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1=pod
2
3=head1 NAME
4
b6b66573 5openssl-ecparam - EC parameter manipulation and generation
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6
7=head1 SYNOPSIS
8
9B<openssl ecparam>
169394d4 10[B<-help>]
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11[B<-inform> B<DER>|B<PEM>]
12[B<-outform> B<DER>|B<PEM>]
13[B<-in> I<filename>]
14[B<-out> I<filename>]
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15[B<-noout>]
16[B<-text>]
17[B<-C>]
18[B<-check>]
ac2b52c6 19[B<-check_named>]
e8769719 20[B<-name> I<arg>]
fc1d88f0 21[B<-list_curves>]
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22[B<-conv_form> I<arg>]
23[B<-param_enc> I<arg>]
2c789c82 24[B<-no_seed>]
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25[B<-rand> I<file...>]
26[B<-writerand> I<file>]
2c789c82 27[B<-genkey>]
e8769719 28[B<-engine> I<id>]
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29
30=head1 DESCRIPTION
31
32This command is used to manipulate or generate EC parameter files.
33
34=head1 OPTIONS
35
36=over 4
37
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38=item B<-help>
39
40Print out a usage message.
41
e8769719 42=item B<-inform> B<DER>|B<PEM>
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43
44This specifies the input format. The B<DER> option uses an ASN.1 DER encoded
45form compatible with RFC 3279 EcpkParameters. The PEM form is the default
1bc74519 46format: it consists of the B<DER> format base64 encoded with additional
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47header and footer lines.
48
e8769719 49=item B<-outform> B<DER>|B<PEM>
2c789c82 50
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51This specifies the output format, the options have the same meaning and default
52as the B<-inform> option.
2c789c82 53
e8769719 54=item B<-in> I<filename>
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55
56This specifies the input filename to read parameters from or standard input if
57this option is not specified.
58
e8769719 59=item B<-out> I<filename>
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60
61This specifies the output filename parameters to. Standard output is used
62if this option is not present. The output filename should B<not> be the same
63as the input filename.
64
65=item B<-noout>
66
67This option inhibits the output of the encoded version of the parameters.
68
69=item B<-text>
70
71This option prints out the EC parameters in human readable form.
72
73=item B<-C>
74
75This option converts the EC parameters into C code. The parameters can then
35cb565a 76be loaded by calling the get_ec_group_XXX() function.
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77
78=item B<-check>
79
80Validate the elliptic curve parameters.
81
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82=item B<-check_named>
83
84Validate the elliptic name curve parameters by checking if the curve parameters
37f03b98 85match any built-in curves.
ac2b52c6 86
e8769719 87=item B<-name> I<arg>
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88
89Use the EC parameters with the specified 'short' name. Use B<-list_curves>
90to get a list of all currently implemented EC parameters.
91
92=item B<-list_curves>
93
94If this options is specified B<ecparam> will print out a list of all
95currently implemented EC parameters names and exit.
96
97=item B<-conv_form>
98
99This specifies how the points on the elliptic curve are converted
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100into octet strings. Possible values are: B<compressed>, B<uncompressed> (the
101default value) and B<hybrid>. For more information regarding
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102the point conversion forms please read the X9.62 standard.
103B<Note> Due to patent issues the B<compressed> option is disabled
104by default for binary curves and can be enabled by defining
105the preprocessor macro B<OPENSSL_EC_BIN_PT_COMP> at compile time.
106
e8769719 107=item B<-param_enc> I<arg>
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108
109This specifies how the elliptic curve parameters are encoded.
110Possible value are: B<named_curve>, i.e. the ec parameters are
35ed393e 111specified by an OID, or B<explicit> where the ec parameters are
1bc74519 112explicitly given (see RFC 3279 for the definition of the
2c789c82 113EC parameters structures). The default value is B<named_curve>.
aebb9aac 114B<Note> the B<implicitlyCA> alternative, as specified in RFC 3279,
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115is currently not implemented in OpenSSL.
116
117=item B<-no_seed>
118
119This option inhibits that the 'seed' for the parameter generation
120is included in the ECParameters structure (see RFC 3279).
121
122=item B<-genkey>
123
35ed393e 124This option will generate an EC private key using the specified parameters.
2c789c82 125
e8769719 126=item B<-rand> I<file...>
2c789c82 127
c4de074e 128A file or files containing random data used to seed the random number
3ee1eac2 129generator.
35ed393e 130Multiple files can be specified separated by an OS-dependent character.
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131The separator is B<;> for MS-Windows, B<,> for OpenVMS, and B<:> for
132all others.
133
e8769719 134=item B<-writerand> I<file>
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135
136Writes random data to the specified I<file> upon exit.
137This can be used with a subsequent B<-rand> flag.
138
e8769719 139=item B<-engine> I<id>
2c789c82 140
c4de074e 141Specifying an engine (by its unique B<id> string) will cause B<ecparam>
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142to attempt to obtain a functional reference to the specified engine,
143thus initialising it if needed. The engine will then be set as the default
144for all available algorithms.
145
146=back
147
148=head1 NOTES
149
150PEM format EC parameters use the header and footer lines:
151
152 -----BEGIN EC PARAMETERS-----
153 -----END EC PARAMETERS-----
154
155OpenSSL is currently not able to generate new groups and therefore
1bc74519 156B<ecparam> can only create EC parameters from known (named) curves.
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157
158=head1 EXAMPLES
159
160To create EC parameters with the group 'prime192v1':
161
627bd670 162 openssl ecparam -out ec_param.pem -name prime192v1
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163
164To create EC parameters with explicit parameters:
165
627bd670 166 openssl ecparam -out ec_param.pem -name prime192v1 -param_enc explicit
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167
168To validate given EC parameters:
169
627bd670 170 openssl ecparam -in ec_param.pem -check
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171
172To create EC parameters and a private key:
173
627bd670 174 openssl ecparam -out ec_key.pem -name prime192v1 -genkey
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175
176To change the point encoding to 'compressed':
177
627bd670 178 openssl ecparam -in ec_in.pem -out ec_out.pem -conv_form compressed
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179
180To print out the EC parameters to standard output:
181
627bd670 182 openssl ecparam -in ec_param.pem -noout -text
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183
184=head1 SEE ALSO
185
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186L<openssl(1)>,
187L<openssl-ec(1)>,
188L<openssl-dsaparam(1)>
2c789c82 189
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190=head1 COPYRIGHT
191
b6b66573 192Copyright 2003-2019 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
e2f92610 193
449040b4 194Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use
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195this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
196in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
197L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
198
199=cut