ansible.windows.win_certificate_store module – Manages the certificate store

Note

This module is part of the ansible.windows collection (version 1.10.0).

You might already have this collection installed if you are using the ansible package. It is not included in ansible-core. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list.

To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install ansible.windows.

To use it in a playbook, specify: ansible.windows.win_certificate_store.

Synopsis

  • Used to import/export and remove certificates and keys from the local certificate store.

  • This module is not used to create certificates and will only manage existing certs as a file or in the store.

  • It can be used to import PEM, DER, P7B, PKCS12 (PFX) certificates and export PEM, DER and PKCS12 certificates.

Parameters

Parameter

Comments

file_type

string

The file type to export the certificate as when state=exported.

der is a binary ASN.1 encoded file.

pem is a base64 encoded file of a der file in the OpenSSL form.

pkcs12 (also known as pfx) is a binary container that contains both the certificate and private key unlike the other options.

When pkcs12 is set and the private key is not exportable or accessible by the current user, it will throw an exception.

Choices:

  • der ← (default)

  • pem

  • pkcs12

key_exportable

boolean

Whether to allow the private key to be exported.

If no, then this module and other process will only be able to export the certificate and the private key cannot be exported.

Used when state=present only.

Choices:

  • no

  • yes ← (default)

key_storage

string

Specifies where Windows will store the private key when it is imported.

When set to default, the default option as set by Windows is used, typically user.

When set to machine, the key is stored in a path accessible by various users.

When set to user, the key is stored in a path only accessible by the current user.

Used when state=present only and cannot be changed once imported.

See https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.security.cryptography.x509certificates.x509keystorageflags.aspx for more details.

Choices:

  • default ← (default)

  • machine

  • user

password

string

The password of the pkcs12 certificate key.

This is used when reading a pkcs12 certificate file or the password to set when state=exported and file_type=pkcs12.

If the pkcs12 file has no password set or no password should be set on the exported file, do not set this option.

path

path

The path to a certificate file.

This is required when state is present or exported.

When state is absent and thumbprint is not specified, the thumbprint is derived from the certificate at this path.

state

string

If present, will ensure that the certificate at path is imported into the certificate store specified.

If absent, will ensure that the certificate specified by thumbprint or the thumbprint of the cert at path is removed from the store specified.

If exported, will ensure the file at path is a certificate specified by thumbprint.

When exporting a certificate, if path is a directory then the module will fail, otherwise the file will be replaced if needed.

Choices:

  • absent

  • exported

  • present ← (default)

store_location

string

The store location to use when importing a certificate or searching for a certificate.

Can be set to CurrentUser or LocalMachine when store_type=system.

Defaults to LocalMachine when store_type=system.

Must be set to any service name when store_type=service.

Default: “LocalMachine”

store_name

string

The store name to use when importing a certificate or searching for a certificate.

AddressBook: The X.509 certificate store for other users

AuthRoot: The X.509 certificate store for third-party certificate authorities (CAs)

CertificateAuthority: The X.509 certificate store for intermediate certificate authorities (CAs)

Disallowed: The X.509 certificate store for revoked certificates

My: The X.509 certificate store for personal certificates

Root: The X.509 certificate store for trusted root certificate authorities (CAs)

TrustedPeople: The X.509 certificate store for directly trusted people and resources

TrustedPublisher: The X.509 certificate store for directly trusted publishers

Default: “My”

store_type

string

added in 1.5.0 of ansible.windows

The store type to manage.

Use system to manage locations in the system store, LocalMachine and CurrentUser.

Use service to manage the store of a service account specified by store_location.

Choices:

  • system ← (default)

  • service

thumbprint

string

The thumbprint as a hex string to either export or remove.

See the examples for how to specify the thumbprint.

Notes

Note

  • Some actions on PKCS12 certificates and keys may fail with the error the specified network password is not correct, either use CredSSP or Kerberos with credential delegation, or use become to bypass these restrictions.

  • The certificates must be located on the Windows host to be set with path.

  • When importing a certificate for usage in IIS, it is generally required to use the machine key_storage option, as both default and user will make the private key unreadable to IIS APPPOOL identities and prevent binding the certificate to the https endpoint.

Examples

- name: Import a certificate
  ansible.windows.win_certificate_store:
    path: C:\Temp\cert.pem
    state: present

- name: Import pfx certificate that is password protected
  ansible.windows.win_certificate_store:
    path: C:\Temp\cert.pfx
    state: present
    password: VeryStrongPasswordHere!
  become: yes
  become_method: runas

- name: Import pfx certificate without password and set private key as un-exportable
  ansible.windows.win_certificate_store:
    path: C:\Temp\cert.pfx
    state: present
    key_exportable: no
  # usually you don't set this here but it is for illustrative purposes
  vars:
    ansible_winrm_transport: credssp

- name: Remove a certificate based on file thumbprint
  ansible.windows.win_certificate_store:
    path: C:\Temp\cert.pem
    state: absent

- name: Remove a certificate based on thumbprint
  ansible.windows.win_certificate_store:
    thumbprint: BD7AF104CF1872BDB518D95C9534EA941665FD27
    state: absent

- name: Remove certificate based on thumbprint is CurrentUser/TrustedPublishers store
  ansible.windows.win_certificate_store:
    thumbprint: BD7AF104CF1872BDB518D95C9534EA941665FD27
    state: absent
    store_location: CurrentUser
    store_name: TrustedPublisher

- name: Export certificate as der encoded file
  ansible.windows.win_certificate_store:
    path: C:\Temp\cert.cer
    state: exported
    file_type: der

- name: Export certificate and key as pfx encoded file
  ansible.windows.win_certificate_store:
    path: C:\Temp\cert.pfx
    state: exported
    file_type: pkcs12
    password: AnotherStrongPass!
  become: yes
  become_method: runas
  become_user: SYSTEM

- name: Import certificate be used by IIS
  ansible.windows.win_certificate_store:
    path: C:\Temp\cert.pfx
    file_type: pkcs12
    password: StrongPassword!
    store_location: LocalMachine
    key_storage: machine
    state: present
  become: yes
  become_method: runas
  become_user: SYSTEM

- name: Import certificate to be used for LDAPS
  ansible.windows.win_certificate_store:
    path: C:\Temp\cert.pfx
    password: StrongPassword!
    store_type: service
    store_location: NTDS
    key_exportable: no
    key_storage: machine
    state: present

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key

Description

thumbprints

list / elements=string

A list of certificate thumbprints that were touched by the module.

Returned: success

Sample: [“BC05633694E675449136679A658281F17A191087”]

Authors

  • Jordan Borean (@jborean93)