diff --git a/cmd/fabric-ca-client/command.go b/cmd/fabric-ca-client/command.go
index 1a24d5dfd..130b255fc 100644
--- a/cmd/fabric-ca-client/command.go
+++ b/cmd/fabric-ca-client/command.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ const (
 	register  = "register"
 	revoke    = "revoke"
 	getcacert = "getcacert"
+	gencsr    = "gencsr"
 )
 
 // Command is the object for fabric-ca-client commands
@@ -44,10 +45,14 @@ func NewCommand(commandName string) *Command {
 // Certain client commands can only be executed if enrollment credentials
 // are present
 func (cmd *Command) requiresEnrollment() bool {
-	return cmd.name != enroll && cmd.name != getcacert
+	return cmd.name != enroll && cmd.name != getcacert && cmd.name != gencsr
 }
 
 // Create default client configuration file only during an enroll command
 func (cmd *Command) shouldCreateDefaultConfig() bool {
-	return cmd.name == enroll
+	return cmd.name == enroll || cmd.name == gencsr
+}
+
+func (cmd *Command) requiresUser() bool {
+	return cmd.name != gencsr
 }
diff --git a/cmd/fabric-ca-client/config.go b/cmd/fabric-ca-client/config.go
index afba3b1b0..d19573de6 100644
--- a/cmd/fabric-ca-client/config.go
+++ b/cmd/fabric-ca-client/config.go
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
+	"reflect"
+
+	"github.com/cloudflare/cfssl/csr"
 	"github.com/cloudflare/cfssl/log"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric-ca/api"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric-ca/lib"
@@ -204,6 +207,10 @@ var (
 	// and translated to Attributes field in registration
 	cfgAttrs []string
 
+	// cfgCsrNames are the certificate signing request names specified via flags
+	// or env variables
+	cfgCsrNames []string
+
 	// clientCfg is the client's config
 	clientCfg *lib.ClientConfig
 )
@@ -241,7 +248,7 @@ func configInit(command string) error {
 	// command requires
 	if cmd.shouldCreateDefaultConfig() {
 		if !util.FileExists(cfgFileName) {
-			err = createDefaultConfigFile()
+			err = createDefaultConfigFile(cmd)
 			if err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("Failed to create default configuration file: %s", err)
 			}
@@ -293,13 +300,18 @@ func configInit(command string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	err = processCsrNames()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	// Check for separaters and insert values back into slice
 	normalizeStringSlices()
 
 	return nil
 }
 
-func createDefaultConfigFile() error {
+func createDefaultConfigFile(cmd *Command) error {
 	// Create a default config, if URL provided via CLI or envar update config files
 	var cfg string
 	fabricCAServerURL := viper.GetString("url")
@@ -318,9 +330,17 @@ func createDefaultConfigFile() error {
 	// Do string subtitution to get the default config
 	cfg = strings.Replace(defaultCfgTemplate, "<<<URL>>>", fabricCAServerURL, 1)
 	cfg = strings.Replace(cfg, "<<<MYHOST>>>", myhost, 1)
-	user, _, err := util.GetUser()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
+
+	var user string
+	var err error
+
+	if cmd.requiresUser() {
+		user, _, err = util.GetUser()
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	} else {
+		user = ""
 	}
 	cfg = strings.Replace(cfg, "<<<ENROLLMENT_ID>>>", user, 1)
 
