X-Git-Url: https://git.openssl.org/?p=openssl.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=FAQ;h=25e101adbb125034fe48dbf924be19ffda14edf6;hp=ac4c5495e222533b3db2952d0d18c3846e940d3e;hb=6a6592962cc6452361fab821e50db3da4a5f64a6;hpb=85f258d1c2c225ddce047394df19cd8f2ee7eabb

diff --git a/FAQ b/FAQ
index ac4c5495e2..25e101adbb 100644
--- a/FAQ
+++ b/FAQ
@@ -45,8 +45,7 @@ OpenSSL  -  Frequently Asked Questions
 * Why does the OpenSSL compilation fail on MacOS X?
 * Why does the OpenSSL test suite fail on MacOS X?
 * Why does the OpenSSL test suite fail in BN_sqr test [on a 64-bit platform]?
-* Why does OpenBSD-i386 build fail on des-586.s with "Unimplemented
-  segment type"?
+* Why does OpenBSD-i386 build fail on des-586.s with "Unimplemented segment type"?
 
 [PROG] Questions about programming with OpenSSL
 
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ OpenSSL  -  Frequently Asked Questions
 * Which is the current version of OpenSSL?
 
 The current version is available from <URL: http://www.openssl.org>.
-OpenSSL 0.9.6h was released on December 5, 2002.
+OpenSSL 0.9.7c was released on September 30, 2003.
 
 In addition to the current stable release, you can also access daily
 snapshots of the OpenSSL development version at <URL:
@@ -117,11 +116,14 @@ OpenSSL.  Information on the OpenSSL mailing lists is available from
 
 * Where can I get a compiled version of OpenSSL?
 
+You can finder pointers to binary distributions in
+http://www.openssl.org/related/binaries.html .
+
 Some applications that use OpenSSL are distributed in binary form.
 When using such an application, you don't need to install OpenSSL
 yourself; the application will include the required parts (e.g. DLLs).
 
-If you want to install OpenSSL on a Windows system and you don't have
+If you want to build OpenSSL on a Windows system and you don't have
 a C compiler, read the "Mingw32" section of INSTALL.W32 for information
 on how to obtain and install the free GNU C compiler.
 
@@ -190,18 +192,30 @@ for permission to use their software with OpenSSL.
 
 Cryptographic software needs a source of unpredictable data to work
 correctly.  Many open source operating systems provide a "randomness
-device" that serves this purpose.  On other systems, applications have
-to call the RAND_add() or RAND_seed() function with appropriate data
-before generating keys or performing public key encryption.
-(These functions initialize the pseudo-random number generator, PRNG.)
-
-Some broken applications do not do this.  As of version 0.9.5, the
-OpenSSL functions that need randomness report an error if the random
-number generator has not been seeded with at least 128 bits of
-randomness.  If this error occurs, please contact the author of the
-application you are using.  It is likely that it never worked
-correctly.  OpenSSL 0.9.5 and later make the error visible by refusing
-to perform potentially insecure encryption.
+device" (/dev/urandom or /dev/random) that serves this purpose.
+All OpenSSL versions try to use /dev/urandom by default; starting with
+version 0.9.7, OpenSSL also tries /dev/random if /dev/urandom is not
+available.
+
+On other systems, applications have to call the RAND_add() or
+RAND_seed() function with appropriate data before generating keys or
+performing public key encryption. (These functions initialize the
+pseudo-random number generator, PRNG.)  Some broken applications do
+not do this.  As of version 0.9.5, the OpenSSL functions that need
+randomness report an error if the random number generator has not been
+seeded with at least 128 bits of randomness.  If this error occurs and
+is not discussed in the documentation of the application you are
+using, please contact the author of that application; it is likely
+that it never worked correctly.  OpenSSL 0.9.5 and later make the
+error visible by refusing to perform potentially insecure encryption.
+
+If you are using Solaris 8, you can add /dev/urandom and /dev/random
+devices by installing patch 112438 (Sparc) or 112439 (x86), which are
+available via the Patchfinder at <URL: http://sunsolve.sun.com>
+(Solaris 9 includes these devices by default). For /dev/random support
+for earlier Solaris versions, see Sun's statement at
+<URL: http://sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/retrieve.pl?doc=fsrdb/27606&zone_32=SUNWski>
+(the SUNWski package is available in patch 105710).
 
 On systems without /dev/urandom and /dev/random, it is a good idea to
 use the Entropy Gathering Demon (EGD); see the RAND_egd() manpage for
@@ -234,18 +248,6 @@ OpenSSL command line tools. Applications using the OpenSSL library
 provide their own configuration options to specify the entropy source,
 please check out the documentation coming the with application.
 
