Reasons for importing keys include wanting to make a backup of a private key (generated keys are non-exportable, for security reasons), or if the private key is provided by an external source. This document will guide you through using the OpenSSL command line tool to generate a key pair which you can then import into a YubiKey. Mar 15, 2012  Demonstration of using OpenSSL to create RSA public/private key pair, sign and encrypt messages using those keys and then decrypt and verify the received messages. Commands used: openssl.

  • This article discusses how to generate an unencrypted private key and public certificate pair that is suitable for use with HTTPS, FTPS, and the administrative port for EFT Server. (To generate an encrypted key/certificate pair, refer to Generating an Encrypted Private Key and Self-Signed Public Certificate.) General Information.
  • OpenSSL can generate several kinds of public/private keypairs. RSA is the most common kind of keypair generation. Other popular ways of generating RSA public key / private key pairs include PuTTYgen and ssh-keygen.

While Encrypting a File with a Password from the Command Line using OpenSSLis very useful in its own right, the real power of the OpenSSL library is itsability to support the use of public key cryptograph for encrypting orvalidating data in an unattended manner (where the password is not required toencrypt) is done with public keys.

The Commands to Run

Generate a 2048 bit RSA Key

You can generate a public and private RSA key pair like this:

openssl genrsa -des3 -out private.pem 2048

That generates a 2048-bit RSA key pair, encrypts them with a password you provideand writes them to a file. You need to next extract the public key file. You willuse this, for instance, on your web server to encrypt content so that it canonly be read with the private key.

Export the RSA Public Key to a File

This is a command that is

openssl rsa -in private.pem -outform PEM -pubout -out public.pem

The -pubout flag is really important. Be sure to include it.

Private

Next open the public.pem and ensure that it starts with-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----. This is how you know that this file is thepublic key of the pair and not a private key.

To check the file from the command line you can use the less command, like this:

less public.pem

Do Not Run This, it Exports the Private Key

A previous version of the post gave this example in error.

openssl rsa -in private.pem -out private_unencrypted.pem -outform PEM

The error is that the -pubout was dropped from the end of the command.That changes the meaning of the command from that of exporting the public keyto exporting the private key outside of its encrypted wrapper. Inspecting theoutput file, in this case private_unencrypted.pem clearly shows that the keyis a RSA private key as it starts with -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----.

Visually Inspect Your Key Files

It is important to visually inspect you private and public key files to makesure that they are what you expect. OpenSSL will clearly explain the nature ofthe key block with a -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY----- or -----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----.

Instead, the problem stemmed from the same key being embedded in the systems that are used for providing HTTPS and SSH access to the device, so all devices on that firmware were using the same keys.The answer doesn’t lie in software-generated, pseudo-randomness, but in hardware. In reality, determinism is hidden behind complexity forContrary to classical physics, quantum physics is fundamentally random. Many hardware random number generators still rely on classical physics to produce what looks like a random stream of bits. Lack of randomness in the key generation processor. However, not all hardware random number generators are created equal.

You can use less to inspect each of your two files in turn:

  • less private.pem to verify that it starts with a -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
  • less public.pem to verify that it starts with a -----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----

The next section shows a full example of what each key file should look like.

The Generated Key Files

The generated files are base64-encoded encryption keys in plain text format.If you select a password for your private key, its file will be encrypted withyour password. Be sure to remember this password or the key pair becomes useless.

Generate Rsa Public Private Key Pair Openssl 1

The private.pem file looks something like this:

Generate Rsa Public Private Key Pair Openssl Download

The public key, public.pem, file looks like:

Openssl Generate Private Key Pair

Protecting Your Keys

Depending on the nature of the information you will protect, it’s important tokeep the private key backed up and secret. The public key can be distributedanywhere or embedded in your web application scripts, such as in your PHP,Ruby, or other scripts. Again, backup your keys!

Remember, if the key goes away the data encrypted to it is gone. Keeping aprinted copy of the key material in a sealed envelope in a bank safety depositbox is a good way to protect important keys against loss due to fire or harddrive failure.

Oh, and one last thing.

If you, dear reader, were planning any funny business with the private key that I have just published here. Know that they were made especially for this series of blog posts. I do not use them for anything else.

Openssl Rsa Public Key

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Generate Rsa Key Openssl

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Openssl Generate Public And Private Key Pair

If you're using openssl_pkey_new() in conjunction with openssl_csr_new() and want to change the CSR digest algorithm as well as specify a custom key size, the configuration override should be defined once and sent to both functions:
<?php
$config = array(
'digest_alg' => 'sha1',
'private_key_bits' => 2048,
'private_key_type' => OPENSSL_KEYTYPE_RSA,
);
$privkey = openssl_pkey_new($config);
$csr = openssl_csr_new($dn, $privkey, $config);
?>

Although openssl_pkey_new() will accept the 'digest_alg' argument it won't use it, and setting the value has no effect unless you also set this value for openssl_csr_new(). The reason for this is that the $config array is acting as a drop-in replacement for the values found in the openssl.cnf file, so it must contain all of the override values that you need even if the function they're being sent to won't use them.
Also, if you change the 'digest_alg' to something like 'sha256' and still get an MD5 signed CSR check your openssl.cnf file to see whether the digest algorithm you want to use is actually supported.