Keychain Management Commands

This module describes the commands used to configure keychain management.

For detailed information about keychain management concepts, configuration tasks, and examples, see the Implementing Keychain Management on the Cisco IOS XR Software configuration module in the System Security Configuration Guide for Cisco CRS Routers.

accept-lifetime

To set the time period during which the authentication key on a keychain is received as valid, use the accept-lifetime command in key configuration mode. To revert to the default value, use the no form of this command.

accept-lifetime start-time [duration duration value | infinite | end-time]

Syntax Description

start-time

Start time, in hh:mm:ss day month year format, in which the key becomes valid. The range is from 0:0:0 to 23:59:59.

The range for the number of days of the month is from 1 to 31.

The range for the years is from 1993 to 2035.

duration duration value

(Optional) Determines the lifetime of the key in seconds. The range is from 1-2147483646.

infinite

(Optional) Specifies that the key never expires after it becomes valid.

end-time

(Optional) Time, in hh:mm:ss day month year format, after which the key expires. The range is from 0:0:0 to 23:59:59.

Command Default

None

Command Modes

Key configuration

Command History

Release

Modification

Release 3.3.0

This command was introduced.

Release 3.6.0

The range values were added for the start-time argument.

Usage Guidelines

No specific guidelines impact the use of this command.

Task ID

Task ID

Operations

system

read, write

Examples

The following example shows how to use the accept-lifetime command: 


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# configure
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config)# key chain isis-keys
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config-isis-keys)# key 8
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config-isis-keys-0x8)# accept-lifetime 1:00:00 June 29 2006 infinite

Related Commands

Command

Description

key (key chain)

Creates or modifies a keychain key.

key chain (key chain)

Creates or modifies a keychain.

key-string (keychain)

Specifies the text for the key string.

send-lifetime

Sends the valid key.

show key chain

Displays the keychain.

accept-tolerance

To specify the tolerance or acceptance limit, in seconds, for an accept key that is used by a peer, use the accept-tolerance command in keychain configuration mode. To disable this feature, use the no form of this command.

accept-tolerance [value | infinite]

Syntax Description

value

(Optional) Tolerance range, in seconds. The range is from 1 to 8640000.

infinite

(Optional) Specifies that the tolerance specification is infinite. The accept key never expires. The tolerance limit of infinite indicates that an accept key is always acceptable and validated when used by a peer.

Command Default

The default value is 0, which is no tolerance.

Command Modes

Keychain configuration

Command History

Release

Modification

Release 3.4.0

This command was introduced.

Usage Guidelines

If you do not configure the accept-tolerance command, the tolerance value is set to zero.

Even though the key is outside the active lifetime, the key is deemed acceptable as long as it is within the tolerance limit (for example, either prior to the start of the lifetime, or after the end of the lifetime).

Task ID

Task ID

Operations

system

read, write

Examples

The following example shows how to use the accept-tolerance command: 


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# configure
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config)# key chain isis-keys
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config-isis-keys)# accept-tolerance infinite

Related Commands

Command

Description

accept-lifetime

Accepts the valid key.

key chain (key chain)

Creates or modifies a keychain.

show key chain

Displays the keychain.

key (key chain)

To create or modify a keychain key, use the key command in keychain-key configuration mode. To disable this feature, use the no form of this command.

key key-id

Syntax Description

key-id

48-bit integer key identifier of from 0 to 281474976710655.

Command Default

No default behavior or values

Command Modes

Keychain-key configuration

Command History

Release

Modification

Release 3.3.0

This command was introduced.

Usage Guidelines

For a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) keychain configuration, the range for the key-id argument must be from 0 to 63. If the range is above the value of 63, the BGP keychain operation is rejected.

Task ID

Task ID

Operations

system

read, write

Examples

The following example shows how to use the key command: 


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# configure
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config)# key chain isis-keys
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config-isis-keys)# key 8
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config-isis-keys-0x8)#

Related Commands

Command

Description

accept-lifetime

Accepts the valid key.

key chain (key chain)

Creates or modifies a keychain.

key-string (keychain)

Specifies the text for the key string.

send-lifetime

Sends the valid key.

show key chain

Displays the keychain.

key chain (key chain)

To create or modify a keychain, use the key chain command in Global Configuration mode. To disable this feature, use the no form of this command.

key chain key-chain-name

Syntax Description

key-chain-name

Specifies the name of the keychain. The maximum number of characters is 48.

Command Default

No default behavior or values

Command Modes

Global Configuration mode

Command History

Release

Modification

Release 3.3.0

This command was introduced.

