From: Lutz Jänicke <jaenicke@openssl.org>
Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 08:32:37 +0000 (+0000)
Subject: More information to the important issue of seeding the PRNG
X-Git-Tag: OpenSSL_0_9_7-beta4~74
X-Git-Url: https://git.librecmc.org/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=21f8cf65e6178c73fedcea29ebacc842569ea6a9;p=oweals%2Fopenssl.git

More information to the important issue of seeding the PRNG
Submitted by:
Reviewed by:
PR: 285
---

diff --git a/FAQ b/FAQ
index 28027fdcac..9998821fde 100644
--- a/FAQ
+++ b/FAQ
@@ -226,6 +226,8 @@ 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.
+A third party /dev/random solution for Solaris is available at
+  http://www.cosy.sbg.ac.at/~andi/
 
 
 * Why do I get an "unable to write 'random state'" error message?
diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
index af86485e00..63c88523c3 100644
--- a/INSTALL
+++ b/INSTALL
@@ -296,3 +296,15 @@
  targets for shared library creation, like linux-shared.  Those targets
  can currently be used on their own just as well, but this is expected
  to change in future versions of OpenSSL.
+
+ Note on random number generation
+ --------------------------------
+
+ Availability of cryptographically secure random numbers is required for
+ secret key generation. OpenSSL provides several options to seed the
+ internal PRNG. If not properly seeded, the internal PRNG will refuse
+ to deliver random bytes and a "PRNG not seeded error" will occur.
+ On systems without /dev/urandom (or similar) device, it may be necessary
+ to install additional support software to obtain random seed.
+ Please check out the manual pages for RAND_add(), RAND_bytes(), RAND_egd(),
+ and the FAQ for more information.