values (4096 bits, RSA) and a passphrase
      openssl_privatekey:
        path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
        passphrase: ansible
        cipher: aes256

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL private key with a different size (2048 bits)
      openssl_privatekey:
        path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
        size: 2048

    - name: Force regenerate an OpenSSL private key if it already exists
      openssl_privatekey:
        path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
        force: yes

    - name: Generate an OpenSSL private key with a different algorithm (DSA)
      openssl_privatekey:
        path: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
        type: DSA

## Return Values

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

Key | Returned | Description
--- | --- | ---
backup_file string | changed and if backup is `yes` | Name of backup file created. Sample: /path/to/privatekey.pem.2019-03-09@11:22~
curve string | changed or success, and type is `ECC` | Elliptic curve used to generate the TLS/SSL private key. Sample: secp256r1
filename string | changed or success | Path to the generated TLS/SSL private key file. Sample: /etc/ssl/private/ansible.com.pem
fingerprint dictionary | changed or success | The fingerprint of the public key. Fingerprint will be generated for each `hashlib.algorithms` available. The PyOpenSSL backend requires PyOpenSSL >= 16.0 for meaningful output. Sample: {'md5': '84:75:71:72:8d:04:b5:6c:4d:37:6d:66:83:f5:4c:29', 'sha1': '51:cc:7c:68:5d:eb:41:43:88:7e:1a:ae:c7:f8:24:72:ee:71:f6:10', 'sha224': 'b1:19:a6:6c:14:ac:33:1d:ed:18:50:d3:06:5c:b2:32:91:f1:f1:52:8c:cb:d5:75:e9:f5:9b:46', 'sha256': '41:ab:c7:cb:d5:5f:30:60:46:99:ac:d4:00:70:cf:a1:76:4f:24:5d:10:24:57:5d:51:6e:09:97:df:2f:de:c7', 'sha384': '85:39:50:4e:de:d9:19:33:40:70:ae:10:ab:59:24:19:51:c3:a2:e4:0b:1c:b1:6e:dd:b3:0c:d9:9e:6a:46:af:da:18:f8:ef:ae:2e:c0:9a:75:2c:9b:b3:0f:3a:5f:3d', 'sha512': 'fd:ed:5e:39:48:5f:9f:fe:7f:25:06:3f:79:08:cd:ee:a5:e7:b3:3d:13:82:87:1f:84:e1:f5:c7:28:77:53:94:86:56:38:69:f0:d9:35:22:01:1e:a6:60:...:0f:9b'}
size integer | changed or success | Size (in bits) of the TLS/SSL private key. Sample: 4096
type string | changed or success | Algorithm used to generate the TLS/SSL private key. Sample: RSA

## Status

- This module is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface. [preview]
- This module is maintained by the Ansible Community. [community]

### Authors

- Yanis Guenane (@Spredzy)
- Felix Fontein (@felixfontein)

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