genrsa - Unix, Linux Command

NAME

genrsa - generate an RSA private key

SYNOPSIS

openssl genrsa [-out filename] [-passout arg] [-des] [-des3] [-idea] [-f4] [-3] [-rand file(s)] [-engine id] [numbits]

DESCRIPTION

The genrsa command generates an RSA private key.

OPTIONS

Tag	Description
-out filename	the output filename. If this argument is not specified then standard output is used.
-passout arg	the output file password source. For more information about the format of arg see the PASS PHRASE ARGUMENTS section in openssl(1).
-des\|-des3\|-idea	These options encrypt the private key with the DES, triple DES, or the IDEA ciphers respectively before outputting it. If none of these options is specified no encryption is used. If encryption is used a pass phrase is prompted for if it is not supplied via the -passout argument.
-F4\|-3	the public exponent to use, either 65537 or 3. The default is 65537.
-rand file(s)	a file or files containing random data used to seed the random number generator, or an EGD socket (see RAND_egd(3)). Multiple files can be specified separated by a OS-dependent character. The separator is ; for MS-Windows, , for OpenVMS, and : for all others.
-engine id	specifying an engine (by it’s unique id string) will cause req to attempt to obtain a functional reference to the specified engine, thus initialising it if needed. The engine will then be set as the default for all available algorithms.
numbits	the size of the private key to generate in bits. This must be the last option specified. The default is 512.

NOTES

RSA private key generation essentially involves the generation of two prime numbers. When generating a private key various symbols will be output to indicate the progress of the generation. A . represents each number which has passed an initial sieve test, + means a number has passed a single round of the Miller-Rabin primality test. A newline means that the number has passed all the prime tests (the actual number depends on the key size).

Because key generation is a random process the time taken to generate a key may vary somewhat.

EXAMPLES

Below example shows creation of RSA key pair and certificate

Step 1 - Generate RSA key

If the encryption option -des|-des3|-idea is specified the the command will prompt for pass phrase

$ openssl genrsa -des3 -out rsaprivkey.pem 2048
Generating RSA private key, 2048 bit long modulus
.................+++
.........+++
e is 65537 (0x10001)
Enter pass phrase for rsaprivkey.pem:
Verifying - Enter pass phrase for rsaprivkey.pem:

Step 2 - Export the RSA Public Key to a File

$ openssl rsa -in rsaprivkey.pem -outform PEM -pubout -out rsapubkey.pem
Enter pass phrase for private.pem:
writing RSA key

Step 3 - Create certificate

$ openssl req -new -x509 -key rsaprivkey.pem -out rsacert.pem
Enter pass phrase for private.pem:

After answering few questions the certificate will be generated.

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