Set up the engine before doing anything random-related, since engine randomness

[oweals/openssl.git] / FAQ

diff --git a/FAQ b/FAQ
index bea8fcfde095fc2cd4877783efe8c95f9a3572b2..45566252f45821543ed877cfb0d4ca08d79264d3 100644 (file)
--- a/FAQ
+++ b/FAQ
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ OpenSSL  -  Frequently Asked Questions
 * Why does the OpenSSL compilation fail on Alpha Tru64 Unix?
 * Why does the OpenSSL compilation fail with "ar: command not found"?
 * Why does the OpenSSL compilation fail on Win32 with VC++?
 * Why does the OpenSSL compilation fail on Alpha Tru64 Unix?
 * Why does the OpenSSL compilation fail with "ar: command not found"?
 * Why does the OpenSSL compilation fail on Win32 with VC++?

+* What is special about OpenSSL on Redhat?

 
 [PROG] Questions about programming with OpenSSL
 
 
 [PROG] Questions about programming with OpenSSL
 


@@ -52,6 +53,7 @@ OpenSSL  -  Frequently Asked Questions
 * Why can't the OpenSSH configure script detect OpenSSL?
 * Can I use OpenSSL's SSL library with non-blocking I/O?
 * Why doesn't my server application receive a client certificate?
 * Why can't the OpenSSH configure script detect OpenSSL?
 * Can I use OpenSSL's SSL library with non-blocking I/O?
 * Why doesn't my server application receive a client certificate?

+* Why does compilation fail due to an undefined symbol NID_uniqueIdentifier?

 
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@@ -216,8 +218,11 @@ For Solaris 2.6, Tim Nibbe <tnibbe@sprint.net> and others have suggested
 installing the SUNski package from Sun patch 105710-01 (Sparc) which
 adds a /dev/random device and make sure it gets used, usually through
 $RANDFILE.  There are probably similar patches for the other Solaris
 installing the SUNski package from Sun patch 105710-01 (Sparc) which
 adds a /dev/random device and make sure it gets used, usually through
 $RANDFILE.  There are probably similar patches for the other Solaris

-versions.  However, be warned that /dev/random is usually a blocking
-device, which may have some effects on OpenSSL.
+versions.  An official statement from Sun with respect to /dev/random
+support can be found at
+  http://sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/retrieve.pl?doc=fsrdb/27606&zone_32=SUNWski
+However, be warned that /dev/random is usually a blocking device, which
+may have some effects on OpenSSL.

 
 
 * Why do I get an "unable to write 'random state'" error message?
 
 
 * Why do I get an "unable to write 'random state'" error message?


@@ -459,6 +464,38 @@ under 'Program Files').  This needs to be done prior to running NMAKE,
 and the changes are only valid for the current DOS session.
 
 
 and the changes are only valid for the current DOS session.
 
 

+* What is special about OpenSSL on Redhat?
+
+Red Hat Linux (release 7.0 and later) include a preinstalled limited
+version of OpenSSL. For patent reasons, support for IDEA, RC5 and MDC2
+is disabled in this version. The same may apply to other Linux distributions.
+Users may therefore wish to install more or all of the features left out.
+
+To do this you MUST ensure that you do not overwrite the openssl that is in
+/usr/bin on your Red Hat machine. Several packages depend on this file,
+including sendmail and ssh. /usr/local/bin is a good alternative choice. The
+libraries that come with Red Hat 7.0 onwards have different names and so are
+not affected. (eg For Red Hat 7.2 they are /lib/libssl.so.0.9.6b and
+/lib/libcrypto.so.0.9.6b with symlinks /lib/libssl.so.2 and
+/lib/libcrypto.so.2 respectively).
+
+Please note that we have been advised by Red Hat attempting to recompile the
+openssl rpm with all the cryptography enabled will not work. All other
+packages depend on the original Red Hat supplied openssl package. It is also
+worth noting that due to the way Red Hat supplies its packages, updates to
+openssl on each distribution never change the package version, only the
+build number. For example, on Red Hat 7.1, the latest openssl package has
+version number 0.9.6 and build number 9 even though it contains all the
+relevant updates in packages up to and including 0.9.6b.
+
+A possible way around this is to persuade Red Hat to produce a non-US
+version of Red Hat Linux.
+
+FYI: Patent numbers and expiry dates of US patents:
+MDC-2: 4,908,861 13/03/2007
+IDEA:  5,214,703 25/05/2010
+RC5:   5,724,428 03/03/2015
+

 [PROG] ========================================================================
 
 * Is OpenSSL thread-safe?
 [PROG] ========================================================================
 
 * Is OpenSSL thread-safe?


@@ -624,5 +661,13 @@ if explicitly asked by the server. Use the SSL_VERIFY_PEER flag of the
 SSL_CTX_set_verify() function to enable the use of client certificates.
 
 
 SSL_CTX_set_verify() function to enable the use of client certificates.
 
 

+* Why does compilation fail due to an undefined symbol NID_uniqueIdentifier?
+
+For OpenSSL 0.9.7 the OID table was extended and corrected. In earlier
+versions, uniqueIdentifier was incorrectly used for X.509 certificates.
+The correct name according to RFC2256 (LDAP) is x500UniqueIdentifier.
+Change your code to use the new name when compiling against OpenSSL 0.9.7.
+
+

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