NAME

gnutls-serv - GnuTLS server

SYNOPSIS

gnutls-serv [ -flags] [ -flag [value]] [ --option-name[[=| ] value]]
 
 
All arguments must be options.
 

DESCRIPTION

Server program that listens to incoming TLS connections.
 

OPTIONS

-d num, --debug=num
 
Enable debugging. This option takes an integer number as its argument. The value of num is constrained to being:
in the range 0 through 9999
    

Specifies the debug level.
--sni-hostname=str
 
Server's hostname for server name extension. Server name of type host_name that the server will recognise as its own. If the server receives client hello with different name, it will send a warning-level unrecognized_name alert.
--sni-hostname-fatal
 
Send fatal alert on sni-hostname mismatch.
--alpn=str
 
Specify ALPN protocol to be enabled by the server. This option may appear an unlimited number of times. Specify the (textual) ALPN protocol for the server to use.
--alpn-fatal
 
Send fatal alert on non-matching ALPN name.
--noticket
 
Don't accept session tickets.
--earlydata
 
Accept early data.
--maxearlydata=num
 
The maximum early data size to accept. This option takes an integer number as its argument. The value of num is constrained to being:
in the range 1 through 2147483648
    

--nocookie
 
Don't require cookie on DTLS sessions.
-g, --generate
 
Generate Diffie-Hellman parameters.
-q, --quiet
 
Suppress some messages.
--nodb
 
Do not use a resumption database.
--http
 
Act as an HTTP server.
--echo
 
Act as an Echo server.
--crlf
 
Do not replace CRLF by LF in Echo server mode.
-u, --udp
 
Use DTLS (datagram TLS) over UDP.
--mtu=num
 
Set MTU for datagram TLS. This option takes an integer number as its argument. The value of num is constrained to being:
in the range 0 through 17000
    

--srtp-profiles=str
 
Offer SRTP profiles.
-a, --disable-client-cert
 
Do not request a client certificate. This option must not appear in combination with any of the following options: require-client-cert.
-r, --require-client-cert
 
Require a client certificate. This option before 3.6.0 used to imply --verify-client-cert. Since 3.6.0 it will no longer verify the certificate by default.
--verify-client-cert
 
If a client certificate is sent then verify it. Do not require, but if a client certificate is sent then verify it and close the connection if invalid.
--compress-cert=str
 
Compress certificate. This option may appear an unlimited number of times. This option sets a supported compression method for certificate compression.
-b, --heartbeat
 
Activate heartbeat support. Regularly ping client via heartbeat extension messages
--x509fmtder
 
Use DER format for certificates to read from.
--priority=str
 
Priorities string. TLS algorithms and protocols to enable. You can use predefined sets of ciphersuites such as PERFORMANCE, NORMAL, SECURE128, SECURE256. The default is NORMAL. Check the GnuTLS manual on section “Priority strings” for more information on allowed keywords
--dhparams=file
 
DH params file to use.
--x509cafile=str
 
Certificate file or PKCS #11 URL to use.
--x509crlfile=file
 
CRL file to use.
--pgpkeyfile=file
 
PGP Key file to use. NOTE: THIS OPTION IS DEPRECATED
--x509keyfile=str
 
X.509 key file or PKCS #11 URL to use. This option may appear an unlimited number of times. Specify the private key file or URI to use; it must correspond to the certificate specified in --x509certfile. Multiple keys and certificates can be specified with this option and in that case each occurrence of keyfile must be followed by the corresponding x509certfile or vice-versa.
--x509certfile=str
 
X.509 Certificate file or PKCS #11 URL to use. This option may appear an unlimited number of times. Specify the certificate file or URI to use; it must correspond to the key specified in --x509keyfile. Multiple keys and certificates can be specified with this option and in that case each occurrence of keyfile must be followed by the corresponding x509certfile or vice-versa.
--x509dsakeyfile
 
This is an alias for the --x509keyfile option. NOTE: THIS OPTION IS DEPRECATED
--x509dsacertfile
 
This is an alias for the --x509certfile option. NOTE: THIS OPTION IS DEPRECATED
--x509ecckeyfile
 
This is an alias for the --x509keyfile option. NOTE: THIS OPTION IS DEPRECATED
--x509ecccertfile
 
