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OPENSSL-EC(1SSL) OpenSSL OPENSSL-EC(1SSL)
NAME
openssl-ec - EC key processing
SYNOPSIS
openssl ec [-help] [-inform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE] [-outform DER|PEM] [-in filename|uri]
[-passin arg] [-out filename] [-passout arg] [-des] [-des3] [-idea] [-text] [-noout]
[-param_out] [-pubin] [-pubout] [-conv_form arg] [-param_enc arg] [-no_public] [-check]
[-engine id] [-provider name] [-provider-path path] [-propquery propq]
DESCRIPTION
The openssl-ec(1) command processes EC keys. They can be converted between various forms
and their components printed out. Note OpenSSL uses the private key format specified in
'SEC 1: Elliptic Curve Cryptography' (http://www.secg.org/). To convert an OpenSSL EC
private key into the PKCS#8 private key format use the openssl-pkcs8(1) command.
OPTIONS
-help
Print out a usage message.
-inform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE
The key input format; unspecified by default. See openssl-format-options(1) for
details.
-outform DER|PEM
The key output format; the default is PEM. See openssl-format-options(1) for details.
Private keys are an SEC1 private key or PKCS#8 format. Public keys are a
SubjectPublicKeyInfo as specified in IETF RFC 3280.
-in filename|uri
This specifies the input 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.
-out filename
This specifies the output filename to write a key to or standard output by 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.
-passin arg, -passout arg
The password source for the input and output file. For more information about the
format of arg see openssl-passphrase-options(1).
-des|-des3|-idea
These options encrypt the private key with the DES, triple DES, IDEA or any other
cipher supported by OpenSSL before outputting it. A pass phrase is prompted for. If
none of these options is specified the key is written in plain text. This means that
using this command to read in an encrypted key with no encryption option can be used
to remove the pass phrase from a key, or by setting the encryption options it can be
use to add or change the pass phrase. These options can only be used with PEM format
output files.
-text
Prints out the public, private key components and parameters.
-noout
This option prevents output of the encoded version of the key.
-param_out
Print the elliptic curve parameters.
-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.
-conv_form arg
This specifies how the points on the elliptic curve are converted into octet strings.
Possible values are: compressed (the default value), uncompressed and hybrid. For more
information regarding the point conversion forms please read the X9.62 standard. Note
Due to patent issues the compressed option is disabled by default for binary curves
and can be enabled by defining the preprocessor macro OPENSSL_EC_BIN_PT_COMP at
compile time.
-param_enc arg
This specifies how the elliptic curve parameters are encoded. Possible value are:
named_curve, i.e. the ec parameters are specified by an OID, or explicit where the ec
parameters are explicitly given (see RFC 3279 for the definition of the EC parameters
structures). The default value is named_curve. Note the implicitlyCA alternative, as
specified in RFC 3279, is currently not implemented in OpenSSL.
-no_public
This option omits the public key components from the private key output.
-check
This option checks the consistency of an EC private or public key.
-engine id
See "Engine Options" in openssl(1). This option is deprecated.
-provider name
-provider-path path
-propquery propq
See "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7).
The openssl-pkey(1) command is capable of performing all the operations this command can,
as well as supporting other public key types.
EXAMPLES
The documentation for the openssl-pkey(1) command contains examples equivalent to the ones
listed here.
To encrypt a private key using triple DES:
openssl ec -in key.pem -des3 -out keyout.pem
To convert a private key from PEM to DER format:
openssl ec -in key.pem -outform DER -out keyout.der
To print out the components of a private key to standard output:
openssl ec -in key.pem -text -noout
To just output the public part of a private key:
openssl ec -in key.pem -pubout -out pubkey.pem
To change the parameters encoding to explicit:
openssl ec -in key.pem -param_enc explicit -out keyout.pem
To change the point conversion form to compressed:
openssl ec -in key.pem -conv_form compressed -out keyout.pem
SEE ALSO
openssl(1), openssl-pkey(1), openssl-ecparam(1), openssl-dsa(1), openssl-rsa(1)
HISTORY
The -engine option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.
The -conv_form and -no_public options are no longer supported with keys loaded from an
engine in OpenSSL 3.0.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2003-2021 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (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>.
3.0.2 2025-09-18 OPENSSL-EC(1SSL)
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