-For Solaris 2.6, Tim Nibbe <tnibbe@sprint.net> and others have suggested
-installing the SUNski package from Sun patch 105710-01 (Sparc) which
-adds a /dev/random device and make sure it gets used, usually through
-$RANDFILE.  There are probably similar patches for the other Solaris
-versions.  An official statement from Sun with respect to /dev/random
-support can be found at
-  http://sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/retrieve.pl?doc=fsrdb/27606&zone_32=SUNWski
-However, be warned that /dev/random is usually a blocking device, which
-may have some effects on OpenSSL.
-A third party /dev/random solution for Solaris is available at
-  http://www.cosy.sbg.ac.at/~andi/
-
 
 * Why do I get an "unable to write 'random state'" error message?
 
@@ -491,10 +493,13 @@ and then redo the compilation.  What you should really do is make sure
 Sometimes, you may get reports from VC++ command line (cl) that it
 can't find standard include files like stdio.h and other weirdnesses.
 One possible cause is that the environment isn't correctly set up.
-To solve that problem, one should run VCVARS32.BAT which is found in
-the 'bin' subdirectory of the VC++ installation directory (somewhere
-under 'Program Files').  This needs to be done prior to running NMAKE,
-and the changes are only valid for the current DOS session.
+To solve that problem for VC++ versions up to 6, one should run
+VCVARS32.BAT which is found in the 'bin' subdirectory of the VC++
+installation directory (somewhere under 'Program Files').  For VC++
+version 7 (and up?), which is also called VS.NET, the file is called
+VSVARS32.BAT instead.
+This needs to be done prior to running NMAKE, and the changes are only
+valid for the current DOS session.
 
 
 * What is special about OpenSSL on Redhat?
@@ -572,17 +577,19 @@ C compiler you should be able to produce a working build by running
 but the build should be operational. For further details turn to
 <openssl-dev@openssl.org>.
 
-* Why does OpenBSD-i386 build fail on des-586.s with "Unimplemented
-  segment type"?
+* Why does OpenBSD-i386 build fail on des-586.s with "Unimplemented segment type"?
 
-As of 0.9.7 assembler routines were overhauled for position independency
-of the machine code, which is essential for shared library support. Now
-for some reason OpenBSD is equipped with out-of-date GNU assembler which
-finds the new code offending. To work the problem around configure with
-no-asm (and sacrifice a great deal of performance) or upgrade /usr/bin/as.
-For your convenience a pre-compiled replacement binary is provided as
-http://www.openssl.org/~appro/i386-openbsd3-as, which is compiled from
-binutils-2.8 released in 1997.
+As of 0.9.7 assembler routines were overhauled for position independence
+of the machine code, which is essential for shared library support. For
+some reason OpenBSD is equipped with an out-of-date GNU assembler which
+finds the new code offensive. To work around the problem, configure with
+no-asm (and sacrifice a great deal of performance) or patch your assembler
+according to <URL: http://www.openssl.org/~appro/gas-1.92.3.OpenBSD.patch>.
+For your convenience a pre-compiled replacement binary is provided at
+<URL: http://www.openssl.org/~appro/gas-1.92.3.static.aout.bin>.
+Reportedly elder *BSD a.out platforms also suffer from this problem and
+remedy should be same. Provided binary is statically linked and should be
+working across wider range of *BSD branches, not just OpenBSD.
 
 [PROG] ========================================================================
 
@@ -642,26 +649,26 @@ built OpenSSL with /MD your application must use /MD and cannot use /MDd.
 * How do I read or write a DER encoded buffer using the ASN1 functions?
 
 You have two options. You can either use a memory BIO in conjunction
-with the i2d_XXX_bio() or d2i_XXX_bio() functions or you can use the
-i2d_XXX(), d2i_XXX() functions directly. Since these are often the
+with the i2d_*_bio() or d2i_*_bio() functions or you can use the
+i2d_*(), d2i_*() functions directly. Since these are often the
 cause of grief here are some code fragments using PKCS7 as an example:
 
-unsigned char *buf, *p;
-int len;
+ unsigned char *buf, *p;
+ int len;
 
-len = i2d_PKCS7(p7, NULL);
-buf = OPENSSL_malloc(len); /* or Malloc, error checking omitted */
-p = buf;
-i2d_PKCS7(p7, &p);
+ len = i2d_PKCS7(p7, NULL);
+ buf = OPENSSL_malloc(len); /* or Malloc, error checking omitted */
+ p = buf;
+ i2d_PKCS7(p7, &p);
 
 At this point buf contains the len bytes of the DER encoding of
 p7.
 
 The opposite assumes we already have len bytes in buf:
 
-unsigned char *p;
-p = buf;
-p7 = d2i_PKCS7(NULL, &p, len);
+ unsigned char *p;
+ p = buf;
+ p7 = d2i_PKCS7(NULL, &p, len);
 
 At this point p7 contains a valid PKCS7 structure of NULL if an error
 occurred. If an error occurred ERR_print_errors(bio) should give more
@@ -728,6 +735,7 @@ The general answer is to check the config.log file generated when running
 the OpenSSH configure script. It should contain the detailed information
 on why the OpenSSL library was not detected or considered incompatible.
 
+
 * Can I use OpenSSL's SSL library with non-blocking I/O?
 
 Yes; make sure to read the SSL_get_error(3) manual page!