OpenSSL-0.9.7c

Introduction to OpenSSL

The OpenSSL package contains management tools and libraries relating to cryptography. These are useful for providing cryptography functions to other packages, notably OpenSSH and web browsers (for accessing secure https sites).

Package information

Installation of OpenSSL

Install OpenSSL by running the following commands:

patch -Np1 -i ../openssl-0.9.7c-manpages.patch
sed 's/^passwd/openssl-passwd/' doc/apps/passwd.pod \
> doc/apps/openssl-passwd.pod &&
rm doc/apps/passwd.pod &&
./config --openssldir=/etc/ssl --prefix=/usr shared &&
make MANDIR=/usr/share/man &&
make MANDIR=/usr/share/man install &&
rmdir /etc/ssl/lib &&
chmod 755 /usr/lib/pkgconfig

Command explanations

no-rc5 no-idea: When added to the ./config command, this will eliminate the building of those encryption methods. Patent licenses may be needed for you to utilize either of those methods in your projects.

rm doc/apps/passwd.pod : This command prevents OpenSSL from installing its passwd man page over an existing man page with the same name.

make MANDIR=/usr/share/man
make MANDIR=/usr/share/man install
These commands install OpenSSL with the man pages in /usr/share/man instead of the default which is /etc/ssl/man.

rmdir /etc/ssl/lib: This is simply a tidy-up command. For some reason, the openssl install routine creates the /etc/ssl/lib directory even though the libraries have been installed in /usr/lib. We remove it to keep things nice and tidy!

chmod 755 /usr/lib/pkgconfig: The installation process modifies the rights on this directory to mode 644. This command restores the permissions to the setting prior to installation (mode 755).

Configuring OpenSSL

Config files

/etc/ssl/openssl.cnf

Configuration Information

Most people who just want to use openssl for providing functions to other programs such as OpenSSH and web browsers won't need to worry about configuring OpenSSL. Configuring OpenSSL is an advanced topic and so those who do would normally be expected to either know how to do it or to be able to find out how to do it.

Contents

The OpenSSL package contains c_rehash, openssl, libcrypto libraries and libssl libraries.

Description

c_rehash

c_rehash is a Perl script that scans all files in a directory and adds symbolic links to their hash values.

openssl

The openssl program is a command-line tool for using the various cryptography functions of OpenSSL's crypto library from the shell. It can be used for various functions which are documented in man 1 openssl.

libcrypto

The OpenSSL crypto library implements a wide range of cryptographic algorithms used in various Internet standards. The services provided by this library are used by the OpenSSL implementations of SSL, TLS and S/MIME, and they have also been used to implement OpenSSH, OpenPGP , and other cryptographic standards.

libssl

The OpenSSL SSL library implements the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL v2/v3) and Transport Layer Security (TLS v1) protocols. It provides a rich API, documentation on which can be found by running man 3 ssl.