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+.. _network_005ftls:
+
+TLS setup for network services
+------------------------------
+
+Almost all network services in QEMU have the ability to use TLS for
+session data encryption, along with x509 certificates for simple client
+authentication. What follows is a description of how to generate
+certificates suitable for usage with QEMU, and applies to the VNC
+server, character devices with the TCP backend, NBD server and client,
+and migration server and client.
+
+At a high level, QEMU requires certificates and private keys to be
+provided in PEM format. Aside from the core fields, the certificates
+should include various extension data sets, including v3 basic
+constraints data, key purpose, key usage and subject alt name.
+
+The GnuTLS package includes a command called ``certtool`` which can be
+used to easily generate certificates and keys in the required format
+with expected data present. Alternatively a certificate management
+service may be used.
+
+At a minimum it is necessary to setup a certificate authority, and issue
+certificates to each server. If using x509 certificates for
+authentication, then each client will also need to be issued a
+certificate.
+
+Assuming that the QEMU network services will only ever be exposed to
+clients on a private intranet, there is no need to use a commercial
+certificate authority to create certificates. A self-signed CA is
+sufficient, and in fact likely to be more secure since it removes the
+ability of malicious 3rd parties to trick the CA into mis-issuing certs
+for impersonating your services. The only likely exception where a
+commercial CA might be desirable is if enabling the VNC websockets
+server and exposing it directly to remote browser clients. In such a
+case it might be useful to use a commercial CA to avoid needing to
+install custom CA certs in the web browsers.
+
+The recommendation is for the server to keep its certificates in either
+``/etc/pki/qemu`` or for unprivileged users in ``$HOME/.pki/qemu``.
+
+.. _tls_005fgenerate_005fca:
+
+Setup the Certificate Authority
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+This step only needs to be performed once per organization /
+organizational unit. First the CA needs a private key. This key must be
+kept VERY secret and secure. If this key is compromised the entire trust
+chain of the certificates issued with it is lost.
+
+::
+
+ # certtool --generate-privkey > ca-key.pem
+
+To generate a self-signed certificate requires one core piece of
+information, the name of the organization. A template file ``ca.info``
+should be populated with the desired data to avoid having to deal with
+interactive prompts from certtool::
+
+ # cat > ca.info <<EOF
+ cn = Name of your organization
+ ca
+ cert_signing_key
+ EOF
+ # certtool --generate-self-signed \
+ --load-privkey ca-key.pem
+ --template ca.info \
+ --outfile ca-cert.pem
+
+The ``ca`` keyword in the template sets the v3 basic constraints
+extension to indicate this certificate is for a CA, while
+``cert_signing_key`` sets the key usage extension to indicate this will
+be used for signing other keys. The generated ``ca-cert.pem`` file
+should be copied to all servers and clients wishing to utilize TLS
+support in the VNC server. The ``ca-key.pem`` must not be
+disclosed/copied anywhere except the host responsible for issuing
+certificates.
+
+.. _tls_005fgenerate_005fserver:
+
+Issuing server certificates
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Each server (or host) needs to be issued with a key and certificate.
+When connecting the certificate is sent to the client which validates it
+against the CA certificate. The core pieces of information for a server
+certificate are the hostnames and/or IP addresses that will be used by
+clients when connecting. The hostname / IP address that the client
+specifies when connecting will be validated against the hostname(s) and
+IP address(es) recorded in the server certificate, and if no match is
+found the client will close the connection.
+
+Thus it is recommended that the server certificate include both the
+fully qualified and unqualified hostnames. If the server will have
+permanently assigned IP address(es), and clients are likely to use them
+when connecting, they may also be included in the certificate. Both IPv4
+and IPv6 addresses are supported. Historically certificates only
+included 1 hostname in the ``CN`` field, however, usage of this field
+for validation is now deprecated. Instead modern TLS clients will
+validate against the Subject Alt Name extension data, which allows for
+multiple entries. In the future usage of the ``CN`` field may be
+discontinued entirely, so providing SAN extension data is strongly
+recommended.
+
+On the host holding the CA, create template files containing the
+information for each server, and use it to issue server certificates.
