community.crypto.acme_certificate module – Create SSL/TLS certificates with the ACME protocol
Note
This module is part of the community.crypto collection (version 2.9.0).
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 community.crypto
.
You need further requirements to be able to use this module,
see Requirements for details.
To use it in a playbook, specify: community.crypto.acme_certificate
.
Synopsis
Create and renew SSL/TLS certificates with a CA supporting the ACME protocol, such as Let’s Encrypt or Buypass. The current implementation supports the
http-01
,dns-01
andtls-alpn-01
challenges.To use this module, it has to be executed twice. Either as two different tasks in the same run or during two runs. Note that the output of the first run needs to be recorded and passed to the second run as the module argument
data
.Between these two tasks you have to fulfill the required steps for the chosen challenge by whatever means necessary. For
http-01
that means creating the necessary challenge file on the destination webserver. Fordns-01
the necessary dns record has to be created. Fortls-alpn-01
the necessary certificate has to be created and served. It is not the responsibility of this module to perform these steps.For details on how to fulfill these challenges, you might have to read through the main ACME specification and the TLS-ALPN-01 specification. Also, consider the examples provided for this module.
The module includes experimental support for IP identifiers according to the RFC 8738.
Requirements
The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.
either openssl or cryptography >= 1.5
ipaddress
Parameters
Parameter |
Comments |
---|---|
The email address associated with this account. It will be used for certificate expiration warnings. Note that when |
|
Content of the ACME account RSA or Elliptic Curve key. Mutually exclusive with Required if Warning: the content will be written into a temporary file, which will be deleted by Ansible when the module completes. Since this is an important private key — it can be used to change the account key, or to revoke your certificates without knowing their private keys —, this might not be acceptable. In case |
|
Phassphrase to use to decode the account key. Note: this is not supported by the |
|
Path to a file containing the ACME account RSA or Elliptic Curve key. Private keys can be created with the community.crypto.openssl_privatekey or community.crypto.openssl_privatekey_pipe modules. If the requisite (cryptography) is not available, keys can also be created directly with the Mutually exclusive with Required if |
|
If specified, assumes that the account URI is as given. If the account key does not match this account, or an account with this URI does not exist, the module fails. |
|
The ACME directory to use. This is the entry point URL to access the ACME CA server API. For safety reasons the default is set to the Let’s Encrypt staging server (for the ACME v1 protocol). This will create technically correct, but untrusted certificates. For Let’s Encrypt, all staging endpoints can be found here: https://letsencrypt.org/docs/staging-environment/. For Buypass, all endpoints can be found here: https://community.buypass.com/t/63d4ay/buypass-go-ssl-endpoints For Let’s Encrypt, the production directory URL for ACME v2 is https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory. For Buypass, the production directory URL for ACME v2 and v1 is https://api.buypass.com/acme/directory. For ZeroSSL, the production directory URL for ACME v2 is https://acme.zerossl.com/v2/DV90. For Sectigo, the production directory URL for ACME v2 is https://acme-qa.secure.trust-provider.com/v2/DV. The notes for this module contain a list of ACME services this module has been tested against. |
|
The ACME version of the endpoint. Must be The value Choices:
|
|
URI to a terms of service document you agree to when using the ACME v1 service at Default is latest gathered from This option will only be used when |
|
If specified, the intermediate certificate will be written to this file. |
|
The challenge to be performed. Choices:
|
|
File containing the CSR for the new certificate. Can be created with community.crypto.openssl_csr or The CSR may contain multiple Subject Alternate Names, but each one will lead to an individual challenge that must be fulfilled for the CSR to be signed. Note: the private key used to create the CSR must not be the account key. This is a bad idea from a security point of view, and the CA should not accept the CSR. The ACME server should return an error in this case. Precisely one of csr or csr_content must be specified. |
|
Content of the CSR for the new certificate. Can be created with community.crypto.openssl_csr_pipe or The CSR may contain multiple Subject Alternate Names, but each one will lead to an individual challenge that must be fulfilled for the CSR to be signed. Note: the private key used to create the CSR must not be the account key. This is a bad idea from a security point of view, and the CA should not accept the CSR. The ACME server should return an error in this case. Precisely one of csr or csr_content must be specified. |
|
