DGST(1)

NAME
dgst, md5, md4, md2, sha1, sha, mdc2, ripemd160 - message digests

SYNOPSIS
openssl dgst [-md5|-md4|-md2|-sha1|-sha|-mdc2|-ripemd160|-dss1] [-c] [-d] [-hex] [-binary] [-out filename] [-sign filename] [-verify filename] [-prverify filename] [-signature filename] [file...]

[md5|md4|md2|sha1|sha|mdc2|ripemd160] [-c] [-d] [file...]

DESCRIPTION
The digest functions output the message digest of a supplied file or files in hexadecimal form. They can also be used for digital signing and verification.

OPTIONS
print out the digest in two digit groups separated by colons, only relevant if hex format output is used. print out BIO debugging information. digest is to be output as a hex dump. This is the default case for a "normal" digest as opposed to a digital signature. output the digest or signature in binary form. filename to output to, or standard output by default. digitally sign the digest using the private key in "filename". verify the signature using the the public key in "filename". The output is either "Verification OK" or "Verification Failure". verify the signature using the the private key in "filename". the actual signature to verify. a file or files containing random data used to seed the random number generator, or an EGD socket (see RAND_egd(3)). Multiple files can be specified separated by a OS-dependent character. The separator is ; for MS-Windows, , for OpenVMS, and : for all others. file or files to digest. If no files are specified then standard input is used.

NOTES
The digest of choice for all new applications is SHA1. Other digests are however still widely used.

If you wish to sign or verify data using the DSA algorithm then the dss1 digest must be used.

A source of random numbers is required for certain signing algorithms, in particular DSA.

The signing and verify options should only be used if a single file is being signed or verified.