apache 2: "private key not found"

Hello,

I am trying to configure apache to use ssl. My distribution is whitebox linux 4
(the same as Redhat Enterprise 4: http://whiteboxlinux.org)

The ssl certificate created with the first installation is for
localhost.localdomain. My apache should be accessible over the internet, which
is why I tried to create a new certificate.

First of all I tried to use the Makefile in /etc/httpd/conf. I created a key
file and a crt file and copied these files to the ssl.key and ssl.crt
directories. I also adjusted the configuration in httpd.conf.

The result (I removed the server name):

# /etc/init.d/httpd start
httpd starten: Apache/2.0.52 mod_ssl/2.0.52 (Pass Phrase Dialog)
Some of your private key files are encrypted for security reasons.
In order to read them you have to provide the pass phrases.

Server xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:443 (RSA)
Enter pass phrase:Apache:mod_ssl:Error: Private key not found.
**Stopped
[FAILED]


The explicitly configured the place of the key file:

SSLCertificateFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/myserver.crt
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.key/myserver.key

In addition to using the Makefile, I followed the instructions on this page:
http://slacksite.com/apache/certificate.html - unfortunately with the same result.

I also checked, whether SELinux might be a problem, but there are no "avc
denied" messages in /var/log/messages.

The file permissions are set to 600 for /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.key/myserver.key and
644 /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/myserver.crt. Both files belong to root.

What can be the reason for this problem? I have to use a passphrase for the key,
removing is is not a solution.

I am not yet very familiar with the ssl encryption and it's terminology - keep
that in mind when answering :-)


thanks in advance

Boris



Here is my complete /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf:


#
# This is the Apache server configuration file providing SSL support.
# It contains the configuration directives to instruct the server how to
# serve pages over an https connection. For detailing information about these
# directives see <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.0/mod/mod_ssl.html>
#
# Do NOT simply read the instructions in here without understanding
# what they do. They're here only as hints or reminders. If you are unsure
# consult the online docs. You have been warned.
#

LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so

# Until documentation is completed, please check http://www.modssl.org/
# for additional config examples and module docmentation. Directives
# and features of mod_ssl are largely unchanged from the mod_ssl project
# for Apache 1.3.

#
# When we also provide SSL we have to listen to the
# standard HTTP port (see above) and to the HTTPS port
#
Listen 443

##
## SSL Global Context
##
## All SSL configuration in this context applies both to
## the main server and all SSL-enabled virtual hosts.
##

#
# Some MIME-types for downloading Certificates and CRLs
#
AddType application/x-x509-ca-cert .crt
AddType application/x-pkcs7-crl .crl

# Pass Phrase Dialog:
# Configure the pass phrase gathering process.
# The filtering dialog program (`builtin' is a internal
# terminal dialog) has to provide the pass phrase on stdout.
SSLPassPhraseDialog builtin

# Inter-Process Session Cache:
# Configure the SSL Session Cache: First the mechanism
# to use and second the expiring timeout (in seconds).
#SSLSessionCache none
#SSLSessionCache dbm:/var/cache/mod_ssl/scache(512000)
#SSLSessionCache dc:UNIX:/var/cache/mod_ssl/distcache
SSLSessionCache shmcb:/var/cache/mod_ssl/scache(512000)
SSLSessionCacheTimeout 300

# Semaphore:
# Configure the path to the mutual exclusion semaphore the
# SSL engine uses internally for inter-process synchronization.
SSLMutex default

# Pseudo Random Number Generator (PRNG):
# Configure one or more sources to seed the PRNG of the
# SSL library. The seed data should be of good random quality.
# WARNING! On some platforms /dev/random blocks if not enough entropy
# is available. This means you then cannot use the /dev/random device
# because it would lead to very long connection times (as long as
# it requires to make more entropy available). But usually those
# platforms additionally provide a /dev/urandom device which doesn't
# block. So, if available, use this one instead. Read the mod_ssl User
# Manual for more details.
SSLRandomSeed startup file:/dev/urandom 256
SSLRandomSeed connect builtin
#SSLRandomSeed startup file:/dev/random 512
#SSLRandomSeed connect file:/dev/random 512
#SSLRandomSeed connect file:/dev/urandom 512