The data to validate ongoing challenges. This must be specified for the second run of the module only. The value that must be used here will be provided by a previous use of this module. See the examples for more details. Note that for ACME v2, only the Note: the |
|
Deactivate authentication objects (authz) after issuing a certificate, or when issuing the certificate failed. Authentication objects are bound to an account key and remain valid for a certain amount of time, and can be used to issue certificates without having to re-authenticate the domain. This can be a security concern. Choices:
|
|
The destination file for the certificate. Required if |
|
Enforces the execution of the challenge and validation, even if an existing certificate is still valid for more than This is especially helpful when having an updated CSR, for example with additional domains for which a new certificate is desired. Choices:
|
|
The destination file for the full chain (that is, a certificate followed by chain of intermediate certificates). Required if |
|
Boolean indicating whether the module should create the account if necessary, and update its contact data. Set to If set to Choices:
|
|
The number of days the certificate must have left being valid. If To make sure that the certificate is renewed in any case, you can use the Default: |
|
The time Ansible should wait for a response from the ACME API. This timeout is applied to all HTTP(S) requests (HEAD, GET, POST). Default: |
|
When set to Choices:
|
|
Allows to specify criteria by which an (alternate) trust chain can be selected. The list of criteria will be processed one by one until a chain is found matching a criterium. If such a chain is found, it will be used by the module instead of the default chain. If a criterium matches multiple chains, the first one matching will be returned. The order is determined by the ordering of the Every criterium can consist of multiple different conditions, like issuer and subject. For the criterium to match a chain, all conditions must apply to the same certificate in the chain. This option can only be used with the |
|
Checks for the AuthorityKeyIdentifier extension. This is an identifier based on the private key of the issuer of the intermediate certificate. The identifier must be of the form |
|
Allows to specify parts of the issuer of a certificate in the chain must have to be selected. If issuer is empty, any certificate will match. An example value would be |
|
Allows to specify parts of the subject of a certificate in the chain must have to be selected. If subject is empty, any certificate will match. An example value would be |
|
Checks for the SubjectKeyIdentifier extension. This is an identifier based on the private key of the intermediate certificate. The identifier must be of the form |
|
Determines which certificates in the chain will be tested. all tests all certificates in the chain (excluding the leaf, which is identical in all chains). first only tests the first certificate in the chain, that is the one which signed the leaf. last only tests the last certificate in the chain, that is the one furthest away from the leaf. Its issuer is the root certificate of this chain. Choices:
|
|
Determines which crypto backend to use. The default choice is If set to If set to Choices:
|
|
Boolean indicating whether you agree to the terms of service document. ACME servers can require this to be true. This option will only be used when Choices:
|
|
Whether calls to the ACME directory will validate TLS certificates. Warning: Should only ever be set to Choices:
|
Attributes
Attribute |
Support |
Description |
---|---|---|
Action groups: community.crypto.acme, acme |
Use |
|
Support: full |
Can run in |
|
Support: none |
Will return details on what has changed (or possibly needs changing in |
|
Support: full |
Uses Ansible’s strict file operation functions to ensure proper permissions and avoid data corruption. |
Notes
Note
At least one of
dest
andfullchain_dest
must be specified.This module includes basic account management functionality. If you want to have more control over your ACME account, use the community.crypto.acme_account module and disable account management for this module using the
modify_account
option.This module was called
letsencrypt
before Ansible 2.6. The usage did not change.If a new enough version of the
cryptography
library is available (see Requirements for details), it will be used instead of theopenssl
binary. This can be explicitly disabled or enabled with theselect_crypto_backend
option. Note that using theopenssl
binary will be slower and less secure, as private key contents always have to be stored on disk (seeaccount_key_content
).Although the defaults are chosen so that the module can be used with the Let’s Encrypt CA, the module can in principle be used with any CA providing an ACME endpoint, such as Buypass Go SSL.
So far, the ACME modules have only been tested by the developers against Let’s Encrypt (staging and production), Buypass (staging and production), ZeroSSL (production), and Pebble testing server. We have got community feedback that they also work with Sectigo ACME Service for InCommon. If you experience problems with another ACME server, please create an issue to help us supporting it. Feedback that an ACME server not mentioned does work is also appreciated.
