NAME

       openssl-ec - EC key processing

SYNOPSIS

       openssl ec [-help] [-inform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE] [-outform DER|PEM] [-in filename|uri]
       [-passin arg] [-out filename] [-passout arg] [-des] [-des3] [-idea] [-text] [-noout]
       [-param_out] [-pubin] [-pubout] [-conv_form arg] [-param_enc arg] [-no_public] [-check]
       [-engine id] [-provider name] [-provider-path path] [-propquery propq]

DESCRIPTION

       The openssl-ec(1) command processes EC keys. They can be converted between various forms
       and their components printed out. Note OpenSSL uses the private key format specified in
       'SEC 1: Elliptic Curve Cryptography' (http://www.secg.org/). To convert an OpenSSL EC
       private key into the PKCS#8 private key format use the openssl-pkcs8(1) command.

OPTIONS

       -help
           Print out a usage message.

       -inform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE
           The key input format; unspecified by default.  See openssl-format-options(1) for
           details.

       -outform DER|PEM
           The key output format; the default is PEM.  See openssl-format-options(1) for details.

           Private keys are an SEC1 private key or PKCS#8 format.  Public keys are a
           SubjectPublicKeyInfo as specified in IETF RFC 3280.

       -in filename|uri
           This specifies the input to read a key from or standard input if this option is not
           specified. If the key is encrypted a pass phrase will be prompted for.

       -out filename
           This specifies the output filename to write a key to or standard output by is not
           specified. If any encryption options are set then a pass phrase will be prompted for.
           The output filename should not be the same as the input filename.

       -passin arg, -passout arg
           The password source for the input and output file.  For more information about the
           format of arg see openssl-passphrase-options(1).

       -des|-des3|-idea
           These options encrypt the private key with the DES, triple DES, IDEA or any other
           cipher supported by OpenSSL before outputting it. A pass phrase is prompted for.  If
           none of these options is specified the key is written in plain text. This means that
           using this command to read in an encrypted key with no encryption option can be used
           to remove the pass phrase from a key, or by setting the encryption options it can be
           use to add or change the pass phrase.  These options can only be used with PEM format
           output files.

       -text
           Prints out the public, private key components and parameters.

       -noout
           This option prevents output of the encoded version of the key.

       -param_out
           Print the elliptic curve parameters.

       -pubin
           By default, a private key is read from the input file. With this option a public key
           is read instead.

       -pubout
           By default a private key is output. With this option a public key will be output
           instead. This option is automatically set if the input is a public key.

       -conv_form arg
           This specifies how the points on the elliptic curve are converted into octet strings.
           Possible values are: compressed, uncompressed (the default value) and hybrid. For more
           information regarding the point conversion forms please read the X9.62 standard.  Note
           Due to patent issues the compressed option is disabled by default for binary curves
           and can be enabled by defining the preprocessor macro OPENSSL_EC_BIN_PT_COMP at
           compile time.

       -param_enc arg
           This specifies how the elliptic curve parameters are encoded.  Possible value are:
           named_curve, i.e. the ec parameters are specified by an OID, or explicit where the ec
           parameters are explicitly given (see RFC 3279 for the definition of the EC parameters
           structures). The default value is named_curve.  Note the implicitlyCA alternative, as
           specified in RFC 3279, is currently not implemented in OpenSSL.

       -no_public
           This option omits the public key components from the private key output.

       -check
           This option checks the consistency of an EC private or public key.

       -engine id
           See "Engine Options" in openssl(1).  This option is deprecated.

       -provider name
       -provider-path path
       -propquery propq
           See "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7).

       The openssl-pkey(1) command is capable of performing all the operations this command can,
       as well as supporting other public key types.

EXAMPLES

       The documentation for the openssl-pkey(1) command contains examples equivalent to the ones
       listed here.

       To encrypt a private key using triple DES:

        openssl ec -in key.pem -des3 -out keyout.pem

       To convert a private key from PEM to DER format:

        openssl ec -in key.pem -outform DER -out keyout.der

       To print out the components of a private key to standard output:

        openssl ec -in key.pem -text -noout

       To just output the public part of a private key:

        openssl ec -in key.pem -pubout -out pubkey.pem

       To change the parameters encoding to explicit:

        openssl ec -in key.pem -param_enc explicit -out keyout.pem

       To change the point conversion form to compressed:

        openssl ec -in key.pem -conv_form compressed -out keyout.pem

SEE ALSO

       openssl(1), openssl-pkey(1), openssl-ecparam(1), openssl-dsa(1), openssl-rsa(1)

HISTORY

       The -engine option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.

       The -conv_form and -no_public options are no longer supported with keys loaded from an
       engine in OpenSSL 3.0.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2003-2021 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>.