NAME¶
OpenDNSSEC - making DNSSEC easy for DNS administrators
SYNOPSIS¶
ods-control start
ods-control stop
ods-ksmutil subcommand...
ods-signer [
subcommand...]
DESCRIPTION¶
OpenDNSSEC is a complete DNSSEC zone signing system which maintains stability
and security of signed domains. DNSSEC adds many cryptographic concerns to
DNS; OpenDNSSEC automates those to allow current DNS administrators to adopt
DNSSEC.
Domain signing is done by placing OpenDNSSEC between the place where the zone
files are edited and where they are published. The current version of
OpenDNSSEC supports files and AXFR to communicate the zone data; effectively,
OpenDNSSEC acts as a "bump in the wire" between editing and
publishing a zone.
OpenDNSSEC has two daemons, which are unitedly started and stopped through the
ods-control(8) command. The two daemons in turn invoke other programs
to get their work done.
One of the daemons is the KASP Enforcer, which enforces policies that define
security and timing requirements for each individual zone. Operators tend to
interact with the KASP Enforcer a lot, through the
ods-ksmutil(1)
command.
The other daemon is the Signer Engine, which in turn signs the zone content. It
retrieves that content from a file or through AXFR, and publishes a signed
version of the zone into a file or through AXFR. Direct interaction with the
Signer Engine, although not normally necessary, is possible through the
ods-signer(8) command.
The keys that sign the zones are managed by an independent repository, which is
accessed over a PKCS #11 interface. The principle idea of this interface being
to unleash access to cryptographic hardware, there are implementations in
software. Also, implementations range from open to commercial, and from very
simple to highly secure. By default, OpenDNSSEC is configured to run on top of
a SoftHSM, but a few other commands exist to test any Hardware Security Module
that may sit under the PKCS #11 API.
OPERATIONAL PRACTICES¶
The approach used by OpenDNSSEC follows the best current practice of two kinds
of key per zone:
- KSK or Key Signing Key
- This key belongs in the apex of a zone, and is referenced in the parent
zone (quite possibly a registry) in the form of DS records alongside NS
records. These parent references function as trust delegations.
The KSK is usually a longer key, and it could harm the efficiency of secure
resolvers if all individual resource records were signed with it. This is
why it is advisable to use the KSK only to sign the ZSK.
In DNS records, the KSK can usually be recognised by having its SEP (Secure
Entry Point) flag set.
- ZSK or Zone Signing Key
- This key also belongs in the apex of a zone, and is actually used to sign
the resource records in a zone. It is a shorter key for reasons of
efficiency, that is rolled over on a fairly regular basis. To detach these
rollovers from the parent, the ZSK is not directly trusted by the parent
zone, but instead its trust is established by way of a signature by the
KSK on the ZSK.
OpenDNSSEC is mindful about the period of validity of each key, and will
rollover in time to keep the domain signed, with new keys, without any
downtime for the secure domain. The only thing that is not standardised, and
thus cannot be automated at the moment is the interface between a zone and its
parent, so this has to be done manually, or scripted around OpenDNSSEC.
SEE ALSO¶
ods-control(8),
ods-enforcerd(8),
ods-hsmspeed(1),
ods-hsmutil(1),
ods-kaspcheck(1),
ods-ksmutil(1),
ods-signer(8),
ods-signerd(8),
ods-timing(5),
http://www.opendnssec.org/
AUTHORS¶
OpenDNSSEC was made by the OpenDNSSEC project, to be found on
http://www.opendnssec.org/