OPENSSL-VERSION(1SSL)

📦
version 4.0.3 · 13 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💖 NAME 💖

okay so bestie, openssl-version — it prints OpenSSL version information. that's the whole job. it's giving "who am i, what am i, when was i born" but for your OpenSSL install. ✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

openssl version [-help] [-a] [-v] [-b] [-o] [-f] [-p] [-d] [-m] [-r]
[-c] [-w]

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

bestie this command is literally just here to print out version information about OpenSSL. that's it, that's the function. you run it, it tells you stuff about the OpenSSL you're working with. iconic behaviour honestly. 💅

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -help — prints out a usage message. your lil "how do i even use this" rescue button 🫶
  • -a — ALL the information. this is the same as setting all the other flags at once. the full buffet, no crumbs left.
  • -v — the current OpenSSL version. just the version, nothing else. main character energy.
  • -b — the date the current version of OpenSSL was built. its lil birthday 🎂
  • -o — option information: the various options that were set when the library was built.
  • -f — compilation flags. receipts from the build 👑
  • -p — platform setting. where you at, what are you running on.
  • -d — the OPENSSLDIR setting.
  • -m — the MODULESDIR settings.
  • -r — the random number generator source settings. rng lore 🔥
  • -c — the OpenSSL CPU settings info.
  • -w — the OpenSSL OSSL_WINCTX build time variable, if it's set. it's used for computing Windows registry key names. > heads up bestie: this option is unavailable on non-Windows platforms. so if you're on unix and you pass -w, that's a no from the terminal, sorry 💀

💜 HISTORY 💜

okay so storytime, gather round 🧚

in OpenSSL versions prior to 3.4, OpenSSL had a limitation regarding the OPENSSLDIR and MODULESDIR build time macros. those macros were defined at build time, and they represented filesystem paths. which is, like, common practice on unix like systems, because there was an expectation that a given build would be installed to a pre-determined location. predictable. cute.

but on Windows? no such expectation. libraries can be installed to arbitrary locations. chaos. so OSSL_WINCTX was introduced as a new build time variable to define a set of registry keys identified by the name openssl-<version>-<ctx>, where the <version> value is derived from the version string in the openssl source, and the <ctx> extension is derived from the OSSL_WINCTX variable. then the values of OPENSSLDIR and MODULESDIR can be set to various paths underneath this key to break the requirement to predict the installation path at build time. slay, problem solved ✨

🦋 NOTES 🦋

the output of openssl version -a would typically be used when sending in a bug report. so if something's broken, run that, copy the vibe, and send it. the devs will thank you fr fr 🙏

Copyright 2000-2026 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>.

okay that's the whole page bestie, you're officially an OpenSSL version-printing expert 💖 this was OPENSSL-VERSION(1SSL) from OpenSSL, and the version of this very page is 4.0.3, dated 2026-09-29. go forth and -a responsibly 🎀🫶

📦 where this page comes from