Installation

Supported Platforms

Linux
- RHEL 9/8/7 x64, CentOS (8)/7 x64, Oracle Linux 9/8/7 x64
- Ubuntu 24/22/20/18/16 x64
- Debian 12/11/10/9/8 x64
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server SLES15/12 (x64)
- other OS available upon request
Microsoft Windows
- Windows 7 x64/x32 or newer
- Windows Server 2012R2 or newer

Library Requirements

Linux (GLIBC/GLIBCXX): latest gcc-runtime and g++ runtime libraries of the distribution
Windows: Visual C++ Redistributable Packages for Visual Studio 2015

Packages

The following table shows which package is to be used for the different OS platforms:

Package	for Platform (all 64-bit except Win32)
PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-2.x.y-debian10-aarch64.deb	Ubuntu 22/20, Debian 11/10 (ARM-64)
PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-2.x.y-debian10-x86_64.deb	Ubuntu 22/20, Debian 11/10 (x86_64)
PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-2.x.y-rhel7-aarch64.rpm	RHEL/CentOS 7 (ARM-64)
PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-2.x.y-rhel7-x86_64.rpm	RHEL/CentOS 7 (x86_64)
PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-2.x.y-rhel8-aarch64.rpm	RHEL/CentOS 8 (ARM-64)
PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-2.x.y-rhel8-x86_64.rpm	RHEL/CentOS 8 (x86_64)
PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-2.x.y-rhel7-aarch64.tar.gz	RHEL/CentOS 7, Ubuntu 16, Debian 8, SLES12 (ARM-64)
PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-2.x.y-rhel7-x86_64.tar.gz	RHEL/CentOS 7, Ubuntu 16, Debian 8, SLES12 (x86_64)
PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-2.x.y-rhel8-aarch64.tar.gz	RHEL/CentOS 8, Ubuntu 22/20/18, Debian 11/10/9, SLES15 or newer (ARM-64)
PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-2.x.y-rhel8-x86_64.tar.gz	RHEL/CentOS 8, Ubuntu 22/20/18, Debian 11/10/9, SLES15 or newer (x86_64)
PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-2.x.y-win64.msi	Windows 7 and newer, Windows Server 2012R2 and newer
PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-2.x.y-win32.msi	Windows 7 and Windows Server 2012R2 and newer

Linux - Package Installation
Linux - Manual Provider Installation
Linux - Manual Provider Upgrade
Windows - Provider Installation

Choose the package that fits your distribution and architecture. Then use the system's package manager to install it.

RHEL/CentOS

rpm install ./PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-*.rpm

Ubuntu/Debian

apt install ./PrimusAPI_PKCS11-X-*.deb

If the configuration files in /etc/primus exist and they are different from the ones shipped with the package, the package manager will ask you if you want to keep your current configuration.

The $PRIMUS_HOME is located at /usr/local/primus. The ppin tool and the test scripts can be found in $PRIMUS_HOME/bin.

The installer created a group primus. Add all users using the PKCS#11 provider to this group primus (sudo usermod -a -G primus user). Note: Adding a user to a new group may require logout/login or reboot to update permissions. (as temporary workaround you may use newgrp primus or sudo login -f <user>)

tip

While setting up the provider you need to access the ppin tool and the test scripts (possibly multiple times). Typing the full path to the tool can be tedious. You can avoid this by adding the $PRIMUS_HOME/bin directory to your PATH variable.

export PRIMUS_HOME=/usr/local/primus
export PATH=$PRIMUS_HOME/bin:$PATH

The above export statements are only valid for the current shell. Assign the variables at startup to the necessary user(s), which varies depending on used shell and operating system.

info

For updating an existing provider, change the tab to "Linux - Provider Upgrade"

