7 pkey - public or private key processing tool
28 The B<pkey> command processes public or private keys. They can be converted
29 between various forms and their components printed out.
31 =head1 COMMAND OPTIONS
35 =item B<-inform DER|PEM>
37 This specifies the input format DER or PEM.
39 =item B<-outform DER|PEM>
41 This specifies the output format, the options have the same meaning as the
46 This specifies the input filename to read a key from or standard input if this
47 option is not specified. If the key is encrypted a pass phrase will be
52 the input file password source. For more information about the format of B<arg>
53 see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)>.
55 =item B<-out filename>
57 This specifies the output filename to write a key to or standard output if this
58 option is not specified. If any encryption options are set then a pass phrase
59 will be prompted for. The output filename should B<not> be the same as the input
62 =item B<-passout password>
64 the output file password source. For more information about the format of B<arg>
65 see the B<PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS> section in L<openssl(1)|openssl(1)>.
69 These options encrypt the private key with the supplied cipher. Any algorithm
70 name accepted by EVP_get_cipherbyname() is acceptable such as B<des3>.
74 prints out the various public or private key components in
75 plain text in addition to the encoded version.
79 print out only public key components even if a private key is being processed.
83 do not output the encoded version of the key.
87 by default a private key is read from the input file: with this
88 option a public key is read instead.
92 by default a private key is output: with this option a public
93 key will be output instead. This option is automatically set if
94 the input is a public key.
98 specifying an engine (by its unique B<id> string) will cause B<pkey>
99 to attempt to obtain a functional reference to the specified engine,
100 thus initialising it if needed. The engine will then be set as the default
101 for all available algorithms.
107 To remove the pass phrase on an RSA private key:
109 openssl pkey -in key.pem -out keyout.pem
111 To encrypt a private key using triple DES:
113 openssl pkey -in key.pem -des3 -out keyout.pem
115 To convert a private key from PEM to DER format:
117 openssl pkey -in key.pem -outform DER -out keyout.der
119 To print out the components of a private key to standard output:
121 openssl pkey -in key.pem -text -noout
123 To print out the public components of a private key to standard output:
125 openssl pkey -in key.pem -text_pub -noout
127 To just output the public part of a private key:
129 openssl pkey -in key.pem -pubout -out pubkey.pem
133 L<genpkey(1)|genpkey(1)>, L<rsa(1)|rsa(1)>, L<pkcs8(1)|pkcs8(1)>,
134 L<dsa(1)|dsa(1)>, L<genrsa(1)|genrsa(1)>, L<gendsa(1)|gendsa(1)>