OPENSSL-SPEED(1SSL)

📦
version 4.0.3 · 13 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💖 NAME 💖

okay so bestie, <pink>openssl-speed</pink> is literally the openssl speed command — it's the performance-testing girlie of the OpenSSL toolkit. You run it, it tests the performance of cryptographic algorithms. That's the whole job. She benches. She reports. She slays. 💅

✨ 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] [-provider name]
[-provider-path path] [-provparam [name:]key=value] [-propquery propq]
[algorithm ...]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So basically? This command tests the performance of cryptographic algorithms. That's it, that's the whole vibe. You feed her algorithms, she runs them over and over and tells you how fast they go. Iconic behavior, no cap. 🎀

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • -help — prints out a usage message. Your little map when you're lost. 🗺️
  • -config filename — tells her which config file to use. It's optional! For a description of the default value, peek at "COMMAND SUMMARY" in openssl(1). 💜
  • -elapsed — when she's calculating operations-per-second or bytes-per-second, use wall-clock time as the divisor instead of CPU user time. Two different clocks, two different vibes, pick your girlie. ⏰
  • -evp algo — use the specified cipher or message digest algorithm through the EVP interface. And listen: if algo is an AEAD cipher, 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 which algorithms this option supports, run openssl list -digest-algorithms or openssl list -cipher-algorithms. ✨
  • -multi num — run multiple operations in parallel. Girlboss mode: activated. 🔥
  • -async_jobs num — enable async mode and start the specified number of jobs.
  • -misalign num — misalign the buffers by the specified number of bytes. Chaos, but make it measurable. 🙈
  • -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, just so you know.
  • -mb — enable multi-block mode on an EVP-named cipher.
  • -aead — benchmark an EVP-named AEAD cipher in TLS-like sequence.
  • -kem-algorithms — benchmark KEM algorithms: key generation, encapsulation, decapsulation. The whole trilogy. 💫
  • -signature-algorithms — benchmark signature algorithms: key generation, signature, verification.
  • -primes num — generate a num-prime RSA key and use it to run the benchmarks. Heads up bestie, this option is only effective if RSA algorithm is specified to test. 🫶
  • -seconds num — run benchmarks for num seconds.
  • -bytes num — run benchmarks on num-byte buffers. This 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. Know your limits, queen. 👑
  • -mr — produce the summary in a mechanical, machine-readable, format. No frills, just data. 🤖
  • -mlock — lock memory into RAM for more deterministic measurements. Pinning it down so it can't wander off. 📌
  • -testmode — runs the speed command in testmode. Runs only 1 iteration of each algorithm test regardless of any -seconds value. And if any operation fails, the speed command will return with a failure result. So like, a tiny little vibe check for correctness. 💀
  • -rand files, -writerand file — see "Random State Options" in openssl(1) for details.
  • -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 gets tested. Surprise! 🎁

💀 BUGS 💀

ngl, there are some real ones here and we're gonna be honest 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. That's your workaround, bestie. 🩹
  • 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 limitation. 😭

📜 HISTORY 📜

The receipts, chronologically:

  • 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.
  • The -engine option was removed in OpenSSL 4.0.

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>.

okay that's the whole page, you ate it, go benchmark something and tell me the ops-per-second. 🦋

kisses, this was the OpenSSL manual, version 4.0.3, dated 2026-09-29 — catch you on the next page bestie 💜

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