Manual Pages for UNIX Operating System command usage for man rsa

OpenSSL                                             RSA(1openssl)



NNNNAAAAMMMMEEEE
     rsa - RSA key processing tool

SSSSYYYYNNNNOOOOPPPPSSSSIIIISSSS
     ooooppppeeeennnnssssssssllll rrrrssssaaaa [---iiinnnnffffoooorrrrmmmm PPPPEEEEMMMM||||NNNNEEEETTTT||||DDDDEEEERRRR] [---ooouuuuttttffffoooorrrrmmmm PPPPEEEEMMMM||||NNNNEEEETTTT||||DDDDEEEERRRR]
     [---iiinnnn ffffiiiilllleeeennnnaaaammmmeeee] [---pppaaaassssssssiiiinnnn aaaarrrrgggg] [---ooouuuutttt ffffiiiilllleeeennnnaaaammmmeeee] [---pppaaaassssssssoooouuuutttt aaaarrrrgggg]
     [---sssggggcccckkkkeeeeyyyy] [---dddeeeessss] [---dddeeeessss3333] [---iiiddddeeeeaaaa] [---ttteeeexxxxtttt] [---nnnoooooooouuuutttt] [---mmmoooodddduuuulllluuuussss]
     [---ccchhhheeeecccckkkk] [---pppuuuubbbbiiiinnnn] [---pppuuuubbbboooouuuutttt] [---eeennnnggggiiiinnnneeee iiiidddd]

DDDDEEEESSSSCCCCRRRRIIIIPPPPTTTTIIIIOOOONNNN
     The rrrrssssaaaa command processes RSA keys. They can be converted
     between various forms and their components printed out. NNNNooootttteeee
     this command uses the traditional SSLeay compatible format
     for private key encryption: newer applications should use
     the more secure PKCS#8 format using the ppppkkkkccccssss8888 utility.

CCCCOOOOMMMMMMMMAAAANNNNDDDD OOOOPPPPTTTTIIIIOOOONNNNSSSS
     -iiiinnnnffffoooorrrrmmmm DDDDEEEERRRR||||NNNNEEEETTTT||||PPPPEEEEMMMM
         This specifies the input format. The DDDDEEEERRRR option uses an
         ASN1 DER encoded form compatible with the PKCS#1
         RSAPrivateKey or SubjectPublicKeyInfo format.  The PPPPEEEEMMMM
         form is the default format: it consists of the DDDDEEEERRRR
         format base64 encoded with additional header and footer
         lines. On input PKCS#8 format private keys are also
         accepted. The NNNNEEEETTTT form is a format is described in the
         NNNNOOOOTTTTEEEESSSS section.

     -oooouuuuttttffffoooorrrrmmmm DDDDEEEERRRR||||NNNNEEEETTTT||||PPPPEEEEMMMM
         This specifies the output format, the options have the
         same meaning as the ---iiinnnnffffoooorrrrmmmm option.

     -iiiinnnn ffffiiiilllleeeennnnaaaammmmeeee
         This specifies the input filename to read a key from or
         standard input if this option is not specified. If the
         key is encrypted a pass phrase will be prompted for.

     -ppppaaaassssssssiiiinnnn aaaarrrrgggg
         the input file password source. For more information
         about the format of aaaarrrrgggg see the PPPPAAAASSSSSSSS PPPPHHHHRRRRAAAASSSSEEEE AAAARRRRGGGGUUUUMMMMEEEENNNNTTTTSSSS
         section in openssl(1).

     -oooouuuutttt ffffiiiilllleeeennnnaaaammmmeeee
         This specifies the output filename to write a key to or
         standard output if this option is not specified. If any
         encryption options are set then a pass phrase will be
         prompted for. The output filename should nnnnooootttt be the same
         as the input filename.

     -ppppaaaassssssssoooouuuutttt ppppaaaasssssssswwwwoooorrrrdddd
         the output file password source. For more information
         about the format of aaaarrrrgggg see the PPPPAAAASSSSSSSS PPPPHHHHRRRRAAAASSSSEEEE AAAARRRRGGGGUUUUMMMMEEEENNNNTTTTSSSS
         section in openssl(1).



