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opendnssec(7)		       OpenDNSSEC overview		   opendnssec(7)

NAME
     OpenDNSSEC - making DNSSEC easy for DNS administrators

SYNOPSIS
     ods-control start | stop

     ods-enforcer subcommand...

     ods-signer [subcommand...]

DESCRIPTION
     OpenDNSSEC is a complete DNSSEC zone signing system which maintains stabil-
     ity 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; effec-
     tively, OpenDNSSEC acts as a "bump in the wire" between  editing  and  pub-
     lishing 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 de-
     fine security and timing requirements for each individual zone.   Operators
     tend  to interact with the KASP Enforcer a lot, through the ods-enforcer(8)
     command.

     The other daemon is the Signer Engine, which in turn signs  the  zone  con-
     tent.  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 interac-
     tion 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 im-
     plementations in software.  Also, implementations range from open	to  com-
     mercial,  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 rea-
	    sons 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-enforcer(8),	ods-hsmspeed(1),
     ods-hsmutil(1),  ods-kaspcheck(1),  ods-kasp(5),  ods-signer(8),  ods-sign-
     erd(8), ods-timing(5), http://www.opendnssec.org/

AUTHORS
     OpenDNSSEC  was  made  by	the  OpenDNSSEC  project,   to	 be   found   on
     http://www.opendnssec.org/

OpenDNSSEC			  February 2010 		   opendnssec(7)

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