NAME

       fips_config - OpenSSL FIPS configuration

DESCRIPTION

       A separate configuration file, using the OpenSSL config(5) syntax, is used to hold
       information about the FIPS module. This includes a digest of the shared library file, and
       status about the self-testing.  This data is used automatically by the module itself for
       two purposes:

       - Run the startup FIPS self-test known answer tests (KATS).
           This is normally done once, at installation time, but may also be set up to run each
           time the module is used.

       - Verify the module's checksum.
           This is done each time the module is used.

       This file is generated by the openssl-fipsinstall(1) program, and used internally by the
       FIPS module during its initialization.

       The following options are supported. They should all appear in a section whose name is
       identified by the fips option in the providers section, as described in "Provider
       Configuration Module" in config(5).

       activate
           If present, the module is activated. The value assigned to this name is not
           significant.

       install-version
           A version number for the fips install process. Should be 1.

       conditional-errors
           The FIPS module normally enters an internal error mode if any self test fails.  Once
           this error mode is active, no services or cryptographic algorithms are accessible from
           this point on.  Continuous tests are a subset of the self tests (e.g., a key pair test
           during key generation, or the CRNG output test).  Setting this value to 0 allows the
           error mode to not be triggered if any continuous test fails. The default value of 1
           will trigger the error mode.  Regardless of the value, the operation (e.g., key
           generation) that called the continuous test will return an error code if its
           continuous test fails. The operation may then be retried if the error mode has not
           been triggered.

       security-checks
           This indicates if run-time checks related to enforcement of security parameters such
           as minimum security strength of keys and approved curve names are used.  A value of
           '1' will perform the checks, otherwise if the value is '0' the checks are not
           performed and FIPS compliance must be done by procedures documented in the relevant
           Security Policy.

       module-mac
           The calculated MAC of the FIPS provider file.

       install-status
           An indicator that the self-tests were successfully run.  This should only be written
           after the module has successfully passed its self tests during installation.  If this
           field is not present, then the self tests will run when the module loads.

       install-mac
           A MAC of the value of the install-status option, to prevent accidental changes to that
           value.  It is written-to at the same time as install-status is updated.

       For example:

        [fips_sect]
        activate = 1
        install-version = 1
        conditional-errors = 1
        security-checks = 1
        module-mac = 41:D0:FA:C2:5D:41:75:CD:7D:C3:90:55:6F:A4:DC
        install-mac = FE:10:13:5A:D3:B4:C7:82:1B:1E:17:4C:AC:84:0C
        install-status = INSTALL_SELF_TEST_KATS_RUN

NOTES

       When using the FIPS provider, it is recommended that the config_diagnostics option is
       enabled to prevent accidental use of non-FIPS validated algorithms via broken or mistaken
       configuration.  See config(5).

SEE ALSO

       config(5) openssl-fipsinstall(1)

HISTORY

       This functionality was added in OpenSSL 3.0.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2019-2021 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>.