+
+::
+
+ # cat > server-hostNNN.info <<EOF
+ organization = Name of your organization
+ cn = hostNNN.foo.example.com
+ dns_name = hostNNN
+ dns_name = hostNNN.foo.example.com
+ ip_address = 10.0.1.87
+ ip_address = 192.8.0.92
+ ip_address = 2620:0:cafe::87
+ ip_address = 2001:24::92
+ tls_www_server
+ encryption_key
+ signing_key
+ EOF
+ # certtool --generate-privkey > server-hostNNN-key.pem
+ # certtool --generate-certificate \
+ --load-ca-certificate ca-cert.pem \
+ --load-ca-privkey ca-key.pem \
+ --load-privkey server-hostNNN-key.pem \
+ --template server-hostNNN.info \
+ --outfile server-hostNNN-cert.pem
+
+The ``dns_name`` and ``ip_address`` fields in the template are setting
+the subject alt name extension data. The ``tls_www_server`` keyword is
+the key purpose extension to indicate this certificate is intended for
+usage in a web server. Although QEMU network services are not in fact
+HTTP servers (except for VNC websockets), setting this key purpose is
+still recommended. The ``encryption_key`` and ``signing_key`` keyword is
+the key usage extension to indicate this certificate is intended for
+usage in the data session.
+
+The ``server-hostNNN-key.pem`` and ``server-hostNNN-cert.pem`` files
+should now be securely copied to the server for which they were
+generated, and renamed to ``server-key.pem`` and ``server-cert.pem``
+when added to the ``/etc/pki/qemu`` directory on the target host. The
+``server-key.pem`` file is security sensitive and should be kept
+protected with file mode 0600 to prevent disclosure.
+
+.. _tls_005fgenerate_005fclient:
+
+Issuing client certificates
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The QEMU x509 TLS credential setup defaults to enabling client
+verification using certificates, providing a simple authentication
+mechanism. If this default is used, each client also needs to be issued
+a certificate. The client certificate contains enough metadata to
+uniquely identify the client with the scope of the certificate
+authority. The client certificate would typically include fields for
+organization, state, city, building, etc.
+
+Once again on the host holding the CA, create template files containing
+the information for each client, and use it to issue client
+certificates.
+
+::
+
+ # cat > client-hostNNN.info <<EOF
+ country = GB
+ state = London
+ locality = City Of London
+ organization = Name of your organization
+ cn = hostNNN.foo.example.com
+ tls_www_client
+ encryption_key
+ signing_key
+ EOF
+ # certtool --generate-privkey > client-hostNNN-key.pem
+ # certtool --generate-certificate \
+ --load-ca-certificate ca-cert.pem \
+ --load-ca-privkey ca-key.pem \
+ --load-privkey client-hostNNN-key.pem \
+ --template client-hostNNN.info \
+ --outfile client-hostNNN-cert.pem
+
+The subject alt name extension data is not required for clients, so the
+the ``dns_name`` and ``ip_address`` fields are not included. The
+``tls_www_client`` keyword is the key purpose extension to indicate this
+certificate is intended for usage in a web client. Although QEMU network
+clients are not in fact HTTP clients, setting this key purpose is still
+recommended. The ``encryption_key`` and ``signing_key`` keyword is the
+key usage extension to indicate this certificate is intended for usage
+in the data session.
+
+The ``client-hostNNN-key.pem`` and ``client-hostNNN-cert.pem`` files
+should now be securely copied to the client for which they were
+generated, and renamed to ``client-key.pem`` and ``client-cert.pem``
+when added to the ``/etc/pki/qemu`` directory on the target host. The
+``client-key.pem`` file is security sensitive and should be kept
+protected with file mode 0600 to prevent disclosure.
+
+If a single host is going to be using TLS in both a client and server
+role, it is possible to create a single certificate to cover both roles.
+This would be quite common for the migration and NBD services, where a
+QEMU process will be started by accepting a TLS protected incoming
+migration, and later itself be migrated out to another host. To generate
+a single certificate, simply include the template data from both the
+client and server instructions in one.
