Features

A complete ACME Certificate Authority with enterprise features, post-quantum security, and operational simplicity.

Standards & Protocol

Complete ACME v2 implementation with extensive challenge support.

RFC 8555 ACME v2

Full protocol implementation — HTTP API, JSON data model, JWS authentication, and the complete challenge framework for automated certificate management.

Six Challenge Types

http-01, dns-01, tls-alpn-01, dns-persist-01 (persistent DNS), onion-csr-01 (Tor .onion), and tkauth-01 (authority tokens).

Subdomain Authorization

RFC 9444 ancestor-domain authorization allows parent-domain validation to cover subdomains, reducing challenge overhead.

IP Identifier Validation

RFC 8738 support for issuing certificates to IPv4 and IPv6 addresses using http-01 and tls-alpn-01 challenges.

Certificate Profiles

Draft ACME profiles specification — advertise named profiles in the directory and let clients select profiles per order.

S/MIME Certificates

RFC 8823 email identifier type with email-reply-00 challenge and DKIM enforcement for S/MIME certificate issuance.

Security

Defense in depth from post-quantum cryptography to hardware key storage.

Post-Quantum Account Keys

ML-DSA-44/65/87 (FIPS 204) account key support via RFC 9964. Future-proof your certificate infrastructure against quantum attacks.

HSM / PKCS#11 CA Keys

Load CA signing keys from hardware security modules via PKCS#11 URI. The private key material never leaves the hardware token.

Mutual TLS

Server TLS with optional client certificate authentication (mTLS), including post-quantum composite certificate support.

CAA Enforcement

RFC 8659/8657 DNS CAA record checking before issuance, with accounturi and validationmethods parameter extensions.

Certificate Transparency

Merkle Tree Certificates (MTC) with append-only transparency log, checkpoint signing, and tile serving for verifiable issuance.

Composite TLS Signatures

18 ML-DSA composite variants as CA signing keys and 11 composite scheme code points for mTLS client authentication.

Enterprise

Scaling from a single instance to multi-node clusters with fine-grained access control.

Multi-Database Backends

SQLite for zero-config single-node deployments. PostgreSQL or MariaDB for production clusters. Switch with one configuration line.

Clustering & Replication

Built-in CRDT gossip protocol for multi-node deployments. Nodes converge automatically with no external coordination.

Role-Based Access Control

Granular RBAC for admin API operations. Define operator roles with specific permissions for accounts, orders, and certificates.

EAB & Kerberos / FreeIPA

External Account Binding with HMAC verification, Kerberos/GSSAPI authentication, and tight integration with FreeIPA (RHEL IdM) for managing certificates across your existing identity infrastructure.

STAR Certificates

RFC 8739 Short-Term, Automatically Renewed certificates for continuous short-lived certificate streams with cancel support.

Renewal Information (ARI)

RFC 9773 renewal window suggestions and certificate replacement tracking for coordinated, CA-guided renewal.

Delegated Certificates

RFC 9115 IdO/NDC delegation model for CDN certificate issuance with CSR template validation and upstream CA integration.

Operations

Straightforward deployment with comprehensive tooling for day-to-day management.

System-Native Crypto

Builds against system-provided OpenSSL for cryptographic operations. Integrates with your distribution's security updates and FIPS-validated modules.

TOML Configuration

Comprehensive, well-documented configuration file with sensible defaults. Every option is explained in the operator guide.

Admin CLI (akamuctl)

Full-featured command-line tool for managing accounts, certificates, profiles, and server configuration.

REST Admin API

Complete HTTP API for programmatic server management. Manage accounts, inspect orders, revoke certificates, and configure profiles.

CRL & OCSP

Built-in CRL distribution and OCSP responder endpoints for revocation status checking.

Performance Tuning

Configurable worker threads, connection pools, and database tuning. Benchmarking guide included in documentation.

Developer Tools

Libraries and tools for building on top of ACME.

Client Library

akamu-client — an async ACME client library for embedding certificate management directly in your applications.

CLI Client

akamu-cli — a full-featured command-line ACME client for requesting, renewing, and revoking certificates from any ACME server.

JWK/JWS Primitives

akamu-jose — a standalone library for JSON Web Key and JSON Web Signature operations, including ML-DSA support.

Tor .onion Support

RFC 9799 onion-csr-01 challenge validation for issuing certificates to Tor hidden service .onion domains.

Authority Token Challenges

RFC 9447/9448 tkauth-01 challenge with JWT authority token validation for STIR/SHAKEN telephony certificates.