Release 3.4.1

The maximum number of characters allowed in the keychain name was changed from 32 to 48.

Usage Guidelines

You can configure a keychain for Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) as a neighbor, session group, or neighbor group. BGP can use the keychain to implement a hitless key rollover for authentication.

Task ID

Task ID

Operations

system

read, write

Examples

The following example shows that the name of the keychain isis-keys is for the key chain command: 


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# configure
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config)# key chain isis-keys
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config-isis-keys)#

Related Commands

Command

Description

accept-lifetime

Accepts the valid key.

accept-tolerance

Configures a tolerance value to accept keys for the keychain.

key (key chain)

Creates or modifies a keychain key.

key-string (keychain)

Specifies the text for the key string.

send-lifetime

Sends the valid key.

show key chain

Displays the keychain.

key config-key password-encryption

To create a primary key for the Type 6 password encryption feature, use the key config-key password-encryption command in EXEC mode.

key config-key password-encryption [ delete]

Syntax Description

delete

(Optional) Deletes the primary key for Type 6 password encryption.

Command Default

No primary key exists.

Command Modes

EXEC mode

Command History

Release

Modification

Release 7.0.1

This command was introduced.

Examples

The following example shows how to create a primary key for Type 6 password encryption: 


Router# key config-key password-encryption

New password Requirements: Min-length 6, Max-length 64
Characters restricted to [A-Z][a-z][0-9]
Enter new key :
Enter confirm key :
Master key operation is started in background

The following example shows how to delete a primary key for Type 6 password encryption:


Router# key config-key password-encryption delete

WARNING: All type 6 encrypted keys will become unusable
Continue with master key deletion ? [yes/no]: yes
Master key operation is started in background

Related Commands

Command

Description

password6 encryption aes

Enables Type 6 password encryption feature.

show type6 server

Displays Type 6 password information.

key-string (keychain)

To specify the text string for the key, use the key-string command in keychain-key configuration mode. To disable this feature, use the no form of this command.

key-string [clear | password] key-string-text

Syntax Description

clear

Specifies the key string in clear-text form.

password

Specifies the key in encrypted form.

key-string-text

Text string for the key, which is encrypted by the parser process before being saved to the configuration. The text string has the following character limitations:

  • Plain-text key strings—Minimum of 1 character and a maximum of 32.

  • Encrypted key strings—Minimum of 4 characters and no maximum.

Command Default

The default value is clear.

Command Modes

Keychain-key configuration

Command History

Release

Modification

Release 3.3.0

This command was introduced.

Usage Guidelines

For an encrypted password to be valid, the following statements must be true:

  • String must contain an even number of characters, with a minimum of four.

  • The first two characters in the password string must be decimal numbers and the rest must be hexadecimals.

  • The first two digits must not be a number greater than 53.

Either of the following examples would be valid encrypted passwords:

1234abcd

or

50aefd

From Cisco IOS XR Software Release 6.7.2, , and later, if you are using any HMAC-SHA algorithm for a session, then you must ensure that the configured key-string has a minimum length of 14 characters. Otherwise, the session goes down. This guideline is applicable only for FIPS mode.

Task ID

Task ID

Operations

system

read, write

Examples

The following example shows how to use the keystring command: 


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router:# configure
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config)# key chain isis-keys
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config-isis-keys)# key 8
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config-isis-keys-0x8)# key-string password 850aefd

Related Commands

Command

Description

accept-lifetime

Accepts the valid key.

key (key chain)

Creates or modifies a keychain key.

key chain (key chain)

Creates or modifies a keychain.

send-lifetime

Sends the valid key.

show key chain

Displays the keychain.

send-lifetime

To send the valid key and to authenticate information from the local host to the peer, use the send-lifetime command in keychain-key configuration mode. To disable this feature, use the no form of this command.

send-lifetime start-time [duration duration value | infinite | end-time]

Syntax Description

start-time

Start time, in hh:mm:ss day month year format, in which the key becomes valid. The range is from 0:0:0 to 23:59:59.

The range for the number of days of the month to start is from 1 to 31.

The range for the years is from 1993 to 2035.

duration duration value

(Optional) Determines the lifetime of the key in seconds.

infinite

(Optional) Specifies that the key never expires once it becomes valid.

end-time

(Optional) Time, in hh:mm:ss day month year format, after which the key expires. The range is from 0:0:0 to 23:59:59

Command Default

No default behavior or values

Command Modes

Keychain-key configuration

Command History

Release

Modification

Release 3.3.0

This command was introduced.

Release 3.6.0

The range values were added for the start-time argument.

Usage Guidelines

No specific guidelines impact the use of this command.

