OS Manuals

systemd-sbsign(1)

SYSTEMD-SBSIGN(1) systemd-sbsign SYSTEMD-SBSIGN(1)


.SH "NAME" systemd-sbsign - Sign PE binaries for EFI Secure Boot


.SH "SYNOPSIS"


.HP 360u


systemd-sbsign
[OPTIONS...]
{COMMAND}


.SH "DESCRIPTION"


.PP systemd-sbsign can be used to sign PE binaries for EFI Secure Boot.


.SH "COMMANDS"


.PP sign


Signs the given PE binary for EFI Secure Boot. Takes a path to a PE binary as its argument. If the PE binary already has a certificate table, the new signature will be added to it. Otherwise, a new certificate table will be created. The signed PE binary will be written to the path specified with --output=.


Added in version 257.


.RE


.SH "OPTIONS"


.PP The following options are understood:


.PP --output=PATH


Specifies the path where to write the signed PE binary or the data to be signed offline when using the --prepare-offline-signing option.


Added in version 257.


.RE


.PP --private-key=PATH/URI, --private-key-source=TYPE[:NAME], --certificate=PATH, --certificate-source=TYPE[:NAME]


Set the Secure Boot private key and certificate for use with the sign verb. The --certificate= option takes a path to a PEM-encoded X.509 certificate or a URI that's passed to the OpenSSL provider configured with --certificate-source=. The --certificate-source= option takes one of file or provider, with the latter being followed by a specific provider identifier, separated with a colon, e.g. provider:pkcs11. The --private-key= option takes a path or a URI that will be passed to the OpenSSL engine or provider, as specified by --private-key-source= as a type:name tuple, such as engine:pkcs11. The specified OpenSSL signing engine or provider will be used to sign the PE binary.


Added in version 257.


.RE


.PP --prepare-offline-signing


When this option is specified, the sign command writes the data that should be signed to the path specified with --output= instead of writing the signed PE binary. This data can then be signed out of band after which the signature can be attached to the PE binary using the --signed-data= and --signed-data-signature= options.


Added in version 258.


.RE


.PP --signed-data=PATH, --signed-data-signature=PATH


Configure the signed data (as written to the path specified with --output= when using the --prepare-offline-signing option) and corresponding signature for the sign command.


Added in version 258.


.RE


.PP -h, --help


Print a short help text and exit.


.RE
.PP --version


Print a short version string and exit.


.RE


.SH "EXAMPLES"


.PP Example 1. Offline EFI secure boot signing of a PE binary


.PP The following does offline secure boot signing of systemd-boot:

SD_BOOT="$(find /usr/lib/systemd/boot/efi/ -name "systemd-boot*.efi" | head -n1)"
# Extract the data that should be signed offline.
/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sbsign \

sign \
--certificate=secure-boot-certificate.pem \
--output=signed-data.bin \
--prepare-offline-signing \
"$SD_BOOT" # Sign the data out-of-band. This step usually happens out-of-band on a separate system. openssl dgst -sha256 -sign secure-boot-private-key.pem -out signed-data.sig signed-data.bin # Attach the signed data and its signature to the systemd-boot PE binary. /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sbsign \
sign \
--certificate=secure-boot-certificate.pem \
--output="$SD_BOOT.signed" \
--signed-data=signed-data.bin \
--signed-data-signature=signed-data.sig \
"$SD_BOOT"


.SH "SEE ALSO"


.PP bootctl(1)

systemd 262.2

systemd 262.2-r1 · os · ingested 2026-11-06