# chris2511/xca

X Certificate and Key management

Repository: https://github.com/chris2511/xca
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/xca
Homepage: http://xca.hohnstaedt.de
Language: C++
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: x509, crl, rsa-cryptography, dsa, ec, certificate-authority, certificates, pkcs11, pkcs12, pkcs8, pkcs7
Last push: 2026-07-28T20:54:23+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 68/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 94, release rhythm 16, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5963, "days_push": 36, "days_rel": 523, "gap_med": 166, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2003, forks 245 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:04.556988+00:00)

## What it is
XCA is a cross-platform desktop GUI application for creating and managing X.509 certificates, certificate requests, RSA/DSA/EC private keys, smartcards, and CRLs, providing everything needed to run a small certificate authority. It stores all cryptographic data in a SQL database (SQLite, MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, or MS SQL Server) and supports PKCS#7/#8/#10/#11/#12 formats.

## Use cases
- run a private certificate authority to issue TLS certificates
- create and manage x509 certificates and private keys with a gui
- generate certificate signing requests and CRLs
- manage smartcards and HSMs via PKCS#11
- import export certificates in PEM DER PKCS#12 formats
- issue OpenVPN or IPsec client certificates
- store company certificates in a shared SQL database with templates

## When to choose
- you need a user-friendly GUI alternative to raw OpenSSL commands for PKI work
- you want to run a small internal CA with recursive sub-CAs and certificate chains
- you need smartcard/HSM key management via PKCS#11
- you want centralized certificate storage in SQLite, MySQL, or PostgreSQL

## When to avoid
- you need a large-scale, automated, or API-driven CA (use step-ca, EJBCA, or Vault instead)
- you only need occasional one-off certificate inspection from the command line
- you need a headless/server-side certificate issuance pipeline

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: cryptography, security, gui, database
- domain: security, developer-tools, privacy
- platform: windows, cross-platform
- tags: x509, certificate-authority, pki, pkcs11, smartcards, crl, openssl, qt, linux, macos, desktop

## Member repositories
- chris2511/xca (main) score 68

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:04.556988+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:01:54.407048+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/chris2511/xca (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:04.556988+00:00, sha 600102eaaf64)
  - homepage: http://xca.hohnstaedt.de (fetched 2026-08-29T10:41:54.639851+00:00, sha add8fd8d3ff7)
  - site_page: https://www.hohnstaedt.de/xca/index.php/documentation/stepbystep (fetched 2026-08-29T10:41:54.658059+00:00, sha a17efcb1d1ab)
  - site_page: https://www.hohnstaedt.de/xca/index.php/documentation/remote-databases (fetched 2026-08-29T10:41:54.659393+00:00, sha 876c1505a225)
  - site_page: https://www.hohnstaedt.de/xca/index.php/documentation/manual (fetched 2026-08-29T10:41:54.650769+00:00, sha d933bf96d063)
  - site_page: https://www.hohnstaedt.de/xca/index.php/documentation/tutorial (fetched 2026-08-29T10:41:54.652264+00:00, sha a2e501b724d0)
  - site_page: https://www.hohnstaedt.de/xca/index.php/documentation/tips-tricks (fetched 2026-08-29T10:41:54.653795+00:00, sha 140e61fbf951)
  - site_page: https://www.hohnstaedt.de/xca/index.php/documentation/options (fetched 2026-08-29T10:41:54.655242+00:00, sha 429c8e3177a8)
  - site_page: https://www.hohnstaedt.de/xca/index.php/documentation/objectids (fetched 2026-08-29T10:41:54.656704+00:00, sha e8a54738dcb2)
  - site_page: https://www.hohnstaedt.de/xca/index.php/software/changelog (fetched 2026-08-29T10:41:54.649054+00:00, sha 31c1da63ba5b)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.