NVME-KEYS-GEN-TLS(1) NVMe Manual NVME-KEYS-GEN-TLS(1)

nvme-keys-gen-tls-psk - Generate a NVMe TLS PSK

nvme [<global-options>] keys gen-tls-psk [--keyring=<name> | -k <name>]
                        [--keytype=<type> | -t <type>]
                        [--hostnqn=<nqn> | -n <nqn>]
                        [--subsysnqn=<nqn> | -c <nqn>]
                        [--hmac=<hmac-id> | -m <hmac-id>]
                        [--identity=<id-vers> | -I <id-vers>]
                        [--secret=<secret> | -s <secret>]
                        [--insert | -i]
                        [--compat | -C]
                        [--keyfile=<keyfile> | -f <keyfile>]

Generate a NVMe TLS configured PSK and print it in the PSK interchange format NVMeTLSkey-1:<hmac>:<base64 encoded data>:. If the --insert option is given a retained PSK is additionally derived from the configured PSK and the host NQN, using the HKDF-Expand-Label algorithm from RFC 8446, the TLS PSK is derived from it, and that is stored in the specified keyring under an identity computed from the host NQN and the subsystem NQN: NVMe0R<hmac> <host NQN> <subsystem NQN> (for identity version 0) or NVMe1R<hmac> <host NQN> <subsystem NQN> <PSK digest> (for identity version 1). Once the TLS PSK is stored in the keyring the configured PSK it was derived from cannot be retrieved from the keyring.

The diagnostics that validate --secret are printed to stdout rather than stderr. Most of them accompany a non-zero exit, but Skipping excess secret bytes does not: an over-long --secret still exits 0, with the warning sitting ahead of the key, so a script reading the key off stdout gets the warning instead.

Both NQNs are inputs to the TLS PSK itself, not just to the identity it is stored under: the host NQN through the retained PSK derivation, and both NQNs again through the identity (identity version 0) or the PSK digest it embeds (identity version 1), which is the context of the TLS PSK derivation.

-k <name>, --keyring=<name>

Name of the keyring into which the TLS PSK should be stored. Default is .nvme.

-t <type>, --keytype=<type>

Type of the key under which the TLS PSK is stored. Default is psk.

-n <nqn>, --hostnqn=<nqn>

Host NVMe Qualified Name (NQN) to be used for the retained PSK derivation and for the identity the TLS PSK is stored under. Defaults to the host NQN of the system, read from /etc/nvme/hostnqn or, if that file does not exist, generated from the host ID.

-c <nqn>, --subsysnqn=<nqn>

Subsystem NVMe Qualified Name (NQN) to be used for the identity the TLS PSK is stored under. Required with --insert.

-m <hmac-id>, --hmac=<hmac-id>

Select the hash function. It derives the retained PSK and identifies the TLS 1.3 cipher suite the TLS PSK is bound to, so it is recorded both in the PSK interchange format and in the TLS PSK identity, written as two digits (<hmac> above). Possible values are: 1 - SHA-256 (default) 2 - SHA-384

-I <id-vers>, --identity=<id-vers>

Select the TLS PSK identity version of the identity the TLS PSK is stored under. Possible values are: 0 - Obsolete (default); defined in the NVMe TCP Transport Specification 1.0 1 - TLS 1.3 with the PSK digest in the TLS PSK identity

-s <secret>, --secret=<secret>

Configured PSK (in hexadecimal) to be used. If none are provided a random value is used.

-i, --insert

Additionally derive a retained PSK and, from that, the TLS PSK, and insert the TLS PSK into the keyring. The configured PSK is printed in PSK interchange format either way.

-C, --compat

Use the original non-RFC 8446 compliant algorithm when deriving the retained PSK and the TLS PSK for compatibility with older implementations.

-f <keyfile>, --keyfile=<keyfile>

Append the identity of the TLS PSK, and the TLS PSK itself in PSK interchange format, to keyfile. Ignored without --insert, which is what derives the TLS PSK.

The following options are defined at the top-level nvme command and are available to this subcommand:

--dry-run

Print the command that would be executed, but do not actually execute it.

--no-ioctl-probing

Disable probing for 64-bit IOCTL support.

--no-retries

Disable retry logic on transient errors.

-o <fmt>, --output-format=<fmt>

Set the reporting format to normal, tabular, 'json, or binary. Only one output format may be used at a time.

--output-format-version=<version>

Select the output format version. Version 1 uses the original field naming, while version 2 (default) provides more consistent and script-friendly field names.

--timeout=<ms>

Set the timeout for the command in milliseconds.

-v, --verbose

Increase the level of detail in the output. May be specified multiple times to further increase verbosity.

These options can also be set as machine-wide defaults in nvme-cli.conf(5). A command-line flag always overrides the file.

No Examples

Part of the nvme-user suite

09/07/2026 NVMe