@@ -350,6 +370,26 @@ func processAttributes() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// processAttributes parses attributes from command line or env variable
+func processCsrNames() error {
+	if cfgCsrNames != nil {
+		clientCfg.CSR.Names = make([]csr.Name, len(cfgCsrNames))
+		for idx, name := range cfgCsrNames {
+			sname := strings.SplitN(name, "=", 2)
+			if len(sname) != 2 {
+				return fmt.Errorf("CSR name/value '%s' is missing '=' ; it must be of the form <name>=<value>", name)
+			}
+			v := reflect.ValueOf(&clientCfg.CSR.Names[idx]).Elem().FieldByName(sname[0])
+			if v.IsValid() {
+				v.SetString(sname[1])
+			} else {
+				return fmt.Errorf("Invalid CSR name: '%s'", sname[0])
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func checkForEnrollment() error {
 	log.Debug("Checking for enrollment")
 	client := lib.Client{
diff --git a/cmd/fabric-ca-client/gencsr.go b/cmd/fabric-ca-client/gencsr.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8782ed137
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/fabric-ca-client/gencsr.go
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/*
+Copyright IBM Corp. 2017 All Rights Reserved.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+                 http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	"github.com/cloudflare/cfssl/log"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+// initCmd represents the init command
+var gencsrCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "gencsr",
+	Short: "Generate a CSR",
+	Long:  "Generate a Certificate Signing Request for an identity",
+	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+		if len(args) > 0 {
+			return fmt.Errorf(extraArgsError, args, cmd.UsageString())
+		}
+
+		err := runGenCSR(cmd)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	},
+}
+
+// csrCommonName is the certificate signing request common name specified via the flag
+var csrCommonName string
+
+func init() {
+	gencsrCmd.Flags().StringVar(&csrCommonName, "csr.cn", "", "The common name for the certificate signing request")
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(gencsrCmd)
+}
+
+// The client enroll main logic
+func runGenCSR(cmd *cobra.Command) error {
+	log.Debug("Entered runGenCSR")
+
+	err := configInit(cmd.Name())
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if csrCommonName != "" {
+		clientCfg.CSR.CN = csrCommonName
+	}
+
+	err = clientCfg.GenCSR(filepath.Dir(cfgFileName))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/cmd/fabric-ca-client/main.go b/cmd/fabric-ca-client/main.go
index 93c223f1a..780d88ad4 100644
--- a/cmd/fabric-ca-client/main.go
+++ b/cmd/fabric-ca-client/main.go
@@ -85,7 +85,8 @@ func init() {
 		&cfgAttrs, "id.attrs", "", nil, "A list of comma-separated attributes of the form <name>=<value> (e.g. foo=foo1,bar=bar1)")
 	util.FlagString(pflags, "myhost", "m", host,
 		"Hostname to include in the certificate signing request during enrollment")
-
+	pflags.StringSliceVarP(
+		&cfgCsrNames, "csr.names", "", nil, "A list of comma-separated CSR names of the form <name>=<value> (e.g. C=CA,O=Org1)")
 	clientCfg = &lib.ClientConfig{}
 	tags := map[string]string{
 		"skip.csr.cn":           "true", // Skip CN on client side as enrollment ID is used as CN
diff --git a/cmd/fabric-ca-client/main_test.go b/cmd/fabric-ca-client/main_test.go
index 84eccc5f9..343fcd19f 100644
--- a/cmd/fabric-ca-client/main_test.go
+++ b/cmd/fabric-ca-client/main_test.go
@@ -309,6 +309,58 @@ func testEnroll(t *testing.T) {
 	os.Remove(defYaml)
 }
 
