OPENSSL-S_TIME(1ossl)

📦
version 15.1 · 2 versions
, in freebsd 15.1

💅 NAME 💅

openssl-s_time — the SSL/TLS performance timing program, aka the little tool that tells you how fast your secure connection is actually going ✨ it lives in the OpenSSL manual fam, and honestly? underrated.

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

openssl s_time [-help] [-connect host:port] [-www page] [-cert filename]
[-key filename] [-reuse] [-new] [-verify depth] [-time seconds] [-ssl3]
[-tls1] [-tls1_1] [-tls1_2] [-tls1_3] [-bugs] [-cipher cipherlist]
[-ciphersuites val] [-nameopt option] [-cafile file] [-CAfile file]
[-no-CAfile] [-CApath dir] [-no-CApath] [-CAstore uri] [-no-CAstore]
[-provider name] [-provider-path path] [-provparam [name:]key=value]
[-propquery propq]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so picture this: s_time is a generic SSL/TLS client that connects to a remote host over SSL/TLS 💖 it can request a page from the server, and it literally includes the time it took to transfer the payload data in its timing measurements.

It measures the number of connections it manages within a given timeframe, the amount of data transferred (if any), and then it calculates the average time spent for one connection. the way it just does math on your behalf… main character energy fr fr 👑

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -help — prints out a usage message, the classic "hi here's how to use me" moment 🫶
  • -connect host:port — specifies the host and optional port to connect to. ngl, if the host string is an IPv6 address it must be enclosed in [ and ] — no cap, that part is not optional 💀
  • -www page — specifies the page to GET from the server. a value of / gets the index.html page. if you don't specify this one, then the command will only perform the handshake to establish SSL connections but won't transfer any payload data — so it's handshake-only mode, iconic but shy 🙈
  • -cert certname — the certificate to use, if one is requested by the server. default is not to use a certificate at all. the file is in PEM format, bestie 📄
  • -key keyfile — the private key to use. if it's not specified then the certificate file will be used instead. also PEM format, keep up 💅
  • -verify depth — the verify depth to use. this specifies the maximum length of the server certificate chain and turns on server certificate verification. heads up: currently the verify operation continues after errors, so all the problems with a certificate chain can be seen — as a side effect the connection will never fail due to a server certificate verify failure. like it literally cannot fail this way, it's just built different 😭
  • -new — performs the timing test using a new session ID for each connection. if neither -new nor -reuse are specified, they are both on by default and executed in sequence ✨
  • -reuse — performs the timing test using the same session ID; this can be used as a test that session caching is working. same deal: if neither -new nor -reuse are specified, they are both on by default and executed in sequence 🌸
  • -bugs — there are several known bugs in SSL and TLS implementations. adding this option enables various workarounds. it's giving "the server is buggy, not me" energy 💀
  • -cipher cipherlist — lets you modify the TLSv1.2 and below cipher list sent by the client. this list will be combined with any TLSv1.3 ciphersuites that have been configured. although the server determines which cipher suite is used, it should take the first supported cipher in the list sent by the client. see openssl-ciphers(1) for more info 🔐
  • -ciphersuites val — lets you modify the TLSv1.3 ciphersuites sent by the client. this list will be combined with any TLSv1.2 and below ciphersuites that have been configured. and again, although the server determines which cipher suite is used, it should take the first supported cipher in the list sent by the client. see openssl-ciphers(1) for more info. the format for this list is a simple colon (":") separated list of TLSv1.3 ciphersuite names — colon-separated, so retro, so chic 🎀
  • -time length — specifies how long (in seconds) this command should establish connections and optionally transfer payload data from a server. how many connections it can establish is determined by server and client performance and the link speed ⏱️
  • -nameopt option — specifies how the subject or issuer names are displayed. see openssl-namedisplay-options(1) for details 🖋️
  • -CAfile file, -no-CAfile, -CApath dir, -no-CApath, -CAstore uri, -no-CAstore — see "Trusted Certificate Options" in openssl-verification-options(1) for details 🫶
  • -provider name, -provider-path path, -provparam [name:]key=value, -propquery propq — see "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7) 🌈
  • -cafile file — this is an obsolete synonym for -CAfile 👵 (deprecated era, we still respect her)
  • -ssl3, -tls1, -tls1_1, -tls1_2, -tls1_3 — see "TLS Version Options" in openssl(1) 🦋

🌸 NOTES 🌸

this command can be used to measure the performance of an SSL connection. to connect to an SSL HTTP server and get the default page, the command

openssl s_time -connect servername:443 -www / -CApath yourdir -CAfile yourfile.pem -cipher commoncipher [-ssl3]

would typically be used (https uses port 443, iykyk). commoncipher is a cipher to which both client and server can agree — see the openssl-ciphers(1) command for details 💖

if the handshake fails then there are several possible causes. if it's nothing obvious like no client certificate, then the -bugs and -ssl3 options can be tried in case it's a buggy server. especially you should play with these options before submitting a bug report to an OpenSSL mailing list — please, bestie, do the experimenting first 🙏

a frequent problem when attempting to get client certificates working is that a web client complains it has no certificates or gives an empty list to choose from. this is normally because the server is not sending the clients certificate authority in its "acceptable CA list" when it requests a certificate. by using openssl-s_client(1) the CA list can be viewed and checked. however, some servers only request client authentication after a specific URL is requested. to obtain the list in this case it is necessary to use the -prexit option of openssl-s_client(1) and send an HTTP request for an appropriate page 📋

if a certificate is specified on the command line using the -cert option it will not be used unless the server specifically requests a client certificate. therefore, merely including a client certificate on the command line is no guarantee that the certificate works — harsh but true 🥲

seriously: throwing a cert at the command line is not the same as that cert working. do not let it gaslight you.

💀 BUGS 💀

  • because this program does not have all the options of the openssl-s_client(1) program to turn protocols on and off, you may not be able to measure the performance of all protocols with all servers. it's not a skill issue, it's a scope issue 😭
  • the -verify option should really exit if the server verification fails. (should. really. but doesn't. noted.) 🙈

⭐ HISTORY ⭐

the -cafile option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0 🫡

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

openssl(1), openssl-s_client(1), openssl-s_server(1), openssl-ciphers(1), ossl_store-file(7)

Copyright 2004-2021 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>.

okay that's the whole page bestie, go time some connections 💅 this lil rewrite is running on OpenSSL version 3.5.6, dated 2026-04-07 — mwah, see you in the group chat 🎀✨🦋

📦 where this page comes from