openssl/doc/man3/RAND_load_file.pod
Rich Salz 8389ec4b49 Add --with-rand-seed
Add a new config param to specify how the CSPRNG should be seeded.
Illegal values or nonsensical combinations (e.g., anything other
than "os" on VMS or HP VOS etc) result in build failures.
Add RDSEED support.
Add RDTSC but leave it disabled for now pending more investigation.

Refactor and reorganization all seeding files (rand_unix/win/vms) so
that they are simpler.

Only require 128 bits of seeding material.

Many document improvements, including why to not use RAND_add() and the
limitations around using load_file/write_file.
Document RAND_poll().

Cleanup Windows RAND_poll and return correct status

More completely initialize the default DRBG.

Reviewed-by: Paul Dale <paul.dale@oracle.com>
(Merged from https://github.com/openssl/openssl/pull/3965)
2017-07-22 14:00:07 -04:00

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=pod
=head1 NAME
RAND_load_file, RAND_write_file, RAND_file_name - PRNG seed file
=head1 SYNOPSIS
#include <openssl/rand.h>
int RAND_load_file(const char *filename, long max_bytes);
int RAND_write_file(const char *filename);
const char *RAND_file_name(char *buf, size_t num);
=head1 DESCRIPTION
RAND_load_file() reads a number of bytes from file B<filename> and
adds them to the PRNG. If B<max_bytes> is non-negative,
up to B<max_bytes> are read;
if B<max_bytes> is -1, the complete file is read.
Do not load the same file multiple times unless its contents have
been updated by RAND_write_file() between reads.
Also, note that B<filename> should be adequately protected so that an
attacker cannot replace or examine the contents.
RAND_write_file() writes a number of random bytes (currently 128) to
file B<filename> which can be used to initialize the PRNG by calling
RAND_load_file() in a later session.
RAND_file_name() generates a default path for the random seed
file. B<buf> points to a buffer of size B<num> in which to store the
filename.
On all systems, if the environment variable B<RANDFILE> is set, its
value will be used as the seed file name.
Otherwise, the file is called C<.rnd>, found in platform dependent locations:
=over 4
=item On Windows (in order of preference)
%HOME%, %USERPROFILE%, %SYSTEMROOT%, C:\
=item On VMS
SYS$LOGIN:
=item On all other systems
$HOME
=back
If C<$HOME> (on non-Windows and non-VMS system) is not set either, or
B<num> is too small for the path name, an error occurs.
=head1 RETURN VALUES
RAND_load_file() returns the number of bytes read.
RAND_write_file() returns the number of bytes written, or -1 if the
bytes written were generated without appropriate seeding.
RAND_file_name() returns a pointer to B<buf> on success, and NULL on
error.
=head1 SEE ALSO
L<RAND_bytes(3)>, L<RAND_add(3)>
=head1 HISTORY
A comment in the source since at least OpenSSL 1.0.2 said that
RAND_load_file() and RAND_write_file() were only intended for regular files,
and not really device special files such as C</dev/random>. This was
poorly enforced before OpenSSL 1.1.1.
=head1 COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2000-2017 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
Licensed under the OpenSSL license (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
L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
=cut