OPENSSL-CMDS(1ossl)

💅 OPENSSL-CMDS — the one where openssl has like 50 subcommands bestie 💅

okay so first things first, this page is from the OpenSSL manual, and it's literally the master list of every single openssl subcommand. think of it as the group chat member list for the openssl(1) application. every name you see below? that's a whole separate command with its own whole manual page. we love a well-organized family 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

so the full roster of openssl application commands is:

asn1parse, ca, ciphers, cmp, cms, crl, crl2pkcs7, dgst, dhparam, dsa, dsaparam, ec, ecparam, enc, engine, errstr, gendsa, genpkey, genrsa, info, kdf, mac, nseq, ocsp, passwd, pkcs12, pkcs7, pkcs8, pkey, pkeyparam, pkeyutl, prime, rand, rehash, req, rsa, rsautl, s_client, s_server, s_time, sess_id, smime, speed, spkac, srp, storeutl, ts, verify, version, x509

that's the whole squad. no cap. 💖

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

the vibe is literally just:

openssl cmd -help | [-option | -option arg] ... [arg] ...

like, pick a cmd, pass it some options, maybe some args, and you're off. slay. ✨

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

every single cmd listed up above is a (sub-)command of the openssl(1) application. each one has its very own detailed manual page at openssl-cmd(1).

so for example — and this is the iconic example — if you wanna see the manual page for the openssl dgst command, you literally just type:

man openssl-dgst

and boom, you're in. it's giving "everything has its own dedicated wiki page" energy and honestly? obsessed. 🦋

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

among other things — and yes there are a LOT of other things across all these subcommands — every single subcommand has a help option. iconic behavior honestly.

• -help — prints out a usage message for the subcommand. that's it. that's the whole option on this page. use it when you're lost, bestie, it will literally never judge you. 🙈

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

okay this list is LONG but every single one matters so here we go, no skipping, no summarizing, we respect the lore:

openssl(1), openssl-asn1parse(1), openssl-ca(1), openssl-ciphers(1), openssl-cmp(1), openssl-cms(1), openssl-crl(1), openssl-crl2pkcs7(1), openssl-dgst(1), openssl-dhparam(1), openssl-dsa(1), openssl-dsaparam(1), openssl-ec(1), openssl-ecparam(1), openssl-enc(1), openssl-engine(1), openssl-errstr(1), openssl-gendsa(1), openssl-genpkey(1), openssl-genrsa(1), openssl-info(1), openssl-kdf(1), openssl-mac(1), openssl-nseq(1), openssl-ocsp(1), openssl-passwd(1), openssl-pkcs12(1), openssl-pkcs7(1), openssl-pkcs8(1), openssl-pkey(1), openssl-pkeyparam(1), openssl-pkeyutl(1), openssl-prime(1), openssl-rand(1), openssl-rehash(1), openssl-req(1), openssl-rsa(1), openssl-rsautl(1), openssl-s_client(1), openssl-s_server(1), openssl-s_time(1), openssl-sess_id(1), openssl-smime(1), openssl-speed(1), openssl-spkac(1), openssl-srp(1), openssl-storeutl(1), openssl-ts(1), openssl-verify(1), openssl-version(1), openssl-x509(1)

like I said. the whole squad. each one has lore. go read them. 💜

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🌈 HISTORY 🌈

okay story time bestie, because the way this evolved is lowkey a glow-up arc:

initially, the manual page entry for the "openssl cmd" command used to live at cmd(1). simple. minimal. a little chaotic.

later, the alias openssl-cmd(1) was introduced — and this was genuinely a slay because it made it way easier to group the openssl commands together using the apropos(1) command or the shell's tab completion. like, tab completion said "let me help you" and the devs said "periodt." 👑

and then — to reduce cluttering of the global manual page namespace — the manual page entries without the 'openssl-' prefix got deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.

⚠️ and heads up bestie, this is the important part: those unprefixed entries will be removed in OpenSSL 4.0. so if you're still reaching for cmd(1) style pages, that's a ticking clock situation. deprecated is deprecated, no cap. 💀

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⭐ COPYRIGHT ⭐

copyright 2019-2020 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 was OPENSSL-CMDS(1ossl) from 3.5.9, dated 2026-09-29 — go forth, run -help on everything, and stay iconic. 💖🎀🦋