#
# Use "SSLCryptoDevice" to enable any supported hardware
# accelerators. Use "openssl engine -v" to list supported
# engine names. NOTE: If you enable an accelerator and the
# server does not start, consult the error logs and ensure
# your accelerator is functioning properly.
#
SSLCryptoDevice builtin
#SSLCryptoDevice ubsec

##
## SSL Virtual Host Context
##

<VirtualHost _default_:443>

# General setup for the virtual host, inherited from global configuration
#DocumentRoot "/var/www/html"
#ServerName www.example.com:443

# Use separate log files for the SSL virtual host; note that LogLevel
# is not inherited from httpd.conf.
ErrorLog logs/ssl_error_log
TransferLog logs/ssl_access_log
LogLevel warn

# SSL Engine Switch:
# Enable/Disable SSL for this virtual host.
SSLEngine on

# SSL Cipher Suite:
# List the ciphers that the client is permitted to negotiate.
# See the mod_ssl documentation for a complete list.
SSLCipherSuite ALL:!ADH:!EXPORT56:RC4+RSA:+HIGH:+MEDIUM:+LOW:+SSLv2:+EXP

# Server Certificate:
# Point SSLCertificateFile at a PEM encoded certificate. If
# the certificate is encrypted, then you will be prompted for a
# pass phrase. Note that a kill -HUP will prompt again. A test
# certificate can be generated with `make certificate' under
# built time. Keep in mind that if you've both a RSA and a DSA
# certificate you can configure both in parallel (to also allow
# the use of DSA ciphers, etc.)
SSLCertificateFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/myserver.crt
#SSLCertificateFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/server.crt
#SSLCertificateFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/server-dsa.crt

# Server Private Key:
# If the key is not combined with the certificate, use this
# directive to point at the key file. Keep in mind that if
# you've both a RSA and a DSA private key you can configure
# both in parallel (to also allow the use of DSA ciphers, etc.)
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.key/myserver.key
#SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.key/server.key
#SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.key/server-dsa.key

# Server Certificate Chain:
# Point SSLCertificateChainFile at a file containing the
# concatenation of PEM encoded CA certificates which form the
# certificate chain for the server certificate. Alternatively
# the referenced file can be the same as SSLCertificateFile
# when the CA certificates are directly appended to the server
# certificate for convinience.
#SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/ca.crt

# Certificate Authority (CA):
# Set the CA certificate verification path where to find CA
# certificates for client authentication or alternatively one
# huge file containing all of them (file must be PEM encoded)
# Note: Inside SSLCACertificatePath you need hash symlinks
# to point to the certificate files. Use the provided
# Makefile to update the hash symlinks after changes.
#SSLCACertificatePath /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt
#SSLCACertificateFile /usr/share/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt
#SSLCACertificateFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/myserver.crt
# Certificate Revocation Lists (CRL):
# Set the CA revocation path where to find CA CRLs for client
# authentication or alternatively one huge file containing all
# of them (file must be PEM encoded)
# Note: Inside SSLCARevocationPath you need hash symlinks
# to point to the certificate files. Use the provided
# Makefile to update the hash symlinks after changes.
#SSLCARevocationPath /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crl
#SSLCARevocationFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crl/ca-bundle.crl

# Client Authentication (Type):
# Client certificate verification type and depth. Types are
# none, optional, require and optional_no_ca. Depth is a
# number which specifies how deeply to verify the certificate
# issuer chain before deciding the certificate is not valid.
#SSLVerifyClient require
#SSLVerifyDepth 10

