EVP_PKEY2PKCS8(3SSL)

💖 EVP_PKEY2PKCS8 💖

okay bestie, so this is the EVP_PKEY2PKCS8(3SSL) page — it's the OpenSSL one about turning a private key into a PKCS8 object, and turning a PKCS8 object back into a private key. Two-way street. Glow-up in both directions. ✨

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✨ NAME ✨

EVP_PKEY2PKCS8, EVP_PKCS82PKEY_ex, EVP_PKCS82PKEY — convert a private key to/from PKCS8. That's literally the whole plot. 🎀

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <openssl/x509.h>

PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO *EVP_PKEY2PKCS8(const EVP_PKEY *pkey);
EVP_PKEY *EVP_PKCS82PKEY(const PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO *p8);
EVP_PKEY *EVP_PKCS82PKEY_ex(const PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO *p8, OSSL_LIB_CTX *libctx,
                            const char *propq);

like… that's it. three little lines and she's serving. 💅

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

EVP_PKEY2PKCS8() converts a private key pkey into a returned PKCS8 object. you hand her the key, she hands you back the PKCS8. iconic. no notes. 💖

EVP_PKCS82PKEY_ex() goes the other way bestie — it converts a PKCS8 object p8 into a returned private key. and the way it does that? it uses libctx and propq when fetching algorithms. so if you're being all fancy with your own library context and property query, this is the one you want. 🔥

EVP_PKCS82PKEY() is basically the chill twin of EVP_PKCS82PKEY_ex() — same energy, except it uses default values of NULL for the libctx and propq. so like, no customization, just vibes. 🙈

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👑 RETURN VALUES 👑

• EVP_PKEY2PKCS8() returns a PKCS8 object on success. slay. 💅
• EVP_PKCS82PKEY() and EVP_PKCS82PKEY_ex() return a private key on success. also slay. ✨

and for the bad-news part: all functions return NULL if the operation fails. every single one. so if you get NULL, girl, the operation did not eat. check your inputs. 😭

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🔍 SEE ALSO 🔍

• PKCS8_pkey_add1_attr(3)

go read that one too, iykyk. 🫶

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📜 COPYRIGHT 📜

Copyright 2020-2022 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>.

fr fr, read the license before you go copying things. that's the rule. periodt. 💜

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okay that's the whole page bestie, version 4.0.3, dated 2026-09-29 — go convert some keys, you absolute main character. 🌈🦋💖