If you don't specify any configuration or kaspdb explicitly, keymgr uses
default Knot configuration (file or database).
So the problem probably is that you are generating keys for zones with default
dnssec policy, which doesn't use the softhsm keystore.
Try setting:
template:
- id: default
...
dnssec-policy: RSAPol
On 5/2/21 3:46 PM, Full Name wrote:
> Thanks for your reply. Please see my comments below.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Daniel Salzman" [[email protected]]
> Date: 05/02/2021 04:51 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [knot-dns-users] keymgr and keystores
>
>
> On 4/30/21 7:47 PM, Full Name wrote:
>> I am evaluating version 2.9.5 of Knot, in particular in what concerns key
>> management. This examination has resulted in the following issues/questions,
>> which I would like to bring up to this forum for discussion/clarification:
>>
>> 1. I have been testing with the default Knot out-of-the-box setup, with the
>> following knot.conf file:
>>
>> server:
>> listen: [10.0.0.1 ]
>>
>> log:
>> - target: syslog
>> any: info
>>
>> template:
>> - id: default
>> global-module: mod-stats
>>
>> mod-stats:
>> - id: default
>>
>> policy:
>> - id: RSAPol
>> algorithm: RSASHA256
>> ksk-size: 2048
>> zsk-size: 1024
>>
>> zone:
>> - domain: s0.mydomain.com
>> storage: /var/lib/MyZones/db
>> file: db.s0
>> dnssec-signing: on
>> dnssec-policy: RSAPol
>>
>> On launching Knot, this works as expected:
>>
>> - The necessary key pairs are generated and stored in /var/lib/knot/keys in
>> the clear, with files data.db and lock.db created in /var/lib/knot.
>> - The appropriate zone is signed, with the file containing the signed data
>> under /var/lib/MyZones/db.
>>
>> 2. I next tried with SoftHSM for the low-level cryptographic support. The
>> knot.conf file is the same as above, with the following changes:
>>
>> - I added a keystore section:
>>
>> keystore:
>> - id: SoftHSM
>> backend: pkcs11
>> config: "pkcs11:token=KNOT;pin-value=112233 libsofthsm2.so"
>>
>> - I modified the zone section to use SoftHSM:
>
> [DS] I expect you modified the policy section!
>
> Yes, I added a line
>
> keystore: SoftHSM
>
> I.e. the policy section reads
>
> policy:
> - id: RSAPol
> algorithm: RSASHA256
> ksk-size: 2048
> zsk-size: 1024
> keystore: SoftHSM
>
> I should have pointed this out explicitly - my mistake.
>
>
>>
>> zone:
>> - domain: s0.mydomain.com
>> storage: /var/lib/MyZones/db
>> file: db.s0
>> dnssec-signing: on
>> dnssec-policy: RSAPol
>> keystore: SoftHMS
>>
>
> Notice it should read keystore: SoftHSM. This is just a transcription error
> on my side - it is correct in the actual knot.conf file that I am using.
>
>> Before proceeding, I removed everything from /var/lib/knot. On launching
>> knot again, this is what happens:
>>
>> - data.db and lock.db are created under /var/lib/knot, but no key pairs are
>> created under /var/lib/knot/keys.
>> - Key pairs are created under
>> /var/lib/softhsm/tokens/adf76cd6-5411-843e-6036-b8523580ef94.
>> - The appropriate zone is signed, with the file containing the signed data
>> under /var/lib/MyZones/db.
>>
>> This is all pretty much as expected, in that the signing keys have been
>> generated in the space set aside by SoftHSM, and the signatures have been
>> computed by the SoftHSM module.
>>
>> Now what I was wondering is whether keymgr can be used to manage keys in
>> SofHSM? By default, it would seem to be the case that whenever I generate a
>> key pair with keymgr, the key pair is stored under /var/lib/knot/keys, in
>> the clear. Nothing seems to change under /var/lib/softhsm/tokens as a result
>> of such a keymgr command. This is the case no matter what version of the
>> knot.conf files described above I use.
>
> [DS] What are your parameters to keymgr? Don't you use default configuration
> (-d parameter)?
>
> No parameters. I just invoke it as
>
> keymgr mydomain.com. generate algorithm=RSASHA256
>
> Specifying -d /tmp will create db files under /tmp, and a keys directory
> under /tmp containing the actual keys in the clear. The essence of the issue
> remains the same though: the private keys are in the clear, and don't seem to
> have been generated by SoftHSM.
>
>
>> Here is my question:
>>
>> Is keymgr capable of managing keys in some separate device - SoftHSM, or a
>> real, hardware HSM - or is it limited to keys generated by the default
>> mechanism, with no HSM?
>
> [DS] Keymgr follows the zone's policy. So it uses the keystore which is
> configured for the zone.
>
> That's what I thought. Here's the thing though: in the knot.conf file above I
> changed the config entry in the keystore section, so that the wrong user PIN
> is supplied when attempting to access the services of the SoftHSM module.
> However, when using the keymgr command above, key pairs are are still
> generated without error, and stored outside the disk area allocated for
> SoftHSM. This makes me think that SoftHSM is not being used for this
> operation. This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that when I launch knot
> with that incorrect PIN in knot.conf, signatures are not computed and I get
> errors in syslog to that effect.
>
> The bottom line is that, although key pairs are definitely created by
> SoftHSM, and stored in the disk area for SoftHSM, when the automatic key
> generation process, as driven by knot.conf, kicks in, when using keymgr I
> have yet to be able to get SoftHSM to generate key pairs and store them in
> its disk area. What am I doing wrong?
>
>
>
>>
>> I notice that in previous versions of Knot, the keymgr utility supported
>> options to use different keystores. Such options seem to be gone from keymgr
>> as distributed with Knot 2.9.5. Can anybody elaborate on why they were
>> removed, and whether some other utility is provided to achieve the same
>> goals?
>>
>> Ultimately, what I am interested in is to have all of my keys so that they
>> are available to the HSM alone, and I want to find out what tools does Knot
>> provide - if any - to manage those keys, bearing in mind that they will have
>> to be protected in permanent storage until such time that they are meant to
>> be loaded into the HSM to be used. This is crucial, for most HSMs won't keep
>> any keys across power cycles, and even when they do, they number that they
>> can keep will in general be too small for my needs.
>>
>>
>>
>>
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