See Also
See also
- The Let’s Encrypt documentation
Documentation for the Let’s Encrypt Certification Authority. Provides useful information for example on rate limits.
- Buypass Go SSL
Documentation for the Buypass Certification Authority. Provides useful information for example on rate limits.
- Automatic Certificate Management Environment (ACME)
The specification of the ACME protocol (RFC 8555).
- ACME TLS ALPN Challenge Extension
The specification of the
tls-alpn-01
challenge (RFC 8737).- community.crypto.acme_challenge_cert_helper
Helps preparing
tls-alpn-01
challenges.- community.crypto.openssl_privatekey
Can be used to create private keys (both for certificates and accounts).
- community.crypto.openssl_privatekey_pipe
Can be used to create private keys without writing it to disk (both for certificates and accounts).
- community.crypto.openssl_csr
Can be used to create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR).
- community.crypto.openssl_csr_pipe
Can be used to create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) without writing it to disk.
- community.crypto.certificate_complete_chain
Allows to find the root certificate for the returned fullchain.
- community.crypto.acme_certificate_revoke
Allows to revoke certificates.
- community.crypto.acme_account
Allows to create, modify or delete an ACME account.
- community.crypto.acme_inspect
Allows to debug problems.
Examples
### Example with HTTP challenge ###
- name: Create a challenge for sample.com using a account key from a variable.
community.crypto.acme_certificate:
account_key_content: "{{ account_private_key }}"
csr: /etc/pki/cert/csr/sample.com.csr
dest: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com.crt
register: sample_com_challenge
# Alternative first step:
- name: Create a challenge for sample.com using a account key from hashi vault.
community.crypto.acme_certificate:
account_key_content: "{{ lookup('hashi_vault', 'secret=secret/account_private_key:value') }}"
csr: /etc/pki/cert/csr/sample.com.csr
fullchain_dest: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com-fullchain.crt
register: sample_com_challenge
# Alternative first step:
- name: Create a challenge for sample.com using a account key file.
community.crypto.acme_certificate:
account_key_src: /etc/pki/cert/private/account.key
csr_content: "{{ lookup('file', '/etc/pki/cert/csr/sample.com.csr') }}"
dest: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com.crt
fullchain_dest: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com-fullchain.crt
register: sample_com_challenge
# perform the necessary steps to fulfill the challenge
# for example:
#
# - copy:
# dest: /var/www/html/{{ sample_com_challenge['challenge_data']['sample.com']['http-01']['resource'] }}
# content: "{{ sample_com_challenge['challenge_data']['sample.com']['http-01']['resource_value'] }}"
# when: sample_com_challenge is changed and 'sample.com' in sample_com_challenge['challenge_data']
#
# Alternative way:
#
# - copy:
# dest: /var/www/{{ item.key }}/{{ item.value['http-01']['resource'] }}
# content: "{{ item.value['http-01']['resource_value'] }}"
# loop: "{{ sample_com_challenge.challenge_data | dict2items }}"
# when: sample_com_challenge is changed
- name: Let the challenge be validated and retrieve the cert and intermediate certificate
community.crypto.acme_certificate:
account_key_src: /etc/pki/cert/private/account.key
csr: /etc/pki/cert/csr/sample.com.csr
dest: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com.crt
fullchain_dest: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com-fullchain.crt
chain_dest: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com-intermediate.crt
data: "{{ sample_com_challenge }}"
### Example with DNS challenge against production ACME server ###
- name: Create a challenge for sample.com using a account key file.
