Use the following command to generate the random key: openssl rand -hex 64 -out key.bin Do this every time you encrypt a file. Use a new key every time! The key format is HEX because the base64 format adds newlines. The -pass argument later on only takes the first line of the file, so the full key is not used. The standard OpenSSH suite of tools contains the ssh-keygen utility, which is used to generate key pairs. Run it on your local computer to generate a 2048-bit RSA key pair, which is fine for most uses.

Enter file in which to save the key (/home/youruser/.ssh/id rsa): Leave this empty to create the key in the default location, which is /home/youruser/.ssh/ idrsa. The public key file will be created in the very same location, and with the same name, but with the.PUB extension. Afterwards you will be prompted to choose a password. Openssl pkcs12 -export -clcerts -inkey private.key -in certificate.crt -out MyPKCS12.p12 -name 'Your Name' where private.key is your existing private RSA key, certificate.crt is your existing certificate and MyPKCS12.p12 is the name of the file to create. This file can then be imported into your keychain.

Download and install the OpenSSL runtimes. If you are running Windows, grab the Cygwin package.

OpenSSL can generate several kinds of public/private keypairs.RSA is the most common kind of keypair generation.^[1]

Other popular ways of generating RSA public key / private key pairs include PuTTYgen and ssh-keygen.^[2][3]

Generate an RSA keypair with a 2048 bit private key[edit]

Execute command: 'openssl genpkey -algorithm RSA -out private_key.pem -pkeyopt rsa_keygen_bits:2048'^[4] (previously “openssl genrsa -out private_key.pem 2048”)

e.g.

Make sure to prevent other users from reading your key by executing chmod go-r private_key.pem afterward.

Extracting the public key from an RSA keypair[edit]

Execute command: 'openssl rsa -pubout -in private_key.pem -out public_key.pem'

e.g.

A new file is created, public_key.pem, with the public key.

Using Openssl To Create Keys For Mac Os

It is relatively easy to do some cryptographic calculations to calculate the public key from the prime1 and prime2 values in the public key file.However, OpenSSL has already pre-calculated the public key and stored it in the private key file.So this command doesn't actually do any cryptographic calculation -- it merely copies the public key bytes out of the file and writes the Base64 PEM encoded version of those bytes into the output public key file.^[5]

Viewing the key elements[edit]

Execute command: 'openssl rsa -text -in private_key.pem'

All parts of private_key.pem are printed to the screen. This includes the modulus (also referred to as public key and n), public exponent (also referred to as e and exponent; default value is 0x010001), private exponent, and primes used to create keys (prime1, also called p, and prime2, also called q), a few other variables used to perform RSA operations faster, and the Base64 PEM encoded version of all that data.^[6](The Base64 PEM encoded version of all that data is identical to the private_key.pem file).

How To Use Openssl On Mac

Password-less login[edit]

Often a person will set up an automated backup process that periodically backs up all the content on one 'working' computer onto some other 'backup' computer.

Because that person wants this process to run every night, even if no human is anywhere near either one of these computers, using a 'password-protected' private key won't work -- that person wants the backup to proceed right away, not wait until some human walks by and types in the password to unlock the private key.Many of these people generate 'a private key with no password'.^[7]Some of these people, instead, generate a private key with a password,and then somehow type in that password to 'unlock' the private key every time the server reboots so that automated toolscan make use of the password-protected keys.^[8][3]

Further reading[edit]

1. ↑Key Generation
2. ↑Michael Stahnke.'Pro OpenSSH'.p. 247.
3. ↑ ^ab'SourceForge.net Documentation: SSH Key Overview'
4. ↑'genpkey(1) - Linux man page'
5. ↑'Public – Private key encryption using OpenSSL'
6. ↑'OpenSSL 1024 bit RSA Private Key Breakdown'
7. ↑'DreamHost: Personal Backup'.
8. ↑Troy Johnson.'Using Rsync and SSH: Keys, Validating, and Automation'.

• Internet_Technologies/SSH describes how to use 'ssh-keygen' and 'ssh-copy-id' on your local machine so you can quickly and securely ssh from your local machine to a remote host.

Openssl Create Key Pair