TCS-GARR Client

Overview

The TCS-GARR Client is a command-line tool for managing and interacting with Harica platform. It offers features like listing, downloading, issuing certificates, approving requests, and generating domain validation tokens, all via the Harica API.

Warning ⚠️

Consortium GARR is not affiliated with HARICA, and the present work has not been endorsed by or agreed with HARICA.

Consortium GARR provides this code to the community for sharing purposes but does not commit to providing support, maintenance, or further development of the code. Use it at your own discretion.

Prerequisites

Before using the TCS-GARR client, please ensure the following:

1. Create a local account on the Harica platform: You must create a local account on Harica at https://cm.harica.gr. Do not use federated IDEM credentials, as they do not support API access.

   • If you're already logged in with an academic login, you can create a new local account using an email alias. Academic login users do not have a password and therefore cannot use the API.

2. Required Roles and 2FA: To use specific API commands, your account must have the appropriate roles and 2FA enabled where required. Check the Command Roles and 2FA Requirements section for details.

   • Enable 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) on your profile page if you need to perform actions such as approving certificates or managing domain validation.

   • If administrative permissions are required (e.g., domain validation), request an existing administrator to elevate your account.

Caution

⚠️ Save the TOTP seed after enabling 2FA, as you will need it for authentication. The TOTP seed follows the format otpauth://totp/HARICA:[email protected]?secret=************&issuer=HARICA&digits=6.

Once these steps are completed, you are ready to use the TCS-GARR client.

Important

⚠️ The OTP (One-Time Password) is generated based on the date and time of your PC. If the client fails to authenticate and returns an "Invalid OTP" error, please ensure that your device's date and time are correct and synchronized with a public NTP server.

Command Roles and 2FA Requirements

USER is the default role assigned to a logged-in user with no special permissions and who has not been granted any additional roles by an administrator.

Other roles, apart from USER, require 2FA and are provided by an administrator.

Command	Role Needed	2FA Needed
approve	SSL_ENTERPRISE_APPROVER	✔️
cancel	USER	❌
domains	ENTERPRISE_ADMIN	✔️
download	USER	❌
init	None	❌
k8s	None	❌
list	USER	❌
request	USER	❌
revoke	USER	❌
upgrade	None	❌
validate	ENTERPRISE_ADMIN	✔️
whoami	USER	❌

Installation

You can install the TCS-GARR client in a virtual environment using pip or via pipx.

Virtual Environment

1. Open a terminal or command prompt and navigate to the directory where you want to install the package. Then, run the following command to create a virtual environment:

   mkdir <path>
   python -m venv venv

   This will create a folder named venv in your project directory, containing a self-contained Python environment.

2. Activate the virtual environment based on your operating system:

   source venv/bin/activate

3. Install the package

   pip install tcs-garr

Pipx

1. Open a terminal and install the package

   PIPX_BIN_DIR=/usr/local/bin pipx install tcs-garr

Configuration

After installation, the first time you run the client, you will need to initialize the configuration file with your credentials by running:

tcs-garr init

This will create a tcs-garr.conf file in your home directory under .config/tcs-garr path. This file will contain your Harica username, password, TOTP seed, folder for issued certificates, and HTTP/HTTPS proxy settings (if needed). The file will have secure permissions.

If a configuration file is not found, the system will notify you to initialize the configuration using the tcs-garr init command.

Updating Configuration

If you need to update your configuration (including adding or modifying proxy settings), you can use:

tcs-garr init --force

This will override existing parameters with new values. You can use this command to add or update HTTP/HTTPS proxy settings.

Usage

Once the setup is complete, you can use the TCS-GARR client for various operations. The command syntax follows this pattern:

tcs-garr [command] [options]

To view all available commands and options:

tcs-garr --help

usage: tcs-garr [-h] [--debug] [--version] [--no-check-release] [--environment {production,stg}] {approve,cancel,domains,download,init,k8s,list,request,revoke,upgrade,validate,whoami} ...

Harica Certificate Manager

positional arguments:
  {approve,cancel,domains,download,init,k8s,list,request,revoke,upgrade,validate,whoami}
                        Available commands
    approve             Approve a certificate by ID
    cancel              Cancel a request by ID
    domains             List available domains
    download            Download a certificate by ID
    init                Generate Harica config file
    k8s                 Generate Kubernetes TLS resource file
    list                Generate a report from Harica
    request             Request a new certificate
    revoke              Revoke a certificate by ID
    upgrade             Self-upgrade command for the app.
    validate            Create validation token for domains
    whoami              Get logged in user profile

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --debug               Enable DEBUG logging.
  --version             show program's version number and exit
  --no-check-release    Skip checking for a new release
  --environment {production,stg}
                        Specify the environment to use (default: production)

Production and staging environments

All commands are executed on the production environment of Harica at https://cm.harica.gr. By using the --environment stg flag, you can execute commands for the staging environment at https://cm-stg.harica.gr.

