* How can I remove the passphrase on a private key?
* Why can't I use OpenSSL certificates with SSL client authentication?
* Why does my browser give a warning about a mismatched hostname?
+* How do I install a CA certificate into a browser?
[BUILD] Questions about building and testing OpenSSL
* Which is the current version of OpenSSL?
The current version is available from <URL: http://www.openssl.org>.
-OpenSSL 0.9.6b was released on July 9th, 2001.
+OpenSSL 0.9.6c was released on December 21st, 2001.
In addition to the current stable release, you can also access daily
snapshots of the OpenSSL development version at <URL:
autoconf will probably be used in future OpenSSL versions. If it was
less Unix-centric, it might have been used much earlier.
-
* What is an 'engine' version?
With version 0.9.6 OpenSSL was extended to interface to external crypto
version 0.9.7 (not yet released) the changes were merged into the main
development line, so that the special release is no longer necessary.
-
[LEGAL] =======================================================================
* Do I need patent licenses to use OpenSSL?
their software on operating systems that don't normally include OpenSSL.
If you develop open source software that uses OpenSSL, you may find it
-useful to choose an other license than the GPL, or state explicitely that
+useful to choose an other license than the GPL, or state explicitly that
"This program is released under the GPL with the additional exemption that
compiling, linking, and/or using OpenSSL is allowed." If you are using
GPL software developed by others, you may want to ask the copyright holder
If neither RANDFILE nor HOME is set, versions up to OpenSSL 0.9.6 will
use file .rnd in the current directory while OpenSSL 0.9.6a uses no
default seeding file at all. OpenSSL 0.9.6b and later will behave
-similarly to 0.9.6a, but will use a default of "C:" for HOME on
+similarly to 0.9.6a, but will use a default of "C:\" for HOME on
Windows systems if the environment variable has not been set.
If the default seeding file does not exist or is too short, the "PRNG
reject.
The solution is to add the relevant CA certificate to your servers "trusted
-CA list". How you do this depends on the server sofware in uses. You can
+CA list". How you do this depends on the server software in uses. You can
print out the servers list of acceptable CAs using the OpenSSL s_client tool:
openssl s_client -connect www.some.host:443 -prexit
(CN) field of the certificate. If it does not then you get a warning.
+* How do I install a CA certificate into a browser?
+
+The usual way is to send the DER encoded certificate to the browser as
+MIME type application/x-x509-ca-cert, for example by clicking on an appropriate
+link. On MSIE certain extensions such as .der or .cacert may also work, or you
+can import the certificate using the certificate import wizard.
+
+You can convert a certificate to DER form using the command:
+
+openssl x509 -in ca.pem -outform DER -out ca.der
+
+Occasionally someone suggests using a command such as:
+
+openssl pkcs12 -export -out cacert.p12 -in cacert.pem -inkey cakey.pem
+
+DO NOT DO THIS! This command will give away your CAs private key and
+reduces its security to zero: allowing anyone to forge certificates in
+whatever name they choose.
+
+
[BUILD] =======================================================================
* Why does the linker complain about undefined symbols?
* I've compiled a program under Windows and it crashes: why?
-This is usually because you've missed the comment in INSTALL.W32. You
-must link with the multithreaded DLL version of the VC++ runtime library
-otherwise the conflict will cause a program to crash: typically on the
-first BIO related read or write operation.
+This is usually because you've missed the comment in INSTALL.W32.
+Your application must link against the same version of the Win32
+C-Runtime against which your openssl libraries were linked. The
+default version for OpenSSL is /MD - "Multithreaded DLL".
+
+If you are using Microsoft Visual C++'s IDE (Visual Studio), in
+many cases, your new project most likely defaulted to "Debug
+Singlethreaded" - /ML. This is NOT interchangeable with /MD and your
+program will crash, typically on the first BIO related read or write
+operation.
+
+For each of the six possible link stage configurations within Win32,
+your application must link against the same by which OpenSSL was
+built. If you are using MS Visual C++ (Studio) this can be changed
+by:
+
+1. Select Settings... from the Project Menu.
