DNSSEC-KSR(1)

NAME
dnssec-ksr - create signed key response (SKR) files for offline KSK setups

SYNOPSIS

dnssec-ksr [-E engine] [-e date/offset] [-F] [-f file] [-h] [-i date/offset] [-K directory] [-k policy] [-l file] [-o] [-V] [-v level] {command} {zone}

DESCRIPTION

The dnssec-ksr can be used to issue several commands that are needed to generate presigned RRsets for a zone where the private key file of the Key Signing Key (KSK) is typically offline. This requires Zone Signing Keys (ZSKs) to be pregenerated, and the DNSKEY, CDNSKEY, and CDS RRsets to be already signed in advance.

The latter is done by creating Key Signing Requests (KSRs) that can be imported to the environment where the KSK is available. Once there, this program can create Signed Key Responses (SKRs) that can be loaded by an authoritative DNS server.

OPTIONS

-E engine
    This option specifies the cryptographic hardware to use, when applicable.

    When BIND 9 is built with OpenSSL, this needs to be set to the OpenSSL engine identifier that drives the cryptographic accelerator or hardware service module (usually pkcs11).

-e date/offset
    This option sets the end date for which keys or SKRs need to be generated (depending on the command).

-F  This options turns on FIPS (US Federal Information Processing Standards) mode if the underlying crytographic library supports running in FIPS mode.

-f  This option sets the SKR file to be signed when issuing a sign command.

-h  This option prints a short summary of the options and arguments to dnssec-ksr.

-i date/offset
    This option sets the start date for which keys or SKRs need to be generated (depending on the command).

-K directory
    This option sets the directory in which the key files are to be read or written (depending on the command).

-k policy
    This option sets the specific dnssec-policy for which keys need to be generated, or signed.

-l file
    This option provides a configuration file that contains a dnssec-policy statement (matching the policy set with -k).

-o  Normally when pregenerating keys, ZSKs are created. When this option is set, create KSKs instead.

-V  This option prints version information.

-v level
    This option sets the debugging level. Level 1 is intended to be usefully verbose for general users; higher levels are intended for developers.

    command The KSR command to be executed. See below for the available commands.

    zone The name of the zone for which the KSR command is being executed.

COMMANDS

keygen
    Pregenerate a number of keys, given a DNSSEC policy and an interval. The number of generated keys depends on the interval and the key lifetime.

request
    Create a Key Signing Request (KSR), given a DNSSEC policy and an interval. This will generate a file with a number of key bundles, where each bundle contains the currently published ZSKs (according to the timing metadata).

sign
    Sign a Key Signing Request (KSR), given a DNSSEC policy and an interval, creating a Signed Key Response (SKR). This will add the corresponding DNSKEY, CDS, and CDNSKEY records for the KSK that is being used for signing.

EXIT STATUS

The dnssec-ksr command exits 0 on success, or non-zero if an error occurred.

EXAMPLES

When you need to generate ZSKs for the zone "example.com" for the next year, given a dnssec-policy named "mypolicy":

    dnssec-ksr -i now -e +1y -k mypolicy -l named.conf keygen example.com

Creating a KSR for the same zone and period can be done with:

    dnssec-ksr -i now -e +1y -k mypolicy -l named.conf request example.com > ksr.txt

Typically you would now transfer the KSR to the system that has access to the KSK.

Signing the KSR created above can be done with:

    dnssec-ksr -i now -e +1y -k kskpolicy -l named.conf -f ksr.txt sign example.com

Make sure that the DNSSEC parameters in kskpolicy match those in mypolicy.

SEE ALSO

dnssec-keygen(8), dnssec-signzone(8), BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual.

AUTHOR
Internet Systems Consortium

COPYRIGHT
2026, Internet Systems Consortium