Avamar: Generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) with Subject Alternative Name (SAN) to send to the Certificate Authority (CA)

Summary: Use the goav tool to generate a certificate signing request (csr) that to send to the certificate authority for signing.

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Instructions

Minimum Goav Version: 1.39

Download/Install the Goav tool

000192151 | Avamar: Goav tool

Note

All goav security commands must be run as root.

Auto Generate Certificate Signing Request with Goav.

There are three options available when generating the CSR.

  1. goav security certificate csr
  2. goav security certificate csr --custom
  3. goav security certificate csr --custom --bits <keysize>



Option 1

Generate a CSR with auto hostname detection from the operating system.

Command:

./goav security certificate csr

Goav pulls the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) and shortname from the Avamar server.
This creates a CSR with the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) as the common name of the server, and two Domain Name System (DNS) SAN entries (FQDN and shortname).

Option 2

Generate a CSR with a custom list of hostnames.

Command:

./goav security certificate csr --custom

Goav prompts you to enter the FQDN you want to use for the certificate.
Goav prompts you to enter a list of additional hostnames to include in the SAN.
The purpose of this is to allow a certificate request to be valid for multiple Avamar servers provided their hostnames are in the SAN.

Option 3

Generate a CSR with a specific key length/size. 

Command:

./goav security certificate csr --bits 3072
./goav security certificate csr --custom --bits 4096

When the --bits flag is not used, goav will default to a 2048-bit key size for the private/public keypair generated.
When using the --bits flag you are able to specify a stronger key size like 3072, or 4096.

Results

After running the command:
- Two files are generated in /home/admin/goav_certs/.
- Private key saved to /home/admin/goav_certs/webserver_key.key
- The csr saved to /home/admin/goav_certs/webserver_csr.csr
- Conveniently the csr is printed to the screen at the end of execution if you want to copy and paste to send to ca
- The private key generated will be in PKCS1 format, no need to convert later if installing signed web certs on Avamar.

Examples

Auto Hostname with Key size specified

root@ser-ave03:/home/admin/#: ./goav security certificate csr --bits 3072
===========================================================
GoAv    :        1.38
Avamar  :        19.7
Date    :        19 Oct 2022 08:55 MDT
===========================================================
NOTE: This is not an official tool
===========================================================
Generating Private Key & Certificate Signing Request
----------------------------------------------------
Operations Directory: /home/admin/goav_certs

2 Letter Country Code: US
Locale/State: Florida
City/Provice: Miami
Organization: Dell Technologies
Organizational Unit (OU): Avamar

2022/10/19 08:55:57 Processing distinguished name for subject portion of request
2022/10/19 08:55:57 Auto csr generation selected... pulling hostname info from server
2022/10/19 08:55:58 3072 bit key generated
2022/10/19 08:55:58 CSR generated with auto hostname selection

INFO
----
Web server private key saved: /home/admin/goav_certs/webserver_key.key
Web server signing request saved: /home/admin/goav_certs/webserver_csr.csr

** Copy the output below and send it to your CA for signing **

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----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-----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----


Custom Hostname selection

root@ser-ave03:/home/admin/#: ./goav security certificate csr --custom
===========================================================
GoAv    :        1.38
Avamar  :        19.7
Date    :        19 Oct 2022 08:57 MDT
===========================================================
NOTE: This is not an official tool
===========================================================
Generating Private Key & Certificate Signing Request
----------------------------------------------------
Operations Directory: /home/admin/goav_certs

2 Letter Country Code: US
Locale/State: Florida
City/Provice: Miami
Organization: Dell Technologies
Organizational Unit (OU): Avamar

2022/10/19 08:57:41 Processing distinguished name for subject portion of request
2022/10/19 08:57:41 Custom csr generation selected...

Hostname Section
----------------
Enter FQDN: ser-ave03.isus.emc.com
2022/10/19 08:57:44 FQDN added to Common Name in Subject
Enter an additional hostname (type 'q' to finish): ser-ave03
Enter an additional hostname (type 'q' to finish): ser-ave02.isus.emc.com
Enter an additional hostname (type 'q' to finish): ser-ave02
Enter an additional hostname (type 'q' to finish): q
2022/10/19 08:58:10 2048 bit key generated
2022/10/19 08:58:10 CSR generated with custom hostname list

INFO
----
Web server private key saved: /home/admin/goav_certs/webserver_key.key
Web server signing request saved: /home/admin/goav_certs/webserver_csr.csr

** Copy the output below and send it to your CA for signing **

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----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-----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----

Affected Products

Avamar
Article Properties
Article Number: 000204384
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 03 Feb 2025
Version:  9
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