infisical/docs/documentation/platform/pki/enrollment-methods/api.mdx

---
title: "Certificate Enrollment via API"
sidebarTitle: "API"
---

## Concept

The API enrollment method allows you to issue certificates against a specific certificate profile over Web UI or by making an API request to Infisical.

## Guide to Certificate Enrollment via API

In the following steps, we explore how to issue a X.509 certificate using the API enrollment method.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Infisical UI">

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a certificate profile">
  Create a [certificate
    profile](/documentation/platform/pki/certificates/profiles) with **API**
    selected as the enrollment method.

    Notice that the API enrollment method supports an option called **Enable Auto-Renewal By Default**.
    If selected, _eligible_ certificates are automatically considered for server-side auto-renewal based
    on a specified renewal days before expiration threshold at the time of issuance; for more information
    about server-side auto-renewal, refer to the documentation [here](/documentation/platform/pki/certificates/certificates#guide-to-renewing-certificates).

  </Step>
  <Step title="Issue a certificate">
  To create a certificate, head to your Project > Certificates > Certificates and press **Issue**.
  
  TODO: Image

Here, select the certificate profile from step 1 that will be used to issue the certificate and fill out the rest of the details for the certificate to be issued.

  </Step>
  <Step title="Download the certificate details">
  Once you have created the certificate from step 1, you'll be presented with the certificate details including the **Certificate Body**, **Certificate Chain**, and **Private Key**.
  
  TODO: Image

    <Note>
      Make sure to download and store the **Private Key** in a secure location as it
      will only be displayed once at the time of certificate issuance. The
      **Certificate Body** and **Certificate Chain** will remain accessible and can
      be copied at any time.
    </Note>

  </Step>
</Steps>
  </Tab>
  <Tab title="API">

<Steps>
  <Step title="Creating a certificate template">
    A certificate template is a set of policies for certificates issued under that template; each template is bound to a specific CA and can also be bound to a certificate collection for alerting such that any certificate issued under the template is automatically added to the collection.

    With certificate templates, you can specify, for example, that issued certificates must have a common name (CN) adhering to a specific format like .*.acme.com or perhaps that the max TTL cannot be more than 1 year.

    To create a certificate template, make an API request to the [Create Certificate Template](/api-reference/endpoints/certificate-templates/create) API endpoint, specifying the issuing CA.

    ### Sample request

    ```bash Request
    curl --location --request POST 'https://app.infisical.com/api/v1/pki/certificate-templates' \
      --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
      --data-raw '{
          "caId": "<ca-id>",
          "name": "My Certificate Template",
          "commonName": ".*.acme.com",
          "subjectAlternativeName": ".*.acme.com",
          "ttl": "1y",
      }'
    ```

    ### Sample response

    ```bash Response
    {
      id: "...",
      caId: "...",
      name: "...",
      commonName: "...",
      subjectAlternativeName: "...",
      ttl: "...",
    }
    ```

  </Step>
  <Step title="Creating a certificate">
    To create a certificate under the certificate template, make an API request to the [Issue Certificate](/api-reference/endpoints/certificates/issue-cert) API endpoint,
    specifying the issuing CA.
    
    ### Sample request

    ```bash Request
    curl --location --request POST 'https://app.infisical.com/api/v1/pki/certificates/issue-certificate' \
      --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
      --data-raw '{
          "certificateTemplateId": "<certificate-template-id>",
          "commonName": "service.acme.com",
          "ttl": "1y",
      }'
    ```

    ### Sample response

    ```bash Response
    {
      certificate: "...",
      certificateChain: "...",
      issuingCaCertificate: "...",
      privateKey: "...",
      serialNumber: "..."
    }
    ```

    <Note>
      Note that Infisical PKI supports issuing certificates without certificate templates as well. If this is desired, then you can set the **Certificate Template** field to **None**
      and specify the **Issuing CA** and optional **Certificate Collection** fields; the rest of the fields for the issued certificate remain the same.

      That said, we recommend using certificate templates to enforce policies and attach expiration monitoring on issued certificates.
    </Note>

    <Note>
      Make sure to store the `privateKey` as it is only returned once here at the time of certificate issuance. The `certificate` and `certificateChain` will remain accessible and can be retrieved at any time.
    </Note>

    If you have an external private key, you can also create a certificate by making an API request containing a pem-encoded CSR (Certificate Signing Request) to the [Sign Certificate](/api-reference/endpoints/certificates/sign-certificate) API endpoint, specifying the issuing CA.

     ### Sample request

    ```bash Request
    curl --location --request POST 'https://app.infisical.com/api/v1/pki/certificates/sign-certificate' \
      --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
      --data-raw '{
          "certificateTemplateId": "<certificate-template-id>",
          "csr": "...",
          "ttl": "1y",
      }'
    ```

    ### Sample response

    ```bash Response
    {
      certificate: "...",
      certificateChain: "...",
      issuingCaCertificate: "...",
      privateKey: "...",
      serialNumber: "..."
    }
    ```

  </Step>
</Steps>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>