* Why aren't tools like 'autoconf' and 'libtool' used?
* What is an 'engine' version?
* How do I check the authenticity of the OpenSSL distribution?
+* How does the versioning scheme work?
[LEGAL] Legal questions
* Which is the current version of OpenSSL?
The current version is available from <URL: http://www.openssl.org>.
-OpenSSL 1.0.0 was released on Mar 29th, 2010.
+OpenSSL 1.0.1e was released on Feb 11, 2013.
In addition to the current stable release, you can also access daily
snapshots of the OpenSSL development version at <URL:
-ftp://ftp.openssl.org/snapshot/>, or get it by anonymous CVS access.
+ftp://ftp.openssl.org/snapshot/>, or get it by anonymous Git access.
* Where is the documentation?
<URL: http://www.openssl.org/docs/>. Note that the online documents refer
to the very latest development versions of OpenSSL and may include features
not present in released versions. If in doubt refer to the documentation
-that came with the version of OpenSSL you are using.
+that came with the version of OpenSSL you are using. The pod format
+documentation is included in each OpenSSL distribution under the docs
+directory.
For information on parts of libcrypto that are not yet documented, you
might want to read Ariel Glenn's documentation on SSLeay 0.9, OpenSSL's
pgp TARBALL.asc
+* How does the versioning scheme work?
+
+After the release of OpenSSL 1.0.0 the versioning scheme changed. Letter
+releases (e.g. 1.0.1a) can only contain bug and security fixes and no
+new features. Minor releases change the last number (e.g. 1.0.2) and
+can contain new features that retain binary compatibility. Changes to
+the middle number are considered major releases and neither source nor
+binary compatibility is guaranteed.
+
+Therefore the answer to the common question "when will feature X be
+backported to OpenSSL 1.0.0/0.9.8?" is "never" but it could appear
+in the next minor release.
+
+* What happens when the letter release reaches z?
+
+It was decided after the release of OpenSSL 0.9.8y the next version should
+be 0.9.8za then 0.9.8zb and so on.
+
+
[LEGAL] =======================================================================
* Do I need patent licenses to use OpenSSL?
Check out the CA.pl(1) manual page. This provides a simple wrapper round
the 'req', 'verify', 'ca' and 'pkcs12' utilities. For finer control check
out the manual pages for the individual utilities and the certificate
-extensions documentation (currently in doc/openssl.txt).
+extensions documentation (in ca(1), req(1), x509v3_config(5) )
* Why can't I create certificate requests?
* I'm SURE I've found a bug, how do I report it?
Bug reports with no security implications should be sent to the request
-tracker. This can be done my mailing the report to <rt@openssl.org> (or its
+tracker. This can be done by mailing the report to <rt@openssl.org> (or its
alias <openssl-bugs@openssl.org>), please note that messages sent to the
request tracker also appear in the public openssl-dev mailing list.
acknowledging receipt then resend or mail it directly to one of the
more active team members (e.g. Steve).
-
-[PROG] ========================================================================
-
-* Is OpenSSL thread-safe?
-* I've compiled a program under Windows and it crashes: why?
-* How do I read or write a DER encoded buffer using the ASN1 functions?
-* OpenSSL uses DER but I need BER format: does OpenSSL support BER?
-* I've tried using <M_some_evil_pkcs12_macro> and I get errors why?
-* I've called <some function> and it fails, why?
-* I just get a load of numbers for the error output, what do they mean?
-* Why do I get errors about unknown algorithms?
-* Why can't the OpenSSH configure script detect OpenSSL?
-* Can I use OpenSSL's SSL library with non-blocking I/O?
-* Why doesn't my server application receive a client certificate?
-* Why does compilation fail due to an undefined symbol NID_uniqueIdentifier?
-* I think I've detected a memory leak, is this a bug?
-* Why does Valgrind complain about the use of uninitialized data?
-* Why doesn't a memory BIO work when a file does?
-* Where are the declarations and implementations of d2i_X509() etc?
-
-
[PROG] ========================================================================
* Is OpenSSL thread-safe?
Multi-threaded applications must provide two callback functions to
OpenSSL by calling CRYPTO_set_locking_callback() and
CRYPTO_set_id_callback(), for all versions of OpenSSL up to and
-including 0.9.8[abc...]. As of version 0.9.9, CRYPTO_set_id_callback()
+including 0.9.8[abc...]. As of version 1.0.0, CRYPTO_set_id_callback()
and associated APIs are deprecated by CRYPTO_THREADID_set_callback()
and friends. This is described in the threads(3) manpage.
p = buf;
p7 = d2i_PKCS7(NULL, &p, len);
-At this point p7 contains a valid PKCS7 structure of NULL if an error
+At this point p7 contains a valid PKCS7 structure or NULL if an error
occurred. If an error occurred ERR_print_errors(bio) should give more
information.
and attempts to free the buffer will have unpredictable results
because it no longer points to the same address.
+Memory allocation and encoding can also be combined in a single
+operation by the ASN1 routines:
+
+ unsigned char *buf = NULL; /* mandatory */
+ int len;
+ len = i2d_PKCS7(p7, &buf);
+ if (len < 0)
+ /* Error */
+ /* Do some things with 'buf' */
+ /* Finished with buf: free it */
+ OPENSSL_free(buf);
+
+In this special case the "buf" parameter is *not* incremented, it points
+to the start of the encoding.
+
* OpenSSL uses DER but I need BER format: does OpenSSL support BER?