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diff --git a/openssl/crypto/store/README b/openssl/crypto/store/README new file mode 100644 index 000000000..966168f6a --- /dev/null +++ b/openssl/crypto/store/README @@ -0,0 +1,95 @@ +The STORE type +============== + +A STORE, as defined in this code section, is really a rather simple +thing which stores objects and per-object associations to a number +of attributes. What attributes are supported entirely depends on +the particular implementation of a STORE. It has some support for +generation of certain objects (for example, keys and CRLs). + + +Supported object types +---------------------- + +For now, the objects that are supported are the following: + +X.509 certificate +X.509 CRL +private key +public key +number +arbitrary (application) data + +The intention is that a STORE should be able to store everything +needed by an application that wants a cert/key store, as well as +the data a CA might need to store (this includes the serial number +counter, which explains the support for numbers). + + +Supported attribute types +------------------------- + +For now, the following attributes are supported: + +Friendly Name - the value is a normal C string +Key ID - the value is a 160 bit SHA1 hash +Issuer Key ID - the value is a 160 bit SHA1 hash +Subject Key ID - the value is a 160 bit SHA1 hash +Issuer/Serial Hash - the value is a 160 bit SHA1 hash +Issuer - the value is a X509_NAME +Serial - the value is a BIGNUM +Subject - the value is a X509_NAME +Certificate Hash - the value is a 160 bit SHA1 hash +Email - the value is a normal C string +Filename - the value is a normal C string + +It is expected that these attributes should be enough to support +the need from most, if not all, current applications. Applications +that need to do certificate verification would typically use Subject +Key ID, Issuer/Serial Hash or Subject to look up issuer certificates. +S/MIME applications would typically use Email to look up recipient +and signer certificates. + +There's added support for combined sets of attributes to search for, +with the special OR attribute. + + +Supported basic functionality +----------------------------- + +The functions that are supported through the STORE type are these: + +generate_object - for example to generate keys and CRLs +get_object - to look up one object + NOTE: this function is really rather + redundant and probably of lesser usage + than the list functions +store_object - store an object and the attributes + associated with it +modify_object - modify the attributes associated with + a specific object +revoke_object - revoke an object + NOTE: this only marks an object as + invalid, it doesn't remove the object + from the database +delete_object - remove an object from the database +list_object - list objects associated with a given + set of attributes + NOTE: this is really four functions: + list_start, list_next, list_end and + list_endp +update_store - update the internal data of the store +lock_store - lock the store +unlock_store - unlock the store + +The list functions need some extra explanation: list_start is +used to set up a lookup. That's where the attributes to use in +the search are set up. It returns a search context. list_next +returns the next object searched for. list_end closes the search. +list_endp is used to check if we have reached the end. + +A few words on the store functions as well: update_store is +typically used by a CA application to update the internal +structure of a database. This may for example involve automatic +removal of expired certificates. lock_store and unlock_store +are used for locking a store to allow exclusive writes. |