OPENSSL-GENDSA(1ossl)

💅 OPENSSL-GENDSA 💅

okay bestie, so this is the openssl-gendsa page from the OpenSSL manual set — like, the actual man page for making a DSA private key out of a set of parameters. it's giving "small but mighty," and you're gonna slay it, i promise 🫶

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✨ 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] [-quiet]
[-rand files] [-writerand file] [-engine id] [-provider name]
[-provider-path path] [-provparam [name:]key=value] [-propquery propq]
[paramfile]

like, that's the whole vibe check right there 👑

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so here's the tea ☕ — this command generates a DSA private key from a DSA parameter file. and where does that parameter file come from, you ask? typically from the openssl-dsaparam(1) command, bestie. that's the one that makes the params in the first place 💖

✨ OPTIONS ✨

• -help — prints out a usage message. that's it, that's the whole job, and honestly? iconic 🙈
• -out filename — writes the key to the file you name. if you don't specify this argument, standard output gets it instead. no pressure or anything 💅
• -passout arg — the passphrase used for the output file. peep openssl-passphrase-options(1) for the deets 🔑
• -aes128, -aes192, -aes256, -aria128, -aria192, -aria256, -camellia128, -camellia192, -camellia256, -des, -des3, -idea — these options encrypt the private key with the specified cipher before outputting it. a pass phrase gets prompted for. and if none of these options is specified, no encryption is used at all — literally none, so maybe think about that bestie 😭

note that all options must be given before the paramfile argument. like, all of them. before. periodt ✋

• -verbose — prints extra details about the operations being performed. for when you simply must know everything 👀
• -quiet — prints fewer details about the operations being performed, which may be handy during batch scripts and pipelines. lowkey the introvert option 🦋
• -rand files, -writerand file — see "Random State Options" in openssl(1) for details, bestie 🌈
• -engine id — see "Engine Options" in openssl(1). heads up: 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) command. so like, this file is the main character here 👑
• -provider name
• -provider-path path
• -provparam [name:]key=value
• -propquery propq — see "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7). all the provider lore lives over there 🧚

✨ NOTES ✨

ngl, DSA key generation is little more than random number generation, so it is much quicker than RSA key generation for example. like, it's fast. not me being obsessed with how fast it is 🔥

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

openssl(1), openssl-genpkey(1), openssl-dsaparam(1), openssl-dsa(1), openssl-genrsa(1), openssl-rsa(1) — go read those too, i believe in you 🫶

✨ HISTORY ✨

the -engine option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0. rip to a real one 💀

✨ 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>.

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 this one's from OpenSSL 3.5.0, dated 2026-09-25 — go forth and generate those keys, you absolute icon 👑💜