OPENSSL-EC(1ossl)

💖 NAME 💖

openssl-ec — EC key processing. This is the OPENSSL-EC(1ossl) manual, bestie. 💅

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✨ 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] [-provparam [name:]key=value]
[-propquery propq]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Okay so openssl-ec(1) is the command that processes EC keys. It can convert them between various forms and print out their components. No cap. ✨

Heads-up: OpenSSL uses the private key format specified in the SEC 1: Elliptic Curve Cryptography spec (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 — prints out a usage message. That’s it, that’s the girl. 💁‍♀️
• -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 if this option 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. Like, don’t do that to yourself. 😭

• -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 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 used to add or change the pass phrase.

These options can only be used with PEM format output files. Periodt. 💅

• -text — prints out the public, private key components and parameters. Show-off energy, honestly. 👑
• -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. With this option a public key is read instead. If the input contains no public key but a private key, its public part is used. 🫶
• -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, uncompressed (the default value) 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. Iykyk. 🧚

• -param_enc arg — this specifies how the elliptic curve parameters are encoded. Possible values 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. Vibe check, but for your key. 🔍
• -engine id — see “Engine Options” in openssl(1). This option is deprecated. 🫠
• -provider name — see “Provider Options” in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7).
• -provider-path path — see “Provider Options” in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7).
• -provparam [name:]key=value — see “Provider Options” in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7).
• -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. Versatile icon behavior. 🌈

🎀 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 2003-2023 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.

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Signed, sealed, and slayed by the OPENSSL-EC(1ossl) manual from OpenSSL — version 3.5.0, dated 2026-09-25. Stay secure and stay iconic, bestie 💖✨💅