For example, if you want to use the staging environment, you can initialize the configuration file using the following command:

tcs-garr --environment stg init

Available Commands

1. Initialize configuration:

   tcs-garr init

   This command initializes the configuration file by prompting for your credentials (email, password, TOTP seed, output folder, optional proxy, and optional webhook settings).

   The webhook feature allows you to send notifications to external services (e.g., Slack) whenever a new certificate is requested.

   Currently, two webhook types are supported:

   • slack: sends a formatted message to a Slack channel.

   • generic: sends a POST request with a JSON payload containing:

     {
       "id": certificate_id,
       "username": requestor
     }

   To update an existing configuration or add proxy/webhook settings:

   tcs-garr init --force

2. Get user profile:

   tcs-garr whoami

   This command retrieves the profile of the logged-in user.

3. List all certificates:

   The list command allows you to generate detailed reports of SSL certificates from the Harica service. It supports various filtering options and output formats to help you manage your certificates effectively.

   tcs-garr list --help
   
   usage: tcs-garr list [-h] [--expired-since EXPIRED_SINCE] [--expiring-in EXPIRING_IN] [--status {Valid,Revoked,Expired,Pending,Ready,Completed,Cancelled,All}] [--user [USER]]
                     [--fqdn FQDN] [--full] [--export [EXPORT]] [--json [JSON]]
   
   options:
   -h, --help            show this help message and exit
   --expired-since EXPIRED_SINCE
                           List certificates whose expiry date is X days before now.
   --expiring-in EXPIRING_IN
                           List certificates whose expiry date is X days after now.
   --status {Valid,Revoked,Expired,Pending,Ready,Completed,Cancelled,All}
                           Filter certificates by status. Default is valid.
   --user [USER]         Filter certificates owner by user. Without arg (--user only) will filter for the logged in user. Use this if you have Approver role or Admin role.
   --fqdn FQDN           Filter certificates by a substring in their Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
   --full                Retrieve full certificate information.
   --export [EXPORT]     Export certificates to json file. Without arg uses default file, with arg specifies output file.
   --json [JSON]         Alias for --export. Export certificates to json file.

   This command will list all available certificates. You can filter them by date range using the --expired-since and --expiring-in options.

   By default, the command displays certificate information in a tabular format, showing transaction ID, common name, expiration date, status, information, alternative names, and requestor. When using the --export or --json option without a filename, the information is displayed in JSON format on the terminal and saved to the default file. With a filename specified, the data is saved to that file without terminal output.

   Important Note on --full Option

   The extended information provided by --full includes certificate metadata such as issuer details, certificate content, key usage, and other technical parameters from the certification authority.

   When using the --full flag, be aware of the following:

   1. Performance Impact: This option significantly increases processing time as it requires an additional API request for each certificate in the result set. For large certificate lists, this operation can take several minutes to complete.

   2. Rate Limiting: The Harica platform implements rate limiting on API requests. Using --full with a large number of certificates may trigger rate limiting responses, especially when running multiple commands in quick succession.

4. Download a certificate:

   tcs-garr download --help
   
   usage: tcs-garr download [-h] --id ID [--output-filename OUTPUT_FILENAME] [--force] [--download-type {pemBundle,certificate}]
   
    options:
    -h, --help            show this help message and exit
    --id ID               ID of the certificate to download.
    --output-filename OUTPUT_FILENAME
                            Optional filename to save the certificate inside default output_folder.
    --force, -f           Force overwrite if the output file already exists.
    --download-type {pemBundle,certificate}
                            Type of download: 'pemBundle' or 'certificate'. Default is 'pemBundle'.

   Replace ID with the ID of the certificate you wish to download. You can use pemBundle or certificate as arguments for specific download formats.

5. Request a new certificate:

   tcs-garr request --help
   
   usage: tcs-garr request [-h] [--profile {OV,DV}] [--wait] [--disable-webhook] (--csr CSR | --cn CN) [--alt_names ALT_NAMES]
   
   options:
   -h, --help            show this help message and exit
   --profile {OV,DV}     Profile to use between OV or DV. Default: OV
   --wait                Wait for the certificate to be approved
   --disable-webhook     Disable calling webhook after submit request. This works only if webhook_url has been configured
   --csr CSR             Path to an existing CSR file.
   --cn CN               Common name of the certificate.
   --alt_names ALT_NAMES
                           Comma-separated alternative names (only used with --cn).

   The request command is used to submit a new certificate request to Harica.

   You can either provide an existing Certificate Signing Request (--csr) or specify the details for generating a new CSR, including the Common Name (--cn) and any Subject Alternative Names (--alt_names). If a new CSR is created using the --cn and --alt_names options, a private key will also be automatically generated.

   You can choose between the OV (OV Profile) or DV (DV Profile) profile using the --profile option. Default is OV.

