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1=pod
2
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3=begin comment
4{- join("\n", @autowarntext) -}
5
6=end comment
7
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8=head1 NAME
9
4b537191 10openssl-pkey - public or private key processing command
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11
12=head1 SYNOPSIS
13
14B<openssl> B<pkey>
169394d4 15[B<-help>]
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16{- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_engine_synopsis -}{- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_provider_synopsis -}
17[B<-check>]
18[B<-pubcheck>]
f91d003a 19[B<-in> I<filename>|I<uri>]
1f7643e8 20[B<-inform> B<DER>|B<PEM>|B<P12>|B<ENGINE>]
e8769719 21[B<-passin> I<arg>]
1f7643e8 22[B<-pubin>]
e8769719 23[B<-out> I<filename>]
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24[B<-outform> B<DER>|B<PEM>]
25[B<-I<cipher>>]
e8769719 26[B<-passout> I<arg>]
05dba815 27[B<-traditional>]
49131a7d 28[B<-pubout>]
1f7643e8 29[B<-noout>]
1f7643e8 30[B<-text>]
046a7aaa 31[B<-text_pub>]
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32[B<-ec_conv_form> I<arg>]
33[B<-ec_param_enc> I<arg>]
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34
35=head1 DESCRIPTION
36
35a810bb 37This command processes public or private keys. They can be
1f7643e8 38converted between various forms and their components printed.
49131a7d 39
3dfda1a6 40=head1 OPTIONS
49131a7d 41
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42=head2 General options
43
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44=over 4
45
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46=item B<-help>
47
48Print out a usage message.
49
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50{- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_engine_item -}
51
52{- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_provider_item -}
53
54=item B<-check>
55
56This option checks the consistency of a key pair for both public and private
57components.
58
59=item B<-pubcheck>
60
61This option checks the correctness of either a public key
62or the public component of a key pair.
63
64=back
65
66=head2 Input options
67
68=over 4
69
70=item B<-in> I<filename>|I<uri>
71
72This specifies the input to read a key from
73or standard input if this option is not specified.
046a7aaa 74If the key input is encrypted and B<-passin> is not given
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75a pass phrase will be prompted for.
76
6d382c74 77=item B<-inform> B<DER>|B<PEM>|B<P12>|B<ENGINE>
49131a7d 78
bee3f389 79The key input format; unspecified by default.
46949153 80See L<openssl-format-options(1)> for details.
6d382c74 81
1f7643e8 82=item B<-passin> I<arg>
6d382c74 83
1f7643e8 84The password source for the key input.
49131a7d 85
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86For more information about the format of B<arg>
87see L<openssl-passphrase-options(1)>.
49131a7d 88
1f7643e8 89=item B<-pubin>
49131a7d 90
046a7aaa 91By default a private key is read from the input.
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92With this option a public key is read instead.
93If the input contains no public key but a private key, its public part is used.
49131a7d 94
1f7643e8 95=back
475d1002 96
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97=head2 Output options
98
99=over 4
49131a7d 100
e8769719 101=item B<-out> I<filename>
49131a7d 102
046a7aaa 103This specifies the output filename to save the encoded and/or text output of key
1f7643e8 104or standard output if this option is not specified.
046a7aaa 105If any cipher option is set but no B<-passout> is given
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106then a pass phrase will be prompted for.
107The output filename should B<not> be the same as the input filename.
49131a7d 108
1f7643e8 109=item B<-outform> B<DER>|B<PEM>
05dba815 110
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111The key output format; the default is B<PEM>.
112See L<openssl-format-options(1)> for details.
05dba815 113
8dc57d76 114=item B<-I<cipher>>
49131a7d 115
046a7aaa 116Encrypt the PEM encoded private key with the supplied cipher. Any algorithm
1f7643e8 117name accepted by EVP_get_cipherbyname() is acceptable such as B<aes128>.
046a7aaa 118Encryption is not supported for DER output.
49131a7d 119
1f7643e8 120=item B<-passout> I<arg>
49131a7d 121
1f7643e8 122The password source for the output file.
