OPENSSL-SPEED(1ossl)

💖 openssl-speed(1ossl) 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to openssl-speed, the glow-up of a manual page from the OpenSSL fam (the 1ossl manual section, iykyk) — and honestly? it's giving "let's benchmark literally everything" energy. 💅

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✨ NAME ✨

openssl-speed — test library performance 🏃‍♀️💨

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

openssl speed [-help] [-config filename] [-elapsed] [-evp algo] [-hmac
algo] [-cmac algo] [-mb] [-aead] [-kem-algorithms]
[-signature-algorithms] [-multi num] [-async_jobs num] [-misalign num]
[-decrypt] [-primes num] [-seconds num] [-bytes num] [-mr] [-mlock]
[-testmode] [-rand files] [-writerand file] [-engine id] [-provider
name] [-provider-path path] [-provparam [name:]key=value] [-propquery
propq] [algorithm ...]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so this command is the vibe check for your crypto — it tests the performance of cryptographic algorithms. literally just "how fast does this go" but for ciphers and digests. no cap, it's the main character of benchmarking. 🔥

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

okay bestie, buckle up, there are a LOT of these and each one is iconic in its own way:

• -help — prints out a usage message. the "what do I even do here" button. 🫶
• -config filename — specifies the configuration file to use. it's optional; for a description of the default value, see "COMMAND SUMMARY" in openssl(1). ✨
• -elapsed — when calculating operations- or bytes-per-second, use wall-clock time instead of CPU user time as divisor. lowkey useful when you're testing the speed of hardware engines. ⏰
• -evp algo — use the specified cipher or message digest algorithm via the EVP interface. if algo is an AEAD cipher, then you can pass -aead to benchmark a TLS-like sequence. and if algo is a multi-buffer capable cipher, e.g. aes-128-cbc-hmac-sha1, then -mb will time multi-buffer operation. 💫

to see the algorithms supported with this option, use the openssl list -digest-algorithms or openssl list -cipher-algorithms command. iykyk.

• -multi num — run multiple operations in parallel. multitasking slay. 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️
• -async_jobs num — enable async mode and start specified number of jobs. 🔄
• -misalign num — misalign the buffers by the specified number of bytes. chaos but on purpose. 🙈
• -hmac digest — time the HMAC algorithm using the specified message digest. 🍓
• -cmac cipher — time the CMAC algorithm using the specified cipher, e.g. openssl speed -cmac aes128. 💜
• -decrypt — time the decryption instead of encryption. affects only the EVP testing. 🔓
• -mb — enable multi-block mode on EVP-named cipher. ✨
• -aead — benchmark EVP-named AEAD cipher in TLS-like sequence. 🛡️
• -kem-algorithms — benchmark KEM algorithms: key generation, encapsulation, decapsulation. the whole trilogy, honestly. 👑
• -signature-algorithms — benchmark signature algorithms: key generation, signature, verification. 💫
• -primes num — generate a num-prime RSA key and use it to run the benchmarks. this option is only effective if the RSA algorithm is specified to test. 🔢
• -seconds num — run benchmarks for num seconds. ⏱️
• -bytes num — run benchmarks on num-byte buffers. affects ciphers, digests and the CSPRNG. the limit on the size of the buffer is INT_MAX - 64 bytes, which for a 32-bit int would be 2147483583 bytes. so like, don't get too ambitious. 😭
• -mr — produce the summary in a mechanical, machine-readable, format. for when your script is the one reading it, not you. 🤖
• -mlock — lock memory into RAM for more deterministic measurements. no swapping, no drama. 🔒
• -testmode — runs the speed command in testmode. runs only 1 iteration of each algorithm test regardless of any -seconds value. in the event that any operation fails then the speed command will return with a failure result. short and sweet. ⚡
• -rand files, -writerand file — see "Random State Options" in openssl(1) for details. 🎲
• -engine id — see "Engine Options" in openssl(1). this option is deprecated. 💀 like, it's still here but pls don't.
• -provider name
• -provider-path path
• -provparam [name:]key=value
• -propquery propq — see "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7). 🌈
• algorithm ... — if any algorithm is given, then those algorithms are tested, otherwise a pre-compiled grand selection is tested. the "surprise me" default, basically. 🎁

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💀 BUGS 💀

ngl, there are some limits and you should know about them:

• the algorithm can be selected only from a pre-compiled subset of things that the openssl speed command knows about. to test any additional digest or cipher algorithm supported by OpenSSL use the -evp option. 🙈
• there is no way to test the speed of any additional public key algorithms supported by third party providers with the openssl speed command. yeah. it's giving "closed guest list". 😭

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⭐ HISTORY ⭐

the lore, bestie:

• the -engine option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.
• DSA512 was removed in OpenSSL 3.2.
• the -testmode option was added in OpenSSL 3.4. 🎀

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👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

Copyright 2000-2024 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 — mwah 💋 this was 3.5.9, dated 2026-09-29, OPENSSL-SPEED(1ossl), and honestly it ate. periodt. 🌈✨🫶