This is an alias for the --x509certfile option. NOTE: THIS OPTION IS DEPRECATED
--rawpkkeyfile=str
 
Private key file (PKCS #8 or PKCS #12) or PKCS #11 URL to use. This option may appear an unlimited number of times. Specify the private key file or URI to use; it must correspond to the raw public-key specified in --rawpkfile. Multiple key pairs can be specified with this option and in that case each occurrence of keyfile must be followed by the corresponding rawpkfile or vice-versa. In order to instruct the application to negotiate raw public keys one must enable the respective certificate types via the priority strings (i.e. CTYPE-CLI-* and CTYPE-SRV-* flags). Check the GnuTLS manual on section “Priority strings” for more information on how to set certificate types.
--rawpkfile=str
 
Raw public-key file to use. This option may appear an unlimited number of times. This option must appear in combination with the following options: rawpkkeyfile. Specify the raw public-key file to use; it must correspond to the private key specified in --rawpkkeyfile. Multiple key pairs can be specified with this option and in that case each occurrence of keyfile must be followed by the corresponding rawpkfile or vice-versa. In order to instruct the application to negotiate raw public keys one must enable the respective certificate types via the priority strings (i.e. CTYPE-CLI-* and CTYPE-SRV-* flags). Check the GnuTLS manual on section “Priority strings” for more information on how to set certificate types.
--srppasswd=file
 
SRP password file to use.
--srppasswdconf=file
 
SRP password configuration file to use.
--pskpasswd=file
 
PSK password file to use.
--pskhint=str
 
PSK identity hint to use.
--ocsp-response=str
 
The OCSP response to send to client. This option may appear an unlimited number of times. If the client requested an OCSP response, return data from this file to the client.
--ignore-ocsp-response-errors
 
Ignore any errors when setting the OCSP response. That option instructs gnutls to not attempt to match the provided OCSP responses with the certificates.
-p num, --port=num
 
The port to connect to. This option takes an integer number as its argument.
-l, --list
 
Print a list of the supported algorithms and modes. Print a list of the supported algorithms and modes. If a priority string is given then only the enabled ciphersuites are shown.
--provider=file
 
Specify the PKCS #11 provider library. This will override the default options in /etc/gnutls/pkcs11.conf
--keymatexport=str
 
Label used for exporting keying material.
--keymatexportsize=num
 
Size of the exported keying material. This option takes an integer number as its argument.
--recordsize=num
 
The maximum record size to advertise. This option takes an integer number as its argument. The value of num is constrained to being:
in the range 0 through 16384
    

--httpdata=file
 
The data used as HTTP response.
-v arg, --version=arg
 
Output version of program and exit. The default mode is `v', a simple version. The `c' mode will print copyright information and `n' will print the full copyright notice.
-h, --help
 
Display usage information and exit.
-!, --more-help
 
Pass the extended usage information through a pager.

EXAMPLES

Running your own TLS server based on GnuTLS can be useful when debugging clients and/or GnuTLS itself. This section describes how to use gnutls-serv as a simple HTTPS server.
 
The most basic server can be started as:
 
 

gnutls-serv --http --priority "NORMAL:+ANON-ECDH:+ANON-DH"

 
It will only support anonymous ciphersuites, which many TLS clients refuse to use.
 
The next step is to add support for X.509. First we generate a CA:
 
 

$ certtool --generate-privkey > x509-ca-key.pem
$ echo 'cn = GnuTLS test CA' > ca.tmpl
$ echo 'ca' >> ca.tmpl
$ echo 'cert_signing_key' >> ca.tmpl
$ certtool --generate-self-signed --load-privkey x509-ca-key.pem   --template ca.tmpl --outfile x509-ca.pem

 
Then generate a server certificate. Remember to change the dns_name value to the name of your server host, or skip that command to avoid the field.
 
 

$ certtool --generate-privkey > x509-server-key.pem
$ echo 'organization = GnuTLS test server' > server.tmpl
$ echo 'cn = test.gnutls.org' >> server.tmpl
$ echo 'tls_www_server' >> server.tmpl
$ echo 'encryption_key' >> server.tmpl
$ echo 'signing_key' >> server.tmpl
$ echo 'dns_name = test.gnutls.org' >> server.tmpl
$ certtool --generate-certificate --load-privkey x509-server-key.pem   --load-ca-certificate x509-ca.pem --load-ca-privkey x509-ca-key.pem   --template server.tmpl --outfile x509-server.pem

 
For use in the client, you may want to generate a client certificate as well.
 
