# man > openssl-gendsa(1)

[_OPENSSL-GENDSA_(1SSL)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/OPENSSL-GENDSA/1SSL/markdown)                           OpenSSL                          [_OPENSSL-GENDSA_(1SSL)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/OPENSSL-GENDSA/1SSL/markdown)

## NAME
       openssl-gendsa - generate a DSA private key from a set of parameters

## SYNOPSIS
       **openssl gendsa **[**-help**] [**-out _**filename_] [**-passout _**arg_] [**-aes128**] [**-aes192**] [**-aes256**]
       [**-aria128**] [**-aria192**] [**-aria256**] [**-camellia128**] [**-camellia192**] [**-camellia256**] [**-des**] [**-des3**]
       [**-idea**] [**-verbose**] [**-rand _**files_] [**-writerand _**file_] [**-engine _**id_] [**-provider _**name_]
       [**-provider-path _**path_] [**-propquery _**propq_] [_paramfile_]

## DESCRIPTION
       This command generates a DSA private key from a DSA parameter file (which will be typically
       generated by the [**openssl-dsaparam**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/openssl-dsaparam/1/markdown) command).

## OPTIONS
### -help
           Print out a usage message.

### -out _
           Output  the  key  to  the specified file. If this argument is not specified then standard
           output is used.

### -passout _
           The passphrase used for the output file.  See [**openssl-passphrase-options**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/openssl-passphrase-options/1/markdown).

### -aes128 -aes192 -aes256 -aria128 -aria192 -aria256 -camellia128 -camellia192
### -camellia256 -des -des3 -idea
           These options encrypt the private key with specified cipher before outputting it. A  pass
           phrase is prompted for.  If none of these options is specified no encryption is used.

           Note  that  all  options must be given before the _paramfile_ argument.  Otherwise they are
           ignored.

### -verbose
           Print extra details about the operations being performed.

### -rand _ -writerand _
           See "Random State Options" in [**openssl**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/openssl/1/markdown) for details.

### -engine _
           See "Engine Options" in [**openssl**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/openssl/1/markdown).  This option is deprecated.

       _paramfile_
           The DSA parameter file to use. The parameters in this file  determine  the  size  of  the
           private  key.  DSA parameters can be generated and examined using the [**openssl-dsaparam**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/openssl-dsaparam/1/markdown)
           command.

### -provider _
### -provider-path _
### -propquery _
           See "Provider Options" in [**openssl**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/openssl/1/markdown), [**provider**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/provider/7/markdown), and [**property**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/property/7/markdown).

## NOTES
       DSA key generation is little more than random number generation so it is  much  quicker  that
       RSA key generation for example.

## SEE ALSO
       [**openssl**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/openssl/1/markdown),   [**openssl-genpkey**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/openssl-genpkey/1/markdown),   [**openssl-dsaparam**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/openssl-dsaparam/1/markdown),  [**openssl-dsa**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/openssl-dsa/1/markdown),  [**openssl-genrsa**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/openssl-genrsa/1/markdown),
       [**openssl-rsa**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/openssl-rsa/1/markdown)

## HISTORY
       The **-engine **option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.

## COPYRIGHT
       Copyright 2000-2023 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>>.

3.0.13                                       2026-07-29                         [_OPENSSL-GENDSA_(1SSL)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/OPENSSL-GENDSA/1SSL/markdown)