---
name: "puppet-key"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "puppet"
version: "5.5.22-2"
release: "Debian 11 (Bullseye)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/puppet-key"
---

# puppet-key(8)

Create, save, and remove certificate keys.

## NAME

**puppet-key** - Create, save, and remove certificate keys.

## SYNOPSIS

puppet key *action* \[--terminus \_TERMINUS\] \[--extra HASH\]

## DESCRIPTION

This subcommand manages certificate private keys. Keys are created automatically by puppet agent and when certificate requests are generated with 'puppet certificate generate'; it should not be necessary to use this subcommand directly.

## OPTIONS

Note that any setting that's valid in the configuration file is also a valid long argument, although it may or may not be relevant to the present action. For example, **server** and **run\_mode** are valid settings, so you can specify **--server \<servername\>**, or **--run\_mode \<runmode\>** as an argument.

See the configuration file documentation at *https://puppet.com/docs/puppet/latest/configuration.html* for the full list of acceptable parameters. A commented list of all configuration options can also be generated by running puppet with **--genconfig**.

- \--render-as FORMAT

  The format in which to render output. The most common formats are **json**, **s** (string), **yaml**, and **console**, but other options such as **dot** are sometimes available.

- \--verbose

  Whether to log verbosely.

- \--debug

  Whether to log debug information.

- \--extra HASH

  A terminus can take additional arguments to refine the operation, which are passed as an arbitrary hash to the back-end. Anything passed as the extra value is just send direct to the back-end.

- \--terminus \_TERMINUS

  Indirector faces expose indirected subsystems of Puppet. These subsystems are each able to retrieve and alter a specific type of data (with the familiar actions of **find**, **search**, **save**, and **destroy**) from an arbitrary number of pluggable backends. In Puppet parlance, these backends are called terminuses.

-

  Almost all indirected subsystems have a **rest** terminus that interacts with the puppet master's data. Most of them have additional terminuses for various local data models, which are in turn used by the indirected subsystem on the puppet master whenever it receives a remote request.

-

  The terminus for an action is often determined by context, but occasionally needs to be set explicitly. See the "Notes" section of this face's manpage for more details.

## ACTIONS

- **destroy** - Delete an object.

  **SYNOPSIS**

-

  puppet key destroy \[--terminus \_TERMINUS\] \[--extra HASH\] *key*

-

  **DESCRIPTION**

-

  Delete an object.

- **find** - Retrieve an object by name.

  **SYNOPSIS**

-

  puppet key find \[--terminus \_TERMINUS\] \[--extra HASH\] \[*key*\]

-

  **DESCRIPTION**

-

  Retrieve an object by name.

- **info** - Print the default terminus class for this face.

  **SYNOPSIS**

-

  puppet key info \[--terminus \_TERMINUS\] \[--extra HASH\]

-

  **DESCRIPTION**

-

  Prints the default terminus class for this subcommand. Note that different run modes may have different default termini; when in doubt, specify the run mode with the '--run\_mode' option.

- **save** - API only: create or overwrite an object.

  **SYNOPSIS**

-

  puppet key save \[--terminus \_TERMINUS\] \[--extra HASH\] *key*

-

  **DESCRIPTION**

-

  API only: create or overwrite an object. As the Faces framework does not currently accept data from STDIN, save actions cannot currently be invoked from the command line.

- **search** - Search for an object or retrieve multiple objects.

  **SYNOPSIS**

-

  puppet key search \[--terminus \_TERMINUS\] \[--extra HASH\] *query*

-

  **DESCRIPTION**

-

  Search for an object or retrieve multiple objects.

## NOTES

This subcommand is an indirector face, which exposes **find**, **search**, **save**, and **destroy** actions for an indirected subsystem of Puppet. Valid termini for this face include:

- ○

  **ca**

- ○

  **disabled\_ca**

- ○

  **file**

- ○

  **memory**

-

  ## COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright 2011 by Puppet Inc. Apache 2 license; see COPYING