OPENSSL-CMDS(1SSL)

📦
version 4.0.3 · 13 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

✨ OPENSSL-CMDS 💅 — the whole squad of OpenSSL application commands

okay bestie, settle in, because this is the group chat roster of openssl itself. That header up top says OPENSSL-CMDS(1SSL) and honestly? It's giving "table of contents for the entire OpenSSL command universe". No cap.

🌸 NAME 🌸

The whole squad, one list, all of them are OpenSSL application commands:

  • asn1parse
  • ca
  • ciphers
  • cmp
  • cms
  • crl
  • crl2pkcs7
  • dgst
  • dhparam
  • dsa
  • dsaparam
  • ec
  • ecparam
  • enc
  • 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 vibe check. Forty-eight little icons, each with main character energy. 👑

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

The shape of literally every single one of them:

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

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So here's the tea 💖: every single cmd up there in the NAME section? It's a (sub-)command of the big openssl(1) application. Yes, the one and only. And because the OpenSSL girlies don't do anything halfway, each one has its own detailed manual page at openssl-cmd(1). Iconic behaviour, honestly.

Wanna see how that works IRL? Say you're obsessed with the openssl dgst command (and you should be). You just type:

man openssl-dgst

and boom 💥 — the whole page is right there, just for you. Go, bestie, read. 🫶

💅 OPTIONS 💅

Among others, every subcommand has a help option. Not me pointing out that even the help menu has a help menu. 🙈

  • -help — Prints out a usage message for the subcommand. That's it. That's the whole option. Slay, honestly — a queen who tells you how she works.

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

Your reading list, bestie. Go follow all of these, they're mutuals:

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-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),

🧚 HISTORY 🧚

Story time, because this lore goes deep 📖✨.

Initially, the manual page entry for the openssl cmd command used to be available at cmd(1). Simple era, honestly.

Later, the alias openssl-cmd(1) was introduced — and it ate, because it made it way easier to group the openssl commands together using the apropos(1) command or the shell's tab completion. Glow-up moment fr fr. 💅

Then, in order to reduce cluttering of the global manual page namespace, the manual page entries without the openssl- prefix have been deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0 and will be removed in OpenSSL 4.0. So like… bestie, if you're still calling them the old way, it's giving legacy. 😭

Also: the engine command was removed in OpenSSL 4.0. She's gone, gone. 💀

lowkey important: that openssl- prefix thing is not a suggestion, it's a countdown. Adjust accordingly.

Copyright 2019-2026 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>.

and that's the page, bestie 💜 shoutout to the fine print down at the bottom: this whole thing is from OpenSSL 4.0.3, dated 2026-09-29, filed under OPENSSL-CMDS(1SSL). stay encrypted, stay iconic, periodt. 🎀✨🦋

📦 where this page comes from