 

$ certtool --generate-privkey > x509-client-key.pem
$ echo 'cn = GnuTLS test client' > client.tmpl
$ echo 'tls_www_client' >> client.tmpl
$ echo 'encryption_key' >> client.tmpl
$ echo 'signing_key' >> client.tmpl
$ certtool --generate-certificate --load-privkey x509-client-key.pem   --load-ca-certificate x509-ca.pem --load-ca-privkey x509-ca-key.pem   --template client.tmpl --outfile x509-client.pem

 
To be able to import the client key/certificate into some applications, you will need to convert them into a PKCS#12 structure. This also encrypts the security sensitive key with a password.
 
 

$ certtool --to-p12 --load-ca-certificate x509-ca.pem   --load-privkey x509-client-key.pem --load-certificate x509-client.pem   --outder --outfile x509-client.p12

 
For icing, we'll create a proxy certificate for the client too.
 
 

$ certtool --generate-privkey > x509-proxy-key.pem
$ echo 'cn = GnuTLS test client proxy' > proxy.tmpl
$ certtool --generate-proxy --load-privkey x509-proxy-key.pem   --load-ca-certificate x509-client.pem --load-ca-privkey x509-client-key.pem   --load-certificate x509-client.pem --template proxy.tmpl   --outfile x509-proxy.pem

 
Then start the server again:
 
 

$ gnutls-serv --http             --x509cafile x509-ca.pem             --x509keyfile x509-server-key.pem             --x509certfile x509-server.pem

 
Try connecting to the server using your web browser. Note that the server listens to port 5556 by default.
 
While you are at it, to allow connections using ECDSA, you can also create a ECDSA key and certificate for the server. These credentials will be used in the final example below.
 
 

$ certtool --generate-privkey --ecdsa > x509-server-key-ecc.pem
$ certtool --generate-certificate --load-privkey x509-server-key-ecc.pem   --load-ca-certificate x509-ca.pem --load-ca-privkey x509-ca-key.pem   --template server.tmpl --outfile x509-server-ecc.pem

 
 
The next step is to add support for SRP authentication. This requires an SRP password file created with srptool. To start the server with SRP support:
 
 

gnutls-serv --http --priority NORMAL:+SRP-RSA:+SRP             --srppasswdconf srp-tpasswd.conf             --srppasswd srp-passwd.txt

 
Let's also start a server with support for PSK. This would require a password file created with psktool.
 
 

gnutls-serv --http --priority NORMAL:+ECDHE-PSK:+PSK             --pskpasswd psk-passwd.txt

 
If you want a server with support for raw public-keys we can also add these credentials. Note however that there is no identity information linked to these keys as is the case with regular x509 certificates. Authentication must be done via different means. Also we need to explicitly enable raw public-key certificates via the priority strings.
 
 

gnutls-serv --http --priority NORMAL:+CTYPE-CLI-RAWPK:+CTYPE-SRV-RAWPK             --rawpkfile srv.rawpk.pem             --rawpkkeyfile srv.key.pem

 
 
Finally, we start the server with all the earlier parameters and you get this command:
 
 

gnutls-serv --http --priority NORMAL:+PSK:+SRP:+CTYPE-CLI-RAWPK:+CTYPE-SRV-RAWPK             --x509cafile x509-ca.pem             --x509keyfile x509-server-key.pem             --x509certfile x509-server.pem             --x509keyfile x509-server-key-ecc.pem             --x509certfile x509-server-ecc.pem             --srppasswdconf srp-tpasswd.conf             --srppasswd srp-passwd.txt             --pskpasswd psk-passwd.txt             --rawpkfile srv.rawpk.pem             --rawpkkeyfile srv.key.pem

EXIT STATUS

One of the following exit values will be returned:
0 (EXIT_SUCCESS)
 
Successful program execution.
1 (EXIT_FAILURE)
 
The operation failed or the command syntax was not valid.

SEE ALSO

gnutls-cli-debug(1), gnutls-cli(1)

AUTHORS

Copyright (C) 2020-2021 Free Software Foundation, and others all rights reserved. This program is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later

BUGS

Please send bug reports to: [email protected]

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