community.crypto.acme_certificate:
account_key_src: /etc/pki/cert/private/account.key
account_email: [email protected]
src: /etc/pki/cert/csr/sample.com.csr
cert: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com.crt
challenge: dns-01
acme_directory: https://acme-v01.api.letsencrypt.org/directory
# Renew if the certificate is at least 30 days old
remaining_days: 60
register: sample_com_challenge
# perform the necessary steps to fulfill the challenge
# for example:
#
# - community.aws.route53:
# zone: sample.com
# record: "{{ sample_com_challenge.challenge_data['sample.com']['dns-01'].record }}"
# type: TXT
# ttl: 60
# state: present
# wait: true
# # Note: route53 requires TXT entries to be enclosed in quotes
# value: "{{ sample_com_challenge.challenge_data['sample.com']['dns-01'].resource_value | regex_replace('^(.*)$', '\"\\1\"') }}"
# when: sample_com_challenge is changed and 'sample.com' in sample_com_challenge.challenge_data
#
# Alternative way:
#
# - community.aws.route53:
# zone: sample.com
# record: "{{ item.key }}"
# type: TXT
# ttl: 60
# state: present
# wait: true
# # Note: item.value is a list of TXT entries, and route53
# # requires every entry to be enclosed in quotes
# value: "{{ item.value | map('regex_replace', '^(.*)$', '\"\\1\"' ) | list }}"
# loop: "{{ sample_com_challenge.challenge_data_dns | dict2items }}"
# when: sample_com_challenge is changed
- name: Let the challenge be validated and retrieve the cert and intermediate certificate
community.crypto.acme_certificate:
account_key_src: /etc/pki/cert/private/account.key
account_email: [email protected]
src: /etc/pki/cert/csr/sample.com.csr
cert: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com.crt
fullchain: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com-fullchain.crt
chain: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com-intermediate.crt
challenge: dns-01
acme_directory: https://acme-v01.api.letsencrypt.org/directory
remaining_days: 60
data: "{{ sample_com_challenge }}"
when: sample_com_challenge is changed
# Alternative second step:
- name: Let the challenge be validated and retrieve the cert and intermediate certificate
community.crypto.acme_certificate:
account_key_src: /etc/pki/cert/private/account.key
account_email: [email protected]
src: /etc/pki/cert/csr/sample.com.csr
cert: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com.crt
fullchain: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com-fullchain.crt
chain: /etc/httpd/ssl/sample.com-intermediate.crt
challenge: tls-alpn-01
remaining_days: 60
data: "{{ sample_com_challenge }}"
# We use Let's Encrypt's ACME v2 endpoint
acme_directory: https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory
acme_version: 2
# The following makes sure that if a chain with /CN=DST Root CA X3 in its issuer is provided
# as an alternative, it will be selected. These are the roots cross-signed by IdenTrust.
# As long as Let's Encrypt provides alternate chains with the cross-signed root(s) when
# switching to their own ISRG Root X1 root, this will use the chain ending with a cross-signed
# root. This chain is more compatible with older TLS clients.
select_chain:
- test_certificates: last
issuer:
CN: DST Root CA X3
O: Digital Signature Trust Co.
when: sample_com_challenge is changed
Return Values
Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:
Key |
Description |
---|---|
ACME account URI. Returned: changed |
|
When retrieve_all_alternates is set to See Section 7.4.2 of RFC8555 for details. Returned: when certificate was retrieved and retrieve_all_alternates is set to |
|
The leaf certificate itself, in PEM format. Returned: always |
|
The certificate chain, excluding the root, as concatenated PEM certificates. Returned: always |
|
The certificate chain, excluding the root, but including the leaf certificate, as concatenated PEM certificates. Returned: always |
|
ACME authorization data. Maps an identifier to ACME authorization objects. See https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8555#section-7.1.4. Returned: changed Sample: |
|
The number of days the certificate remains valid. Returned: success |
|
Per identifier / challenge type challenge data. Since Ansible 2.8.5, only challenges which are not yet valid are returned. Returned: changed |
|
The full DNS record’s name for the challenge. Returned: changed and challenge is Sample: |
|
The challenge resource that must be created for validation. Returned: changed Sample: |
|
The original challenge resource including type identifier for Returned: changed and challenge is Sample: |
|
The value the resource has to produce for the validation. For For Returned: changed Sample: |
|
List of TXT values per DNS record, in case challenge is Since Ansible 2.8.5, only challenges which are not yet valid are returned. Returned: changed |
|
ACME finalization URI. Returned: changed |
|
ACME order URI. Returned: changed |
Collection links
Issue Tracker Repository (Sources) Submit a bug report Request a feature Communication