[Freeipa-devel] [PATCH] [WIP] Allow full customisability of CA subject name

[Fraser Tweedale]

On Tue, Jul 19, 2016 at 09:36:17AM +0200, Jan Cholasta wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On 15.7.2016 07:05, Fraser Tweedale wrote:
> > On Fri, Jul 15, 2016 at 03:04:48PM +1000, Fraser Tweedale wrote:
> > > The attached patch is a work in progress for
> > > https://fedorahosted.org/freeipa/ticket/2614 (BZ 828866).
> > > 
> > > I am sharing now to make the approach clear and solicit feedback.
> > > 
> > > It has been tested for server install, replica install (with and
> > > without CA) and CA-replica install (all hosts running master+patch).
> > > 
> > > Migration from earlier versions and server/replica/CA install on a
> > > CA-less deployment are not yet tested; these will be tested over
> > > coming days and patch will be tweaked as necessary.
> > > 
> > > Commit message has a fair bit to say so I won't repeat here but let
> > > me know your questions and comments.
> > > 
> > > Thanks,
> > > Fraser
> > > 
> > It does help to attach the patch, of course ^_^
> 
> IMO explicit is better than implicit, so instead of introducing additional
> magic around --subject, I would rather add a new separate option for
> specifying the CA subject name (I think --ca-subject, for consistency with
> --ca-signing-algorithm).
> 
The current situation - the --subject argument which specifies the
not the subject but the subject base, is confusing enough (to say
nothing of the limitations that give rise to the RFE).

Retaining --subject for specifying the subject base and adding
--ca-subject for specifying the *actual* subject DN gets us over the
line in terms of the RFE, but does not make the installer less
confusing.  This is why I made --subject accept the full subject DN,
with provisions to retain existing behaviour.

IMO if we want to have separate arguments for subject DN and subject
base (I am not against it), let's bite the bullet and name arguments
accordingly.  --subject should be used to specify full Subject DN,
--subject-base (or similar) for specifying subject base.

(I intentionally defer discussion of specific behaviour if one, none
or both are specified; let's resolve the question or renaming /
changing meaning of arguments first).


> By specifying the option you would override the default "CN=Certificate
> Authority,$SUBJECT_BASE" subject name. If --external-ca was not used,
> additional validation would be done to make sure the subject name meets
> Dogtag's expectations. Actually, it might make sense to always do the
> additional validation, to be able to print a warning that if a
> Dogtag-incompatible subject name is used, it won't be possible to change the
> CA cert chaining from externally signed to self-signed later.
> 
> Honza
> 
> -- 
> Jan Cholasta