30/Jan/2003            Last change: 0.9.8o                      1






OpenSSL                                             RSA(1openssl)



     -ssssggggcccckkkkeeeeyyyy
         use the modified NET algorithm used with some versions
         of Microsoft IIS and SGC keys.

     -ddddeeeessss||||-ddddeeeessss3333||||-iiiiddddeeeeaaaa
         These options encrypt the private key with the DES,
         triple DES, or the IDEA ciphers respectively before
         outputting it. A pass phrase is prompted for.  If none
         of these options is specified the key is written in
         plain text. This means that using the rrrrssssaaaa utility to
         read in an encrypted key with no encryption option can
         be used to remove the pass phrase from a key, or by
         setting the encryption options it can be use to add or
         change the pass phrase.  These options can only be used
         with PEM format output files.

     -tttteeeexxxxtttt
         prints out the various public or private key components
         in plain text in addition to the encoded version.

     -nnnnoooooooouuuutttt
         this option prevents output of the encoded version of
         the key.

     -mmmmoooodddduuuulllluuuussss
         this option prints out the value of the modulus of the
         key.

     -cccchhhheeeecccckkkk
         this option checks the consistency of an RSA private
         key.

     -ppppuuuubbbbiiiinnnn
         by default a private key is read from the input file:
         with this option a public key is read instead.

     -ppppuuuubbbboooouuuutttt
         by default a private key is output: with this option a
         public key will be output instead. This option is
         automatically set if the input is a public key.

     -eeeennnnggggiiiinnnneeee iiiidddd
         specifying an engine (by it's unique iiiidddd string) will
         cause rrrreeeeqqqq to attempt to obtain a functional reference to
         the specified engine, thus initialising it if needed.
         The engine will then be set as the default for all
         available algorithms.

NNNNOOOOTTTTEEEESSSS
     The PEM private key format uses the header and footer lines:





30/Jan/2003            Last change: 0.9.8o                      2






OpenSSL                                             RSA(1openssl)



      -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
      -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

     The PEM public key format uses the header and footer lines:

      -----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
      -----END PUBLIC KEY-----

     The NNNNEEEETTTT form is a format compatible with older Netscape
     servers and Microsoft IIS .key files, this uses unsalted RC4
     for its encryption.  It is not very secure and so should
     only be used when necessary.

     Some newer version of IIS have additional data in the
     exported .key files. To use these with the utility, view the
     file with a binary editor and look for the string "private-
     key", then trace back to the byte sequence 0x30, 0x82 (this
     is an ASN1 SEQUENCE). Copy all the data from this point
     onwards to another file and use that as the input to the rrrrssssaaaa
     utility with the ---iiinnnnffffoooorrrrmmmm NNNNEEEETTTT option. If you get an error
     after entering the password try the ---sssggggcccckkkkeeeeyyyy option.

EEEEXXXXAAAAMMMMPPPPLLLLEEEESSSS
     To remove the pass phrase on an RSA private key:

      openssl rsa -in key.pem -out keyout.pem

     To encrypt a private key using triple DES:

      openssl rsa -in key.pem -des3 -out keyout.pem

     To convert a private key from PEM to DER format:

      openssl rsa -in key.pem -outform DER -out keyout.der

     To print out the components of a private key to standard
     output:

      openssl rsa -in key.pem -text -noout

     To just output the public part of a private key:

      openssl rsa -in key.pem -pubout -out pubkey.pem


BBBBUUUUGGGGSSSS
     The command line password arguments don't currently work
     with NNNNEEEETTTT format.

     There should be an option that automatically handles .key
     files, without having to manually edit them.




30/Jan/2003            Last change: 0.9.8o                      3






OpenSSL                                             RSA(1openssl)



SSSSEEEEEEEE AAAALLLLSSSSOOOO
     pkcs8(1), dsa(1), genrsa(1), gendsa(1)





















































30/Jan/2003            Last change: 0.9.8o                      4