openssl-pkey, pkey - public or private key processing tool
openssl pkey [-help] [-inform PEM|DER]
[-outform PEM|DER] [-in filename] [-passin arg]
[-out filename] [-passout arg] [-traditional]
[-cipher] [-text] [-text_pub]
[-noout] [-pubin] [-pubout] [-engine id]
[-check] [-pubcheck]
The pkey command processes public or private keys. They can
be converted between various forms and their components printed out.
- -help
- Print out a usage message.
- -inform
DER|PEM
- This specifies the input format DER or PEM. The default format is
PEM.
- -outform
DER|PEM
- This specifies the output format, the options have the same meaning and
default as the -inform option.
- -in filename
- This specifies the input filename to read a key from or standard input if
this option is not specified. If the key is encrypted a pass phrase will
be prompted for.
- -passin
arg
- The input file password source. For more information about the format of
arg see "Pass Phrase Options" in openssl(1).
- -out filename
- This specifies the output filename to write a key to or standard output if
this option is not specified. If any encryption options are set then a
pass phrase will be prompted for. The output filename should not be
the same as the input filename.
- -passout
password
- The output file password source. For more information about the format of
arg see "Pass Phrase Options" in openssl(1).
- -traditional
- Normally a private key is written using standard format: this is PKCS#8
form with the appropriate encryption algorithm (if any). If the
-traditional option is specified then the older
"traditional" format is used instead.
- -cipher
- These options encrypt the private key with the supplied cipher. Any
algorithm name accepted by EVP_get_cipherbyname() is acceptable
such as des3.
- -text
- Prints out the various public or private key components in plain text in
addition to the encoded version.
- -text_pub
- Print out only public key components even if a private key is being
processed.
- -noout
- Do not output the encoded version of the key.
- -pubin
- By default a private key is read from the input file: with this option a
public key is read instead.
- -pubout
- By default a private key is output: with this option a public key will be
output instead. This option is automatically set if the input is a public
key.
- -engine id
- Specifying an engine (by its unique id string) will cause
pkey 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.
- -check
- This option checks the consistency of a key pair for both public and
private components.
- -pubcheck
- This option checks the correctness of either a public key or the public
component of a key pair.
To remove the pass phrase on an RSA private key:
openssl pkey -in key.pem -out keyout.pem
To encrypt a private key using triple DES:
openssl pkey -in key.pem -des3 -out keyout.pem
To convert a private key from PEM to DER format:
openssl pkey -in key.pem -outform DER -out keyout.der
To print out the components of a private key to standard
output:
openssl pkey -in key.pem -text -noout
To print out the public components of a private key to standard
output:
openssl pkey -in key.pem -text_pub -noout
To just output the public part of a private key:
openssl pkey -in key.pem -pubout -out pubkey.pem
Copyright 2006-2021 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights
Reserved.
Licensed under the OpenSSL license (the "License"). You
may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain
a copy in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.