Task ID

Task ID

Operations

system

read, write

Examples

The following example shows how to use the send-lifetime command: 


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# configure
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config)# key chain isis-keys
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config-isis-keys)# key 8
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router(config-isis-keys-0x8)# send-lifetime 1:00:00 June 29 2006 infinite

Related Commands

Command

Description

accept-lifetime

Accepts the valid key.

key (key chain)

Creates or modifies a keychain key.

key chain (key chain)

Creates or modifies a keychain.

key-string (keychain)

Specifies the text for the key string.

show key chain

To display the keychain, use the show key chain command in EXEC mode.

show key chain key-chain-name

Syntax Description

key-chain-name

Names of the keys in the specified keychain. The maximum number of characters is 32.

Command Default

If the command is used without any parameters, then it lists out all the key chains.

Command Modes

EXEC mode

Command History

Release

Modification

Release 3.3.0

This command was introduced.

Usage Guidelines

No specific guidelines impact the use of this command.

Task ID

Task ID

Operations

system

read

Examples

When a secure key storage becomes available, it is desirable for keychain management to alternatively prompt you for a primary password and display the key label after decryption. The following example displays only the encrypted key label for the show key chain command: 


RP/0/RP0/CPU0:router# show key chain isis-keys

Key-chain: isis-keys/ -

accept-tolerance -- infinite
Key 8 -- text "8"
  cryptographic-algorithm -- MD5
  Send lifetime:   01:00:00, 29 Jun 2006 - Always valid  [Valid now]
  Accept lifetime: 01:00:00, 29 Jun 2006 - Always valid [Valid now]

Related Commands

Command

Description

accept-lifetime

Accepts the valid key.

accept-tolerance

Configures a tolerance value to accept keys for the keychain.

key (key chain)

Creates or modifies a keychain key.

key chain (key chain)

Creates or modifies a keychain.

key-string (keychain)

Specifies the text for the key string.

send-lifetime

Sends the valid key.

show type6

To view Type 6 password encryption information, use the show type6 command in EXEC mode.

show type6 { clients| server| trace server { all| error| info} [ trace-server-parameter]}

Syntax Description

clients

Displays Type 6 client information.

server

Displays Type 6 server information.

trace server

Displays Type 6 trace server information.

all

Displays all Type 6 traces.

error

Displays Type 6 error traces.

info

Displays Type 6 information trace entries.

trace-server-parameter

(Optional) Displays Type 6 trace server information for the specified parameter. Use one from the list of parameters defined in the Usage Guidelines section.

Command Default

None.

Command Modes

EXEC mode

Command History

Release

Modification

Release 7.0.1

This command was introduced.

Usage Guidelines

In the command form show type6 trace server info trace-server-parameter, replace trace-server-parameter with one of the following parameters:

Trace Server Parameter

Displayed Trace Server Information

file

The specified file.

hexdump

Hexadecimal format.

last

The most recent entries.

location

Line card location.

reverse

From the most recent entry to the first entry.

stats

Statistics information.

tailf

New traces as they are added.

udir

Copies trace information from remote locations to the specifed temporary directory.

unique

Unique entries with counts.

usec

User security information, with time stamp.

verbose

Internal debugging information.

wide

Removes buffer name, node name, and tid information.

wrapping

Wrapping entries.

Examples

The following command displays Type 6 password encryption feature information: 

Router# show type6 server

Server detail information:
============================
AES config State : Enabled
Masterkey config State : Enabled
Type6 feature State : Enabled
Master key Inprogress : No

Router# show type6 trace server all

Client file lib/type6/type6_server_wr
25 wrapping entries (18496 possible, 64 allocated, 0 filtered, 25 total)
Jul 19 09:59:27.168 lib/type6/type6_server_wr 0/RP0/CPU0 t7145 ***** Type6 server process 
started Respawn count (1) ****
…
…
Jul 19 12:22:59.908 lib/type6/type6_server_wr 0/RP0/CPU0 t7145 User has started Master key operation (CREATE)
Jul 19 12:22:59.908 lib/type6/type6_server_wr 0/RP0/CPU0 t7145 Created Master key in TAM successfully
Jul 19 12:23:00.265 lib/type6/type6_server_wr 0/RP0/CPU0 t7145 Master key Available set to (AVAILABLE)
Jul 19 12:23:00.272 lib/type6/type6_server_wr 0/RP0/CPU0 t7145 Master key inprogress set to (NOT INPROGRESS)

Router# show type6 clients

Type6 Clients information:
 
Client Name   MK State
=====================
keychain      UNKNOWN