README.md

In nbgallery/rpki: Tools to PKI-enable Utilities in R and Allow for Secure Connections and Package Installation

rpki

rpki is a wrapper package that PKI-enables the httr package and the built-in download.file() method. Conceptually, rpki is similar to the Python pypki2 and ipydeps packages, and is intended to use the same mypki configuration file.

Installation

1. Download rpki from the git repository and unzip the folder. Rename the folder to rpki if necessary.
2. Open a terminal and go to the directory where the rpki folder was downloaded.
3. Run the command

R CMD INSTALL rpki

Requirements

• R (>= 3.3.0)
• curl - should be installed and executable from the command line (i.e. on the PATH)
• openssl - should be installed and exucutable from the command line (i.e. on the PATH)

Quickstart

At minimum, you must provide a pkcs#12 file (and password) and Certificate Authority bundle

library(rpki)
pki_enable_httr(pki_file = '/path/to/my/pki_file.p12', ca_file = 'path/to/my/ca_bundle.crt')
resp <- GET('https://your.pki.enabled.website/path/to/whatever')

Alternatively, the pki file and CA bundle can be defined in a configuration file (see below) and placed in your home directory at ~/.mypki for reuse. You only need to provide the pki password once per R session.

library(rpki)
pki_enable_httr()
resp <- GET('https://your.pki.enabled.website/path/to/whatever')

Examples

rpki can run in interactive or non-interactive R sessions. The major difference is the pki passphrase must be passed in plain text for non-interactive sessions (see examples below). All examples below assume a mypki configuration file has been created (see section on .mypki configuration file).

Interactive - Fetching a URL

library(rpki)
pki_enable_httr() # will prompt for pki passphrase if necessary
GET('https://your.pki.enabled.website/path/to/whatever')

Non-interactive - Fetching a URL

rpki can run in non-interactive sessions when the pki passphrase is explicitly provided.

library(rpki)
pki_enable_httr(password = 'my_pki_passphrase') # will not prompt for pki passphrase
GET('https://your.pki.enabled.website/path/to/whatever')

Interactive - Installing a package

library(rpki)
pki_enable_download_file() # will prompt for passphrase
install.packages('my_private_package')

Non-interactive - Installing a package

library(rpki)
pki_enable_download_file(password = 'my_pki_passphrase')
install.packages('my_private_package')

Manual Configuration

Configuration options can be explicitly defined in order to override default settings (interactive or non-interactive mode).

Interactive Sessions

library(rpki)
pki_enable_httr(ca_file = '/path/to/certificate_authority.crt',
                pki_file  = '/path/to/my/pki.p12',
                override = TRUE)
GET('https://your.pki.enabled.website/path/to/whatever')
pki_enable_download_file() # will not prompt for password again
install.packages('my_private_package')

Non-interactive Sessions

library(rpki)
pki_enable_httr(ca_file = '/path/to/certificate_authority.crt',
                pki_file  = '/path/to/my/pki.p12',
                password  = 'my_pki_passphrase',
                override = TRUE)
GET('https://your.pki.enabled.website/path/to/whatever')
pki_enable_download_file() # will not prompt for password again
install.packages('my_private_package')

Details

By default rpki expects a .mypki configuration file to be located in the user's home directory at ~/.mypki. If the configuration file is invalid or corrupt, the user will be prompted for file paths to a certificate authority bundle and a PKI file. rpki will only prompt the user for a pki passphrase once per R session.

To pki-enable the httr package, rpki modifies the following httr config settings cainfo sslcert sslkey keypasswd

To pki-enable the download.file() method, the download method is set to "curl" and the following extra curl command line arguments are set cacert cert key pass

By modifying download.file(), the standard install.packages() function can be used to install packages over secure connections (https).

Configuration File

A .mypki configuration file is in json format and defines the absolute file paths to a Certificate Authority (CA) bundle and a pkcs#12 digital certificate.

{
  "ca": "/path/to/certificate_authority_bundle.crt",
  "p12": {
    "path": "/path/to/pki_digital_certificate.p12"
  }
}

nbgallery/rpki documentation built on Sept. 2, 2020, 2:08 a.m.