SSL_CONF_CTX_SET_FLAGS(3ossl)

📦
version 15.1 · 3 versions
, in freebsd 15.1

✨ SSL_CONF_CTX_set_flags — bestie edition 💅

okay so this is one of those little OpenSSL pages that's like, tiny but lowkey important? it's from the ssl.h header, iykyk 🎀

🌸 NAME

SSL_CONF_CTX_set_flags, SSL_CONF_CTX_clear_flags — the two functions that set or clear SSL configuration context flags 🦋 like, they flip the lil switches on your config context.

✨ SYNOPSIS

#include <openssl/ssl.h>

unsigned int SSL_CONF_CTX_set_flags(SSL_CONF_CTX *cctx, unsigned int flags);
unsigned int SSL_CONF_CTX_clear_flags(SSL_CONF_CTX *cctx, unsigned int flags);

💖 DESCRIPTION

okay so SSL_CONF_CTX_set_flags() sets flags in the context cctx. that's it. that's the whole vibe. ⭐

and SSL_CONF_CTX_clear_flags() clears flags in the context cctx. the way that these two are genuinely just opposites of each other 😭🫶

🎀 NOTES

the flags you set here affect how subsequent calls to SSL_CONF_cmd() or SSL_CONF_argv() behave. so like, set them before you do the thing, bestie, or they won't do anything for you 💀

currently the following flags values are recognised:

  • SSL_CONF_FLAG_CMDLINE, SSL_CONF_FLAG_FILE — these recognise options intended for command line or configuration file use. at least one of these flags must be set. no cap, it's mandatory 🚨
  • SSL_CONF_FLAG_CLIENT, SSL_CONF_FLAG_SERVER — these recognise options intended for use in SSL/TLS clients or servers. one or both of these flags must be set. pick a side or pick both, but you gotta pick 💅
  • SSL_CONF_FLAG_CERTIFICATE — recognises certificate and private key options 🎫✨
  • SSL_CONF_FLAG_REQUIRE_PRIVATE — if this option is set then if a private key is not specified for a certificate it will attempt to load a private key from the certificate file when SSL_CONF_CTX_finish() is called. and if a key cannot be loaded from the certificate file an error occurs. so like, it's giving "trust me bro, the key's in there somewhere" and if it's not, it's a whole error situation 🙈
  • SSL_CONF_FLAG_SHOW_ERRORS — this one indicates errors relating to unrecognised options or missing arguments in the error queue. if this option isn't set such errors are only reflected in the return values of SSL_CONF_set_cmd() or SSL_CONF_set_argv(). so basically if you don't set this, the errors are being quiet about it and you only find out from the return values 👀

🔥 RETURN VALUES

SSL_CONF_CTX_set_flags() and SSL_CONF_CTX_clear_flags() returns the new flags value after setting or clearing flags. like, they hand you back the freshly updated flags so you can see what you did 🫶

🌈 SEE ALSO

ssl(7), SSL_CONF_CTX_new(3), SSL_CONF_CTX_set_ssl_ctx(3), SSL_CONF_CTX_set1_prefix(3), SSL_CONF_cmd(3), SSL_CONF_cmd_argv(3)

👑 HISTORY

these functions were added in OpenSSL 1.0.2. vintage, but iconic ⭐

Copyright 2012-2016 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 whole page bestie, ily, go set some flags 💜

this was OpenSSL 3.5.6, dated 2026-04-07 — main character energy from the SSL_CONF_CTX_SET_FLAGS(3ossl) girlies forever 🧚✨

📦 where this page comes from