diff --git a/tools/ndnsec-key-gen.hpp b/tools/ndnsec-key-gen.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3df9c6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/ndnsec-key-gen.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+/* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil -*- */
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2013, Regents of the University of California
+ * BSD license, See the LICENSE file for more information
+ * Author: Yingdi Yu <yingdi@cs.ucla.edu>
+ */
+
+#ifndef NDNSEC_KEY_GEN_HPP
+#define NDNSEC_KEY_GEN_HPP
+
+#include "ndnsec-util.hpp"
+
+int 
+ndnsec_key_gen(int argc, char** argv)	
+{
+  using namespace ndn;
+  namespace po = boost::program_options;
+
+  std::string identityName;
+  bool notDefault = false;
+  char keyType = 'r';
+  int keySize = 2048;
+  std::string outputFilename;
+
+  po::options_description desc("General Usage\n  ndnsec key-gen [-h] [-n] identity\nGeneral options");
+  desc.add_options()
+    ("help,h", "produce help message")
+    ("identity,i", po::value<std::string>(&identityName), "identity name, for example, /ndn/ucla.edu/alice")
+    ("not_default,n", "optional, if not specified, the target identity will be set as the default identity of the system")
+    // ("type,t", po::value<char>(&keyType)->default_value('r'), "optional, key type, r for RSA key (default)")
+    // ("size,s", po::value<int>(&keySize)->default_value(2048), "optional, key size, 2048 (default)")
+    ;
+
+  po::positional_options_description p;
+  p.add("identity", 1);
+  
+  po::variables_map vm;
+  po::store(po::command_line_parser(argc, argv).options(desc).positional(p).run(), vm);
+  po::notify(vm);
+
+  if (vm.count("help")) 
+    {
+      std::cerr << desc << std::endl;
+      return 0;
+    }
+
+  if (0 == vm.count("identity"))
+    {
+      std::cerr << "identity must be specified" << std::endl;
+      std::cerr << desc << std::endl;
+      return 1;
+    }
+  
+  if (vm.count("not_default"))
+    notDefault = true;
+  
+  if (true)
+    {
+      switch(keyType)
+        {
+        case 'r':
+          {
+            shared_ptr<IdentityCertificate> idcert;
+            try
+              {
+                KeyChain keyChain;
+                
+                Name keyName = keyChain.generateRSAKeyPair(Name(identityName), true, keySize);            
+                
+                if(0 == keyName.size())
+                  {                  
+                    return 1;
+                  }
+                
+                keyChain.setDefaultKeyNameForIdentity(keyName);
+            
+                idcert = keyChain.selfSign(keyName);
+                
+                if(!notDefault)
+                  {
+                    keyChain.setDefaultIdentity(Name(identityName));
+                  }
+              }
+            catch(const SecPublicInfo::Error& e)
+              {
+                std::cerr << "ERROR: " << e.what() << std::endl;
+                return 1;
+              }
+            catch(const SecTpm::Error& e)
+              {
+                std::cerr << "ERROR: " << e.what() << std::endl;
+                return 1;
+              }
+
+            try
+              {
+                CryptoPP::StringSource ss(idcert->wireEncode().wire(), 
+                                          idcert->wireEncode().size(), 
+                                          true,
+                                          new CryptoPP::Base64Encoder(new CryptoPP::FileSink(std::cout), true, 64));
+                return 0;
+              }
+            catch(const CryptoPP::Exception& e)
+              {
+                std::cerr << "ERROR: " << e.what() << std::endl;
+                return 1;
+              }
+        }
+      default:
+        std::cerr << "Unrecongized key type" << "\n";
+        std::cerr << desc << std::endl;
+        return 1;
+      }
+    }
+
+  return 0;
+}
+
+#endif //NDNSEC_KEY_GEN_HPP