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| -rw-r--r-- | CHANGES | 9 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | FAQ | 36 |
2 files changed, 41 insertions, 4 deletions
@@ -11,6 +11,15 @@ *) applies to 0.9.6a (/0.9.6b) and 0.9.7 +) applies to 0.9.7 only + *) In versions up to 0.9.6, RAND_file_name() resorted to file ".rnd" + in the current directory if neither $RANDFILE nor $HOME was set. + RAND_file_name() in 0.9.6a returned NULL in this case. This has + caused some confusion to Windows users who haven't defined $HOME. + Thus RAND_file_name() is changed again: e_os.h can define a + DEFAULT_HOME, which will be used if $HOME is not set. + For Windows, we use "C:"; on other platforms, we still require + environment variables. + +) Add "ex_data" support to ENGINE so implementations can add state at a per-structure level rather than having to store it globally. [Geoff] @@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ OpenSSL - Frequently Asked Questions [USER] Questions on using the OpenSSL applications * Why do I get a "PRNG not seeded" error message? +* Why do I get an "unable to write 'random state'" error message? * How do I create certificates or certificate requests? * Why can't I create certificate requests? * Why does <SSL program> fail with a certificate verify error? @@ -161,6 +162,7 @@ correctly. Many open source operating systems provide a "randomness device" that serves this purpose. On other systems, applications have to call the RAND_add() or RAND_seed() function with appropriate data before generating keys or performing public key encryption. +(These functions initialize the pseudo-random number generator, PRNG.) Some broken applications do not do this. As of version 0.9.5, the OpenSSL functions that need randomness report an error if the random @@ -176,10 +178,24 @@ details. Starting with version 0.9.7, OpenSSL will automatically look for an EGD socket at /var/run/egd-pool, /dev/egd-pool, /etc/egd-pool and /etc/entropy. -Most components of the openssl command line tool try to use the -file $HOME/.rnd (or $RANDFILE, if this environment variable is set) -for seeding the PRNG. If this file does not exist or is too short, -the "PRNG not seeded" error message may occur. +Most components of the openssl command line utility automatically try +to seed the random number generator from a file. The name of the +default seeding file is determined as follows: If environment variable +RANDFILE is set, then it names the seeding file. Otherwise if +environment variable HOME is set, then the seeding file is $HOME/.rnd. +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 +Windows systems if the environment variable has not been set. + +If the default seeding file does not exist or is too short, the "PRNG +not seeded" error message may occur. + +The openssl command line utility will write back a new state to the +default seeding file (and create this file if necessary) unless +there was no sufficient seeding. + Pointing $RANDFILE to an Entropy Gathering Daemon socket does not work. Use the "-rand" option of the OpenSSL command line tools instead. The $RANDFILE environment variable and $HOME/.rnd are only used by the @@ -195,6 +211,18 @@ versions. However, be warned that /dev/random is usually a blocking device, which may have some effects on OpenSSL. +* Why do I get an "unable to write 'random state'" error message? + + +Sometimes the openssl command line utility does not abort with +a "PRNG not seeded" error message, but complains that it is +"unable to write 'random state'". This message refers to the +default seeding file (see previous answer). A possible reason +is that no default filename is known because neither RANDFILE +nor HOME is set. (Versions up to 0.9.6 used file ".rnd" in the +current directory in this case, but this has changed with 0.9.6a.) + + * How do I create certificates or certificate requests? Check out the CA.pl(1) manual page. This provides a simple wrapper round |