+// TestGencsr tests fabric-ca-client gencsr
+func TestGencsr(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Log("Testing gencsr CMD")
+	defYaml = util.GetDefaultConfigFile("fabric-ca-client")
+
+	os.Remove(defYaml) // Clean up any left over config file
+
+	mspDir := filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(defYaml), "msp")
+
+	os.RemoveAll(mspDir)
+
+	defer os.Remove(defYaml)
+
+	err := RunMain([]string{cmdName, "gencsr", "--csr.cn", "identity", "--csr.names", "C=CA,O=Org1,OU=OU1", "-M", mspDir})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("client gencsr failed: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	signcerts := path.Join(mspDir, "signcerts")
+	assertOneFileInDir(signcerts, t)
+
+	files, err := ioutil.ReadDir(signcerts)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to get number of files in directory '%s': %s", signcerts, err)
+	}
+
+	if files[0].Name() != "identity.csr" {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to find identity.csr in '%s': %s", signcerts, err)
+	}
+
+	cfgCsrNames = []string{}
+	err = RunMain([]string{cmdName, "gencsr", "--csr.cn", "identity", "--csr.names", "C=CA,O=Org1,FOO=BAR", "-M", mspDir})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("Should have failed: Invalid CSR name")
+	}
+
+	cfgCsrNames = []string{}
+	err = RunMain([]string{cmdName, "gencsr", "--csr.cn", "identity", "--csr.names", "C:CA,O=Org1,OU=OU2", "-M", mspDir})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("Should have failed: No '=' for name/value pair")
+	}
+
+	cfgCsrNames = []string{}
+	csrCommonName = ""
+	clientCfg.CSR.CN = ""
+
+	err = RunMain([]string{cmdName, "gencsr", "-c", defYaml, "--csr.names", "C=CA,O=Org1,OU=OU1", "-M", mspDir})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("Should have failed: CSR CN not specified.")
+	}
+}
+
 // TestMOption tests to make sure that the key is stored in the correct
 // directory when the "-M" option is used.
 // This also ensures the intermediatecerts directory structure is populated
diff --git a/lib/client_test.go b/lib/client_test.go
index ac32b3fbd..5f455357b 100644
--- a/lib/client_test.go
+++ b/lib/client_test.go
@@ -677,6 +677,67 @@ func TestCLISendBadPost(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// Test to make sure that CSR is generated by GenCSR function
+func TestCLIGenCSR(t *testing.T) {
+	config := new(ClientConfig)
+
+	homeDir := filepath.Join(testdataDir, "identity")
+
+	os.RemoveAll(homeDir)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(homeDir)
+
+	config.CSR.CN = "identity"
+	err := config.GenCSR(homeDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to generate CSR: %s", err)
+	}
+	csrFile := filepath.Join(homeDir, "msp", "signcerts", "identity.csr")
+	_, err = os.Stat(csrFile)
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Fatalf("CSR file does not exist at %s", csrFile)
+	}
+	os.RemoveAll(homeDir)
+
+	// Error cases
+	//CN is missing
+	config.CSR.CN = ""
+	err = config.GenCSR(homeDir)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("GenCSR should fail as CN is missing: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	// Fail to write file
+	config.CSR.CN = strings.Repeat("a", 260)
+	err = config.GenCSR(homeDir)
+	t.Logf("ClientConfig.GenCSR error %v", err)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("ClientConfig.GenCSR should have failed due to invalid filename")
+	}
+
+	// Fail to gen key
+	config.CSR = api.CSRInfo{
+		CN: "TestGenCSR",
+		KeyRequest: &csr.BasicKeyRequest{
+			A: "dsa",
+			S: 256,
+		},
+	}
+	err = config.GenCSR(homeDir)
+	t.Logf("ClientConfig.GenCSR error %v", err)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("ClientConfig.GenCSR should have failed due to unsupported algorithm")
+	}
+
+	// Fail to init client
+	config.MSPDir = string(make([]byte, 1))
+	err = config.GenCSR(homeDir)
+	t.Logf("ClientConfig.GenCSR error %v", err)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("ClientConfig.GenCSR should have failed to init client")
+	}
+
+}
+
 // Test to make sure that once an identity is revoked, all subsequent commands
 // invoked by revoked user should be rejected by server for all its issued certificates
 func TestRevokedIdentity(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/lib/clientconfig.go b/lib/clientconfig.go
index 6cc25fa39..551d1c757 100644
--- a/lib/clientconfig.go
+++ b/lib/clientconfig.go
@@ -19,9 +19,12 @@ package lib
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net/url"
+	"path"
 
+	"github.com/cloudflare/cfssl/log"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric-ca/api"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric-ca/lib/tls"
+	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric-ca/util"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric/bccsp/factory"
 )
 
@@ -70,3 +73,32 @@ func (c *ClientConfig) Enroll(rawurl, home string) (*EnrollmentResponse, error)
 	client := &Client{HomeDir: home, Config: c}
 	return client.Enroll(&c.Enrollment)
 }
+
+// GenCSR generates a certificate signing request and writes the CSR to a file.
+func (c *ClientConfig) GenCSR(home string) error {
+
+	client := &Client{HomeDir: home, Config: c}
+	// Generate the CSR
+
+	err := client.Init()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if c.CSR.CN == "" {
+		return fmt.Errorf("CSR common name not specified; use '--csr.cn' flag")
+	}
+
+	csrPEM, _, err := client.GenCSR(&c.CSR, c.CSR.CN)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	csrFile := path.Join(client.Config.MSPDir, "signcerts", fmt.Sprintf("%s.csr", c.CSR.CN))
+	err = util.WriteFile(csrFile, csrPEM, 0644)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Failed to store the csr: %s", err)
+	}
+	log.Infof("Stored CSR at %s", csrFile)
+	return nil
+}