# Access Control:
# With SSLRequire you can do per-directory access control based
# on arbitrary complex boolean expressions containing server
# variable checks and other lookup directives. The syntax is a
# mixture between C and Perl. See the mod_ssl documentation
# for more details.
#<Location />
#SSLRequire ( %{SSL_CIPHER} !~ m/^(EXP|NULL)/ \
# and %{SSL_CLIENT_S_DN_O} eq "Snake Oil, Ltd." \
# and %{SSL_CLIENT_S_DN_OU} in {"Staff", "CA", "Dev"} \
# and %{TIME_WDAY} >= 1 and %{TIME_WDAY} <= 5 \
# and %{TIME_HOUR} >= 8 and %{TIME_HOUR} <= 20 ) \
# or %{REMOTE_ADDR} =~ m/^192\.76\.162\.[0-9]+$/
#</Location>

# SSL Engine Options:
# Set various options for the SSL engine.
# o FakeBasicAuth:
# Translate the client X.509 into a Basic Authorisation. This means that
# the standard Auth/DBMAuth methods can be used for access control. The
# user name is the `one line' version of the client's X.509 certificate.
# Note that no password is obtained from the user. Every entry in the user
# file needs this password: `xxj31ZMTZzkVA'.
# o ExportCertData:
# This exports two additional environment variables: SSL_CLIENT_CERT and
# SSL_SERVER_CERT. These contain the PEM-encoded certificates of the
# server (always existing) and the client (only existing when client
# authentication is used). This can be used to import the certificates
# into CGI scripts.
# o StdEnvVars:
# This exports the standard SSL/TLS related `SSL_*' environment variables.
# Per default this exportation is switched off for performance reasons,
# because the extraction step is an expensive operation and is usually
# useless for serving static content. So one usually enables the
# exportation for CGI and SSI requests only.
# o StrictRequire:
# This denies access when "SSLRequireSSL" or "SSLRequire" applied even
# under a "Satisfy any" situation, i.e. when it applies access is denied
# and no other module can change it.
# o OptRenegotiate:
# This enables optimized SSL connection renegotiation handling when SSL
# directives are used in per-directory context.
#SSLOptions +FakeBasicAuth +ExportCertData +CompatEnvVars +StrictRequire
<Files ~ "\.(cgi|shtml|phtml|php3?)$">
SSLOptions +StdEnvVars
</Files>
<Directory "/var/www/cgi-bin">
SSLOptions +StdEnvVars
</Directory>

# SSL Protocol Adjustments:
# The safe and default but still SSL/TLS standard compliant shutdown
# approach is that mod_ssl sends the close notify alert but doesn't wait for
# the close notify alert from client. When you need a different shutdown
# approach you can use one of the following variables:
# o ssl-unclean-shutdown:
# This forces an unclean shutdown when the connection is closed, i.e. no
# SSL close notify alert is send or allowed to received. This violates
# the SSL/TLS standard but is needed for some brain-dead browsers. Use
# this when you receive I/O errors because of the standard approach where
# mod_ssl sends the close notify alert.
# o ssl-accurate-shutdown:
# This forces an accurate shutdown when the connection is closed, i.e. a
# SSL close notify alert is send and mod_ssl waits for the close notify
# alert of the client. This is 100% SSL/TLS standard compliant, but in
# practice often causes hanging connections with brain-dead browsers. Use
# this only for browsers where you know that their SSL implementation
# works correctly.
# Notice: Most problems of broken clients are also related to the HTTP
# keep-alive facility, so you usually additionally want to disable
# keep-alive for those clients, too. Use variable "nokeepalive" for this.
# Similarly, one has to force some clients to use HTTP/1.0 to workaround
# their broken HTTP/1.1 implementation. Use variables "downgrade-1.0" and
# "force-response-1.0" for this.
SetEnvIf User-Agent ".*MSIE.*" \
nokeepalive ssl-unclean-shutdown \
downgrade-1.0 force-response-1.0

# Per-Server Logging:
# The home of a custom SSL log file. Use this when you want a
# compact non-error SSL logfile on a virtual host basis.
CustomLog logs/ssl_request_log \
"%t %h %{SSL_PROTOCOL}x %{SSL_CIPHER}x \"%r\" %b"

