# certforge ACME certificate manager with DANE and systemd integration. Certforge automates TLS certificate issuance and renewal using the ACME protocol (RFC 8555) with DNS-01 challenges delivered via RFC 2136 dynamic DNS updates. It publishes DANE TLSA records alongside certificates and integrates tightly with systemd for secret storage, service management, and scheduled operation. ## Features - **DNS-01 only** -- challenges are published via RFC 2136 dynamic updates with TSIG authentication. No web server or port 80 needed. - **DANE TLSA** -- automatically publishes TLSA records (RFC 6698/7671/7672) after certificate issuance. Supports DANE-EE with SPKI selector for zero-downtime renewals. - **Key rotation with pre-publication** -- when rotating keys, new TLSA records are published alongside the old ones and certforge waits for the old TTL to expire before completing the renewal. - **Multiple servers, one certificate** -- a single certificate's DANE block can list multiple TLSA names (e.g., `_25._tcp.mx1.example.com`, `_25._tcp.mx2.example.com`) for services sharing a key. - **systemd credentials** -- private keys and TSIG secrets can be stored as encrypted systemd credentials (`systemd-creds`). Services access the same files via `LoadCredentialEncrypted=`. - **systemd hooks** -- reload or restart systemd units after renewal via D-Bus. Also supports arbitrary command hooks. - **Timer-driven** -- ships with a systemd service and timer for daily renewal checks with randomized delay. - **TOML configuration** -- declarative config with per-zone DNS overrides, multiple certificates, and per-certificate DANE and hook blocks. ## Installation ### From source ``` cargo install --path . ``` ### Arch Linux ``` makepkg -si ``` ### Debian/Ubuntu Download the `.deb` from the [releases page](https://github.com/rkivalin/certforge/releases) or build from source: ``` dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc ``` ## Quick start 1. Edit `/etc/certforge/config.toml` (see [examples/config.toml](examples/config.toml) for reference): ```toml [acme] account_key_path = "/etc/certforge/account.key" contact = ["mailto:admin@example.com"] [dns.defaults] server = "ns1.example.com" tsig_key_path = "/etc/certforge/tsig.key" tsig_key_name = "certforge." [[certificate]] name = "mail" domains = ["mail.example.com"] key_path = "/etc/certforge/keys/mail.key" cert_path = "/etc/certforge/certs/mail.pem" [[certificate.dane]] names = ["_25._tcp.mail.example.com"] [[certificate.hook]] type = "systemd-reload" unit = "postfix.service" ``` 2. Validate: ``` certforge config-check ``` 3. Issue certificates: ``` certforge renew ``` 4. Enable the timer for automatic renewal: ``` systemctl enable --now certforge.timer ``` ## Usage ``` certforge [OPTIONS] Commands: renew Check all certificates and renew those expiring soon status Show status of all configured certificates issue Force-issue a specific certificate dane-publish Force-(re)publish DANE TLSA records dane-check Query and verify published TLSA records against current certs config-check Validate configuration file init Print systemd-creds encrypt commands for initial setup account Manage ACME account Options: -c, --config Config file [default: /etc/certforge/config.toml] -v, --verbose... Increase verbosity (-v, -vv, -vvv) -n, --dry-run Show what would be done without making changes --state-dir State directory [default: /var/lib/certforge] ``` ## Configuration ### Credential storage Every secret (ACME account key, TSIG keys, TLS private keys) supports two modes: - **`*_credential`** -- full path to a `systemd-creds` encrypted file. Certforge decrypts at runtime via `systemd-creds decrypt`. Services access the same file via `LoadCredentialEncrypted=` in their unit files. - **`*_path`** -- plain file on disk. Simpler setup, suitable for development or environments without TPM2. Run `certforge init` to generate the `systemd-creds encrypt` commands for your configuration. ### DANE Each certificate can have multiple `[[certificate.dane]]` blocks. A DANE block specifies: | Field | Default | Description | |-------|---------|-------------| | `usage` | `ee` | TLSA usage: `ee` (3), `ta` (2), `pkix-ee` (1), `pkix-ta` (0) | | `selector` | `spki` | `spki` (1) or `full` (0) | | `matching` | `sha256` | `sha256` (1), `sha512` (2), or `full` (0) | | `names` | required | List of TLSA DNS names (e.g., `_25._tcp.mail.example.com`) | | `ttl` | `300` | TTL for TLSA records | | `pre_publish` | `false` | Pre-publish new TLSA before key rotation | With `usage = "ee"` and `selector = "spki"` (the recommended DANE-EE configuration), the TLSA record depends only on the public key. This means the record survives certificate renewal as long as the key is not rotated. ### DNS zones The `[dns.defaults]` section configures the default DNS server for RFC 2136 updates. Per-zone overrides can be specified in `[dns.zones."example.com"]` to use different servers or TSIG keys for different zones. ### Post-renewal hooks ```toml [[certificate.hook]] type = "systemd-reload" # or "systemd-restart" unit = "postfix.service" [[certificate.hook]] type = "command" command = ["/usr/local/bin/deploy-cert.sh", "--name", "mail"] ``` Hooks run sequentially after a successful renewal. A hook failure is logged but does not prevent subsequent hooks from running. ## systemd integration The package ships with: - `certforge.service` -- oneshot service that runs `certforge renew` - `certforge.timer` -- daily timer with randomized delay ``` systemctl enable --now certforge.timer ``` For encrypted credentials, add `LoadCredentialEncrypted=` directives to service units that need access to TLS keys. Run `certforge init` to see the required directives. ## License MIT