+2. Select the C/C++ Tab.
+3. Select "Code Generation from the "Category" drop down list box
+4. Select the Appropriate library (see table below) from the "Use
+ run-time library" drop down list box. Perform this step for both
+ your debug and release versions of your application (look at the
+ top left of the settings panel to change between the two)
+
+ Single Threaded /ML - MS VC++ often defaults to
+ this for the release
+ version of a new project.
+ Debug Single Threaded /MLd - MS VC++ often defaults to
+ this for the debug version
+ of a new project.
+ Multithreaded /MT
+ Debug Multithreaded /MTd
+ Multithreaded DLL /MD - OpenSSL defaults to this.
+ Debug Multithreaded DLL /MDd
+
+Note that debug and release libraries are NOT interchangeable. If you
+built OpenSSL with /MD your application must use /MD and cannot use /MDd.
* How do I read or write a DER encoded buffer using the ASN1 functions?
* Why can't the OpenSSH configure script detect OpenSSL?
-There is a problem with OpenSSH 1.2.2p1, in that the configure script
-can't find the installed OpenSSL libraries. The problem is actually
-a small glitch that is easily solved with the following patch to be
-applied to the OpenSSH distribution:
-
------ snip:start -----
---- openssh-1.2.2p1/configure.in.orig Thu Mar 23 18:56:58 2000
-+++ openssh-1.2.2p1/configure.in Thu Mar 23 18:55:05 2000
-@@ -152,10 +152,10 @@
- AC_MSG_CHECKING([for OpenSSL/SSLeay directory])
- for ssldir in "" $tryssldir /usr /usr/local/openssl /usr/lib/openssl /usr/local/ssl /usr/lib/ssl /usr/local /usr/pkg /opt /opt/openssl ; do
- if test ! -z "$ssldir" ; then
-- LIBS="$saved_LIBS -L$ssldir"
-+ LIBS="$saved_LIBS -L$ssldir/lib"
- CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -I$ssldir/include"
- if test "x$need_dash_r" = "x1" ; then
-- LIBS="$LIBS -R$ssldir"
-+ LIBS="$LIBS -R$ssldir/lib"
- fi
- fi
- LIBS="$LIBS -lcrypto"
---- openssh-1.2.2p1/configure.orig Thu Mar 23 18:55:02 2000
-+++ openssh-1.2.2p1/configure Thu Mar 23 18:57:08 2000
-@@ -1890,10 +1890,10 @@
- echo "configure:1891: checking for OpenSSL/SSLeay directory" >&5
- for ssldir in "" $tryssldir /usr /usr/local/openssl /usr/lib/openssl /usr/local/ssl /usr/lib/ssl /usr/local /usr/pkg /opt /opt/openssl ; do
- if test ! -z "$ssldir" ; then
-- LIBS="$saved_LIBS -L$ssldir"
-+ LIBS="$saved_LIBS -L$ssldir/lib"
- CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -I$ssldir/include"
- if test "x$need_dash_r" = "x1" ; then
-- LIBS="$LIBS -R$ssldir"
-+ LIBS="$LIBS -R$ssldir/lib"
- fi
- fi
- LIBS="$LIBS -lcrypto"
------ snip:end -----
+Several reasons for problems with the automatic detection exist.
+OpenSSH requires at least version 0.9.5a of the OpenSSL libraries.
+Sometimes the distribution has installed an older version in the system
+locations that is detected instead of a new one installed. The OpenSSL
+library might have been compiled for another CPU or another mode (32/64 bits).
+Permissions might be wrong.
+The general answer is to check the config.log file generated when running
+the OpenSSH configure script. It should contain the detailed information
+on why the OpenSSL library was not detected or considered incompatible.
* Can I use OpenSSL's SSL library with non-blocking I/O?
* Why doesn't my server application receive a client certificate?
Due to the TLS protocol definition, a client will only send a certificate,
-if explicitely asked by the server. Use the SSL_VERIFY_PEER flag of the
+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.
projects / oweals / openssl.git / blobdiff