Extract PrimusAPI_PKCS11-version-platform.tar.gz file with privileged user to /usr/local/. All the files will be extracted to the subdirectory ./primus. Further documentation assumes the provider in /usr/local/primus/. If installed to another location adapt environment variables etc. accordingly.
Add a group and system user primus; assign all files to user and group primus (recursive); remove rights for others; add all users using the PKCS#11 provider to the group primus (sudo usermod -a -G primus user).
Add /usr/local/primus/bin to search PATH and /usr/local/primus/lib to LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

sudo tar -xvzf PrimusAPI_PKCS11-version-platform.tar.gz -C /usr/local/

sudo groupadd  primus
sudo useradd --no-create-home --system primus --gid primus
sudo chown -R primus:primus /usr/local/primus
sudo chmod -R o-rwxst /usr/local/primus
sudo usermod -a -G primus user

export PRIMUS_HOME=/usr/local/primus
export PATH=$PRIMUS_HOME/bin:$PATH
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$PRIMUS_HOME/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

Note:

Adding a user to a new group may require logout/login or reboot to update permissions. (as temporary workaround you may use newgrp primus or sudo login -f <user>)
The above export statements are only valid for the current shell. Assign the variables at startup to the necessary user(s), which varies depending on used shell and operating system.

For first time installations, copy the original configuration files from /usr/local/primus/etc to /etc/primus so they don't get overwritten by further updates:

sudo mkdir /etc/primus
sudo cp -vp /usr/local/primus/etc/primus.cfg /etc/primus/
sudo cp -vp /usr/local/primus/etc/.secrets.cfg /etc/primus/

The following table lists the default installation directory structure and their content:

Installation Directory	Files
/usr/local/primus	PRIMUS_HOME, Primus home directory
/usr/local/primus/bin	ppin (Primus permanent PIN utility)
/usr/local/primus/lib	libprimusP11.so (PKCS#11 Provider)
/usr/local/primus/etc	primus.cfg configuration and .secrets.cfg file templates
/usr/local/primus/include	PKCS#11 header files for integrations

info

In case your active configuration is still located under /usr/local/primus/etc/ you should move it to /etc/primus/ as an upgrade may overwrite configuration files within the folder /usr/local/primus/etc/ (revisit the tab "Linux - Fresh Provider Installation")

(Re)move the current folder /usr/local/primus
Extract PrimusAPI_PKCS11-version-platform.tar.gz file with a privileged user to /usr/local/primus
Assign all files recursively to the previously defined group and user (default: primus:primus) and remove rights for others
The commands have to be adjusted in case you are using a different user group or installed the provider at a different location

sudo mv -v /usr/local/primus /usr/local/primus.backup
sudo tar -xvzf PrimusAPI_PKCS11-version-platform.tar.gz -C /usr/local/
sudo chown -R primus:primus /usr/local/primus
sudo chmod -R o-rwxst /usr/local/primus

Installing PrimusAPI_PKCS11-version-platform.msi, requires admin privileges to install the required files and registry entries.

info

Backup any active configuration files primus.cfg and .secrets.cfg before updating as they will be overwritten!

Install the provider by double-clicking the PrimusAPI_PKCS11-1.7.xx-win64.msi file or via Active Directory group policy. If desired, add the program location (%ProgramFiles%\Securosys\Primus P11) to the PATH environment variable. The following table lists the default installation directory structure and their content:

Installation Directory	Files
C:\Program Files\Securosys\Primus P11	PRIMUS_HOME, Primus directory
%PRIMUS_HOME%\primusP11.dll	PKCS#11 x64 interface
%PRIMUS_HOME%\primusP11.lib	PKCS#11 x64 library
%PRIMUS_HOME%\primus.cfg	PKCS#11 configuration file
%PRIMUS_HOME%\.secrets.cfg	PKCS#11 secrets file
%PRIMUS_HOME%\ppin.exe	Primus permanent PIN utility ppin
C:\Program Files\Securosys\Primus P11\include	PKCS#11 header files for integrations

Supported Platforms​

Library Requirements​

Packages​

Supported Platforms

Library Requirements

Packages