   After submitting the certificate request, the request must be approved by another Administrator before the certificate can be downloaded. Ensure that an administrator is available to review and approve your request.

   With `--wait`` flag, the command will wait for the certificate to be approved by another administrator. When approved, it will be automatically downloaded.

   If Webhook URL has been configured (see init command), the webhook will be called after the certificate is requested to Harica. If --disable-webhook is set, the webhook will not be called. Webhook feature can be used to send notification to external service like Slack to inform channel or group when a new certificate has been requested.

6. Approve a certificate:

   usage: tcs-garr approve [-h] (--id ID | --list-pending | --all)
   
   options:
   -h, --help      show this help message and exit
   --id ID         ID of the certificates (comma separated) to approve.
   --list-pending  List all pending requests.
   --all           Approve all pending requests.

   You can list all pending requests using the --list-pending option or approve all pending requests using the --all option.

   You can also approve a specific certificate by providing its ID using the --id option.

7. Cancel a certificate request:

   tcs-garr cancel --help
   
   usage: tcs-garr cancel [-h] --id ID
   
   options:
   -h, --help  show this help message and exit
   --id ID     ID of the request to cancel.

   Replace ID with the ID of the certificate you wish to cancel.

8. Generate validation token for domains:

   usage: tcs-garr validate [-h] --domains DOMAINS
   
   options:
   -h, --help         show this help message and exit
   --domains DOMAINS  Comma separated list of domains.

   This command generates validation tokens for the specified domains. Replace DOMAINS with a comma-separated list of domains you need to validate.

   To get the list of all available domains in your organization, use the domains command.

   tcs-garr domains

9. Upgrade package:

   usage: tcs-garr upgrade [-h]
   
   options:
   -h, --help  show this help message and exit

   This command upgrades the package to the latest version.

10. K8s resource:

This command is used to generate a Kubernetes secret YAML file for storing a TLS certificate and its associated private key. The resulting secret can be used in Kubernetes clusters to securely store TLS certificates for applications requiring encrypted communication.

The command requires the paths to both the certificate file (--cert) and the private key file (--key), as well as the target Kubernetes namespace (--namespace) where the secret will be created.

usage: tcs-garr k8s [-h] --cert CERT --key KEY --namespace NAMESPACE [--secret-name SECRET_NAME] [--file-name FILE_NAME]

options:
-h, --help            show this help message and exit
--cert CERT           Path to the certificate file.
--key KEY             Path to the key file.
--namespace NAMESPACE
                        Kubernetes namespace for the secret.
--secret-name SECRET_NAME
                        Name for the secret (optional).
--file-name FILE_NAME
                        Name for the yaml file without the extension (optional).

11. Revoke certificate:

usage: tcs-garr revoke [-h] --id ID

options:
-h, --help  show this help message and exit
--id ID     ID of the certificate to revoke.

Docker

Docker image is available at GitHub container registry. You can pull them via:

docker pull ghcr.io/consortiumgarr/tcs-garr:<your_desired_version>

Build

Example of docker image build command:

docker build -t tcs-garr:latest .

Environment variables

Name	Description	Default Value
HARICA_USERNAME	Username for HARICA authentication	None
HARICA_PASSWORD	Password for HARICA authentication	None
HARICA_TOTP_SEED	TOTP seed for two-factor auth	None
HARICA_OUTPUT_FOLDER	Directory for output files	~/harica_certificates
HARICA_HTTP_PROXY	HTTP Proxy	None
HARICA_HTTPS_PROXY	HTTPS Proxy	None
WEBHOOK_URL	Webhook URL	None
WEBHOOK_TYPE	Webhook Type	Slack

Run

For the following commands, you can either use the builded image or pull the image from GitHub container registry.

docker run --name tcs-garr tcs-garr:latest --version

Or a more complex example can be:

docker run --name tcs-garr \
  -e HARICA_USERNAME=${HARICA_USERNAME} \
  -e HARICA_PASSWORD=${HARICA_PASSWORD} \
  -e HARICA_TOTP_SEED=${HARICA_TOTP_SEED} \
  -e HARICA_OUTPUT_FOLDER=${HARICA_OUTPUT_FOLDER} \
  -e HARICA_HTTP_PROXY=${HARICA_HTTP_PROXY} \
  -e HARICA_HTTPS_PROXY=${HARICA_HTTPS_PROXY} \
  -e HARICA_WEBHOOK_URL=${HARICA_WEBHOOK_URL} \
  -v ${HARICA_OUTPUT_FOLDER}:${HARICA_OUTPUT_FOLDER} \
  tcs-garr:latest request --cn <domain> --alt_names <alt_names>

The entrypoint is already set to tcs-garr, so just add arguments or options.

Docker compose

Check the docker-compose file for more details.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing and Further Development

Contributions, further developments, error reports (and possibly fixes) are welcome.

For more info, please read the CONTRIBUTING file.