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1=pod
2
3=head1 NAME
4
b6b66573 5openssl-ec - EC key processing
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6
7=head1 SYNOPSIS
8
9B<openssl> B<ec>
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<-passin> I<arg>]
15[B<-out> I<filename>]
16[B<-passout> I<arg>]
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17[B<-des>]
18[B<-des3>]
19[B<-idea>]
20[B<-text>]
21[B<-noout>]
22[B<-param_out>]
23[B<-pubin>]
24[B<-pubout>]
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25[B<-conv_form> I<arg>]
26[B<-param_enc> I<arg>]
16754806 27[B<-no_public>]
7565cbc4 28[B<-check>]
e8769719 29[B<-engine> I<id>]
2c789c82 30
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31=for comment ifdef engine
32
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33=head1 DESCRIPTION
34
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35The L<openssl-ec(1)> command processes EC keys. They can be converted between
36various forms and their components printed out. B<Note> OpenSSL uses the
2c789c82 37private key format specified in 'SEC 1: Elliptic Curve Cryptography'
35ed393e 38(http://www.secg.org/). To convert an OpenSSL EC private key into the
35a810bb 39PKCS#8 private key format use the L<openssl-pkcs8(1)> command.
2c789c82 40
3dfda1a6 41=head1 OPTIONS
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42
43=over 4
44
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45=item B<-help>
46
47Print out a usage message.
48
e8769719 49=item B<-inform> B<DER>|B<PEM>
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50
51This specifies the input format. The B<DER> option with a private key uses
52an ASN.1 DER encoded SEC1 private key. When used with a public key it
2b4ffc65 53uses the SubjectPublicKeyInfo structure as specified in RFC 3280.
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54The B<PEM> form is the default format: it consists of the B<DER> format base64
55encoded with additional header and footer lines. In the case of a private key
56PKCS#8 format is also accepted.
57
e8769719 58=item B<-outform> B<DER>|B<PEM>
2c789c82 59
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60This specifies the output format, the options have the same meaning and default
61as the B<-inform> option.
2c789c82 62
e8769719 63=item B<-in> I<filename>
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64
65This specifies the input filename to read a key from or standard input if this
66option is not specified. If the key is encrypted a pass phrase will be
67prompted for.
68
e8769719 69=item B<-out> I<filename>
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70
71This specifies the output filename to write a key to or standard output by
72is not specified. If any encryption options are set then a pass phrase will be
73prompted for. The output filename should B<not> be the same as the input
74filename.
75
3a4e43de 76=item B<-passin> I<arg>, B<-passout> I<arg>
2c789c82 77
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78The password source for the input and output file.
79For more information about the format of B<arg>
80see L<openssl(1)/Pass Phrase Options>.
2c789c82 81
e8769719 82=item B<-des>|B<-des3>|B<-idea>
2c789c82 83
1bc74519 84These options encrypt the private key with the DES, triple DES, IDEA or
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85any other cipher supported by OpenSSL before outputting it. A pass phrase is
86prompted for.
87If none of these options is specified the key is written in plain text. This
35a810bb 88means that using this command to read in an encrypted key with no
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89encryption option can be used to remove the pass phrase from a key, or by
90setting the encryption options it can be use to add or change the pass phrase.
91These options can only be used with PEM format output files.
92
93=item B<-text>
94
c4de074e 95Prints out the public, private key components and parameters.
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96
97=item B<-noout>
98
c4de074e 99This option prevents output of the encoded version of the key.
2c789c82 100
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101=item B<-pubin>
102
c4de074e 103By default, a private key is read from the input file. With this option a
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104public key is read instead.
105
106=item B<-pubout>
107
c4de074e 108By default a private key is output. With this option a public
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109key will be output instead. This option is automatically set if the input is
110a public key.
111
2f0ea936 112=item B<-conv_form> I<arg>
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113
114This specifies how the points on the elliptic curve are converted
115into octet strings. Possible values are: B<compressed> (the default
116value), B<uncompressed> and B<hybrid>. For more information regarding
117the point conversion forms please read the X9.62 standard.
118B<Note> Due to patent issues the B<compressed> option is disabled
119by default for binary curves and can be enabled by defining
120the preprocessor macro B<OPENSSL_EC_BIN_PT_COMP> at compile time.
121
e8769719 122=item B<-param_enc> I<arg>
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123
124This specifies how the elliptic curve parameters are encoded.
125Possible value are: B<named_curve>, i.e. the ec parameters are
35ed393e 126specified by an OID, or B<explicit> where the ec parameters are
1bc74519 127explicitly given (see RFC 3279 for the definition of the
2c789c82 128EC parameters structures). The default value is B<named_curve>.
aebb9aac 129B<Note> the B<implicitlyCA> alternative, as specified in RFC 3279,
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130is currently not implemented in OpenSSL.
131
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132=item B<-no_public>
133
134This option omits the public key components from the private key output.
135
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136=item B<-check>
137
c4de074e 138This option checks the consistency of an EC private or public key.
7565cbc4 139
e8769719 140=item B<-engine> I<id>
2c789c82 141
35a810bb 142Specifying an engine (by its unique I<id> string) will cause this command
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143to attempt to obtain a functional reference to the specified engine,
144thus initialising it if needed. The engine will then be set as the default
145for all available algorithms.
146
147=back
148
149=head1 NOTES
150
151The PEM private key format uses the header and footer lines:
152
153 -----BEGIN EC PRIVATE KEY-----
154 -----END EC PRIVATE KEY-----
155
156The PEM public key format uses the header and footer lines:
157
158 -----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
159 -----END PUBLIC KEY-----
160
161=head1 EXAMPLES
162
163To encrypt a private key using triple DES:
164
165 openssl ec -in key.pem -des3 -out keyout.pem
166
1bc74519 167To convert a private key from PEM to DER format:
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168
169 openssl ec -in key.pem -outform DER -out keyout.der
170
171To print out the components of a private key to standard output:
172
173 openssl ec -in key.pem -text -noout
174
175To just output the public part of a private key:
176
177 openssl ec -in key.pem -pubout -out pubkey.pem
178
179To change the parameters encoding to B<explicit>:
180
181 openssl ec -in key.pem -param_enc explicit -out keyout.pem
182
183To change the point conversion form to B<compressed>:
184
185 openssl ec -in key.pem -conv_form compressed -out keyout.pem
186
187=head1 SEE ALSO
188
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189L<openssl(1)>,
190L<openssl-ecparam(1)>,
191L<openssl-dsa(1)>,
192L<openssl-rsa(1)>
2c789c82 193
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194=head1 COPYRIGHT
195
b6b66573 196Copyright 2003-2019 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
e2f92610 197
449040b4 198Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use
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199this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
200in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
201L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
202
203=cut