49131a7d 123
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124For more information about the format of B<arg>
125see L<openssl-passphrase-options(1)>.
49131a7d 126
1f7643e8 127=item B<-traditional>
49131a7d 128
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129Normally a private key is written using standard format: this is PKCS#8 form
130with the appropriate encryption algorithm (if any). If the B<-traditional>
131option is specified then the older "traditional" format is used instead.
49131a7d 132
1f7643e8 133=item B<-pubout>
49131a7d 134
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135By default the private and public key is output;
136this option restricts the output to the public components.
1f7643e8 137This option is automatically set if the input is a public key.
49131a7d 138
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139When combined with B<-text>, this is equivalent to B<-text_pub>.
140
1f7643e8 141=item B<-noout>
49131a7d 142
046a7aaa 143Do not output the key in encoded form.
49131a7d 144
1f7643e8 145=item B<-text>
2aee35d3 146
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147Output the various key components in plain text
148(possibly in addition to the PEM encoded form).
149This cannot be combined with encoded output in DER format.
2aee35d3 150
1f7643e8 151=item B<-text_pub>
b0004708 152
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153Output in text form only the public key components (also for private keys).
154This cannot be combined with encoded output in DER format.
b0004708 155
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156=item B<-ec_conv_form> I<arg>
157
1f7643e8 158This option only applies to elliptic-curve based keys.
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159
160This specifies how the points on the elliptic curve are converted
161into octet strings. Possible values are: B<compressed> (the default
162value), B<uncompressed> and B<hybrid>. For more information regarding
163the point conversion forms please read the X9.62 standard.
164B<Note> Due to patent issues the B<compressed> option is disabled
165by default for binary curves and can be enabled by defining
166the preprocessor macro B<OPENSSL_EC_BIN_PT_COMP> at compile time.
167
168=item B<-ec_param_enc> I<arg>
169
170This option only applies to elliptic curve based public and private keys.
171
172This specifies how the elliptic curve parameters are encoded.
173Possible value are: B<named_curve>, i.e. the ec parameters are
174specified by an OID, or B<explicit> where the ec parameters are
175explicitly given (see RFC 3279 for the definition of the
176EC parameters structures). The default value is B<named_curve>.
177B<Note> the B<implicitlyCA> alternative, as specified in RFC 3279,
178is currently not implemented in OpenSSL.
179
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180=back
181
182=head1 EXAMPLES
183
35eb4588 184To remove the pass phrase on a private key:
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185
186 openssl pkey -in key.pem -out keyout.pem
187
188To encrypt a private key using triple DES:
189
190 openssl pkey -in key.pem -des3 -out keyout.pem
191
1bc74519 192To convert a private key from PEM to DER format:
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193
194 openssl pkey -in key.pem -outform DER -out keyout.der
195
196To print out the components of a private key to standard output:
197
198 openssl pkey -in key.pem -text -noout
199
200To print out the public components of a private key to standard output:
201
202 openssl pkey -in key.pem -text_pub -noout
203
204To just output the public part of a private key:
205
206 openssl pkey -in key.pem -pubout -out pubkey.pem
207
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208To change the EC parameters encoding to B<explicit>:
209
210 openssl pkey -in key.pem -ec_param_enc explicit -out keyout.pem
211
212To change the EC point conversion form to B<compressed>:
213
214 openssl pkey -in key.pem -ec_conv_form compressed -out keyout.pem
215
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216=head1 SEE ALSO
217
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218L<openssl(1)>,
219L<openssl-genpkey(1)>,
220L<openssl-rsa(1)>,
221L<openssl-pkcs8(1)>,
222L<openssl-dsa(1)>,
223L<openssl-genrsa(1)>,
224L<openssl-gendsa(1)>
49131a7d 225
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226=head1 HISTORY
227
228The B<-engine> option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.
229
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230=head1 COPYRIGHT
231
da1c088f 232Copyright 2006-2023 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
e2f92610 233
449040b4 234Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use
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235this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
236in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
237L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
238
239=cut