</VirtualHost>
Boris Glawe [ Fr, 13 Mai 2005 12:28 ] [ ID #791522 ]

Re: apache 2: "private key not found"

Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)
Notifier Deamon [ Fr, 13 Mai 2005 13:01 ] [ ID #791524 ]

Re: apache 2: "private key not found"

Davide Bianchi wrote:
> On 2005-05-13, Boris Glawe <boris [at] boris-glawe.de> wrote:
>
>>Enter pass phrase:Apache:mod_ssl:Error: Private key not found.
>
>
> Check in the error_log if there is a detail of why the key is not found.
>




The ssl_error_log in /var/log/httpd shows this. I don't know what this means,
though.

[Fri May 13 12:48:11 2005] [error] Init: Unable to read pass phrase [Hint: key
introduced or changed before restart?]
[Fri May 13 12:48:11 2005] [error] SSL Library Error: 218710120
error:0D094068:asn1 encoding routines:d2i_ASN1_SET:bad tag
[Fri May 13 12:48:11 2005] [error] SSL Library Error: 218529960
error:0D0680A8:asn1 encoding routines:ASN1_CHECK_TLEN:wrong tag
[Fri May 13 12:48:11 2005] [error] SSL Library Error: 218595386
error:0D07803A:asn1 encoding routines:ASN1_ITEM_EX_D2I:nested asn1 error
[Fri May 13 12:48:11 2005] [error] SSL Library Error: 218734605
error:0D09A00D:asn1 encoding routines:d2i_PrivateKey:ASN1 lib


>
>>SSLCertificateFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/myserver.crt
>>SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.key/myserver.key
>
>
> Check if the key file start with
>
> ----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
>

yes it does!

> Davide
>

any ideas?


greets Boris
Boris Glawe [ Fr, 13 Mai 2005 15:03 ] [ ID #791527 ]

Re: apache 2: "private key not found"

Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)
Notifier Deamon [ Fr, 13 Mai 2005 15:13 ] [ ID #791528 ]

Re: apache 2: "private key not found"

Davide Bianchi wrote:
> On 2005-05-13, Boris Glawe <boris [at] boris-glawe.de> wrote:
>
>>[Fri May 13 12:48:11 2005] [error] SSL Library Error: 218710120
>>error:0D094068:asn1 encoding routines:d2i_ASN1_SET:bad tag
>
>
> It looks like your key file is corrupted. I suggest you delete both
> the key file and the cert file and the re-create them using openssl.
>
> Davide
>

It didn't help, sorry.

I created another key from the .key file with the following command:
openssl rsa -in myserver.key -out myserver.pem

I copied the .pem file to the ssl.key directory and changed the SSLCertifcateKey
directive in httpd.conf.
The result: it works, but apache doesn't ask for a pass phrase.

I actually don't know, what this last command did - I've just copied it. What's
the difference between .pem and .key files?

What else could be the reason for the problem with "private key not found"?

thanks boris
Boris Glawe [ Sa, 14 Mai 2005 11:29 ] [ ID #792736 ]

Re: apache 2: "private key not found"

Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)
Notifier Deamon [ Sa, 14 Mai 2005 12:26 ] [ ID #792738 ]

Re: apache 2: "private key not found"

>>What else could be the reason for the problem with "private key not found"?
>
>
> From the error log you posted it seems that the file is found but
> the reading of it gives error and the error message that is thrown out
> is a basic "something is wrong but I can't tell you exactly what",
> the only thing is that the file seems broken or corrupted.
>
> Davide
>

ok, thanks.

Are there different file/key-formats? I'm reading the man page of openssl at the
moment. With the openssl's "dsa" or "rsa" command, one can convert a key into
different formats. Maybe apache accepts only the "pem" format?

I'll give it another try.

greets Boris
Boris Glawe [ Mo, 16 Mai 2005 14:07 ] [ ID #795200 ]

Re: apache 2: "private key not found"

Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)
Notifier Deamon [ Mo, 16 Mai 2005 14:43 ] [ ID #795201 ]
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