+
+::
+
+ # cat > both-hostNNN.info <<EOF
+ country = GB
+ state = London
+ locality = City Of London
+ organization = Name of your organization
+ cn = hostNNN.foo.example.com
+ dns_name = hostNNN
+ dns_name = hostNNN.foo.example.com
+ ip_address = 10.0.1.87
+ ip_address = 192.8.0.92
+ ip_address = 2620:0:cafe::87
+ ip_address = 2001:24::92
+ tls_www_server
+ tls_www_client
+ encryption_key
+ signing_key
+ EOF
+ # certtool --generate-privkey > both-hostNNN-key.pem
+ # certtool --generate-certificate \
+ --load-ca-certificate ca-cert.pem \
+ --load-ca-privkey ca-key.pem \
+ --load-privkey both-hostNNN-key.pem \
+ --template both-hostNNN.info \
+ --outfile both-hostNNN-cert.pem
+
+When copying the PEM files to the target host, save them twice, once as
+``server-cert.pem`` and ``server-key.pem``, and again as
+``client-cert.pem`` and ``client-key.pem``.
+
+.. _tls_005fcreds_005fsetup:
+
+TLS x509 credential configuration
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+QEMU has a standard mechanism for loading x509 credentials that will be
+used for network services and clients. It requires specifying the
+``tls-creds-x509`` class name to the ``--object`` command line argument
+for the system emulators. Each set of credentials loaded should be given
+a unique string identifier via the ``id`` parameter. A single set of TLS
+credentials can be used for multiple network backends, so VNC,
+migration, NBD, character devices can all share the same credentials.
+Note, however, that credentials for use in a client endpoint must be
+loaded separately from those used in a server endpoint.
+
+When specifying the object, the ``dir`` parameters specifies which
+directory contains the credential files. This directory is expected to
+contain files with the names mentioned previously, ``ca-cert.pem``,
+``server-key.pem``, ``server-cert.pem``, ``client-key.pem`` and
+``client-cert.pem`` as appropriate. It is also possible to include a set
+of pre-generated Diffie-Hellman (DH) parameters in a file
+``dh-params.pem``, which can be created using the
+``certtool --generate-dh-params`` command. If omitted, QEMU will
+dynamically generate DH parameters when loading the credentials.
+
+The ``endpoint`` parameter indicates whether the credentials will be
+used for a network client or server, and determines which PEM files are
+loaded.
+
+The ``verify`` parameter determines whether x509 certificate validation
+should be performed. This defaults to enabled, meaning clients will
+always validate the server hostname against the certificate subject alt
+name fields and/or CN field. It also means that servers will request
+that clients provide a certificate and validate them. Verification
+should never be turned off for client endpoints, however, it may be
+turned off for server endpoints if an alternative mechanism is used to
+authenticate clients. For example, the VNC server can use SASL to
+authenticate clients instead.
+
+To load server credentials with client certificate validation enabled
+
+.. parsed-literal::
+
+ |qemu_system| -object tls-creds-x509,id=tls0,dir=/etc/pki/qemu,endpoint=server
+
+while to load client credentials use
+
+.. parsed-literal::
+
+ |qemu_system| -object tls-creds-x509,id=tls0,dir=/etc/pki/qemu,endpoint=client
+
+Network services which support TLS will all have a ``tls-creds``
+parameter which expects the ID of the TLS credentials object. For
+example with VNC:
+
+.. parsed-literal::
+
+ |qemu_system| -vnc 0.0.0.0:0,tls-creds=tls0
+
+.. _tls_005fpsk:
+
+TLS Pre-Shared Keys (PSK)
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Instead of using certificates, you may also use TLS Pre-Shared Keys
+(TLS-PSK). This can be simpler to set up than certificates but is less
+scalable.
+
+Use the GnuTLS ``psktool`` program to generate a ``keys.psk`` file
+containing one or more usernames and random keys::
+
+ mkdir -m 0700 /tmp/keys
+ psktool -u rich -p /tmp/keys/keys.psk
+
+TLS-enabled servers such as qemu-nbd can use this directory like so::
+
+ qemu-nbd \
+ -t -x / \
+ --object tls-creds-psk,id=tls0,endpoint=server,dir=/tmp/keys \
+ --tls-creds tls0 \
+ image.qcow2
+
+When connecting from a qemu-based client you must specify the directory
+containing ``keys.psk`` and an optional username (defaults to "qemu")::
+
+ qemu-img info \
+ --object tls-creds-psk,id=tls0,dir=/tmp/keys,username=rich,endpoint=client \
+ --image-opts \
+ file.driver=nbd,file.host=localhost,file.port=10809,file.tls-creds=tls0,file.export=/