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https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert

A simple zero-config tool to make locally trusted development certificates with any names you'd like.
https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert

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A simple zero-config tool to make locally trusted development certificates with any names you'd like.

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# mkcert



mkcert is a simple tool for making locally-trusted development certificates. It requires no configuration.



```

$ mkcert -install

Created a new local CA 💥

The local CA is now installed in the system trust store! ⚡️

The local CA is now installed in the Firefox trust store (requires browser restart)! 🦊



$ mkcert example.com "*.example.com" example.test localhost 127.0.0.1 ::1



Created a new certificate valid for the following names 📜

 - "example.com"

 - "*.example.com"

 - "example.test"

 - "localhost"

 - "127.0.0.1"

 - "::1"



The certificate is at "./example.com+5.pem" and the key at "./example.com+5-key.pem" ✅

```



Chrome and Firefox screenshot



Using certificates from real certificate authorities (CAs) for development can be dangerous or impossible (for hosts like `example.test`, `localhost` or `127.0.0.1`), but self-signed certificates cause trust errors. Managing your own CA is the best solution, but usually involves arcane commands, specialized knowledge and manual steps.



mkcert automatically creates and installs a local CA in the system root store, and generates locally-trusted certificates. mkcert does not automatically configure servers to use the certificates, though, that's up to you.



## Installation



> **Warning**: the `rootCA-key.pem` file that mkcert automatically generates gives complete power to intercept secure requests from your machine. Do not share it.



### macOS



On macOS, use [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/)



```

brew install mkcert

brew install nss # if you use Firefox

```



or [MacPorts](https://www.macports.org/).



```

sudo port selfupdate

sudo port install mkcert

sudo port install nss # if you use Firefox

```



### Linux



On Linux, first install `certutil`.



```

sudo apt install libnss3-tools

    -or-

sudo yum install nss-tools

    -or-

sudo pacman -S nss

    -or-

sudo zypper install mozilla-nss-tools

```



Then you can install using [Homebrew on Linux](https://docs.brew.sh/Homebrew-on-Linux)



```

brew install mkcert

```



or build from source (requires Go 1.13+)



```

git clone https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert && cd mkcert

go build -ldflags "-X main.Version=$(git describe --tags)"

```



or use [the pre-built binaries](https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert/releases).



```

curl -JLO "https://dl.filippo.io/mkcert/latest?for=linux/amd64"

chmod +x mkcert-v*-linux-amd64

sudo cp mkcert-v*-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/mkcert

```



For Arch Linux users, [`mkcert`](https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/mkcert/) is available on the official Arch Linux repository.



```

sudo pacman -Syu mkcert

```



### Windows



On Windows, use [Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org)



```

choco install mkcert

```



or use Scoop



```

scoop bucket add extras

scoop install mkcert

```



or build from source (requires Go 1.10+), or use [the pre-built binaries](https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert/releases).



If you're running into permission problems try running `mkcert` as an Administrator.



## Supported root stores



mkcert supports the following root stores:



* macOS system store

* Windows system store

* Linux variants that provide either

    * `update-ca-trust` (Fedora, RHEL, CentOS) or

    * `update-ca-certificates` (Ubuntu, Debian, OpenSUSE, SLES) or

    * `trust` (Arch)

* Firefox (macOS and Linux only)

* Chrome and Chromium

* Java (when `JAVA_HOME` is set)



To only install the local root CA into a subset of them, you can set the `TRUST_STORES` environment variable to a comma-separated list. Options are: "system", "java" and "nss" (includes Firefox).



## Advanced topics



### Advanced options



```

	-cert-file FILE, -key-file FILE, -p12-file FILE

	    Customize the output paths.



	-client

	    Generate a certificate for client authentication.



	-ecdsa

	    Generate a certificate with an ECDSA key.



	-pkcs12

	    Generate a ".p12" PKCS #12 file, also know as a ".pfx" file,

	    containing certificate and key for legacy applications.



	-csr CSR

	    Generate a certificate based on the supplied CSR. Conflicts with

	    all other flags and arguments except -install and -cert-file.

```



> **Note:** You _must_ place these options before the domain names list.



#### Example



```

mkcert -key-file key.pem -cert-file cert.pem example.com *.example.com

```



### S/MIME



mkcert automatically generates an S/MIME certificate if one of the supplied names is an email address.



```

mkcert [email protected]

```



### Mobile devices



For the certificates to be trusted on mobile devices, you will have to install the root CA. It's the `rootCA.pem` file in the folder printed by `mkcert -CAROOT`.



On iOS, you can either use AirDrop, email the CA to yourself, or serve it from an HTTP server. After opening it, you need to [install the profile in Settings > Profile Downloaded](https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert/issues/233#issuecomment-690110809) and then [enable full trust in it](https://support.apple.com/en-nz/HT204477).



For Android, you will have to install the CA and then enable user roots in the development build of your app. See [this StackOverflow answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/22040887/749014).



### Using the root with Node.js



Node does not use the system root store, so it won't accept mkcert certificates automatically. Instead, you will have to set the [`NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS`](https://nodejs.org/api/cli.html#cli_node_extra_ca_certs_file) environment variable.



```

export NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS="$(mkcert -CAROOT)/rootCA.pem"

```



### Changing the location of the CA files



The CA certificate and its key are stored in an application data folder in the user home. You usually don't have to worry about it, as installation is automated, but the location is printed by `mkcert -CAROOT`.



If you want to manage separate CAs, you can use the environment variable `$CAROOT` to set the folder where mkcert will place and look for the local CA files.



### Installing the CA on other systems



Installing in the trust store does not require the CA key, so you can export the CA certificate and use mkcert to install it in other machines.



* Look for the `rootCA.pem` file in `mkcert -CAROOT`

* copy it to a different machine

* set `$CAROOT` to its directory

* run `mkcert -install`



Remember that mkcert is meant for development purposes, not production, so it should not be used on end users' machines, and that you should *not* export or share `rootCA-key.pem`.