Manual: openssl-passphrase-options

OPENSSL-PASSPHRASE-OPTIONS(1SSL)			   OpenSSL			    OPENSSL-PASSPHRASE-OPTIONS(1SSL)

NAME
       openssl-passphrase-options - Pass phrase options

SYNOPSIS
       openssl command [ options ... ] [ parameters ... ]

DESCRIPTION
       Several OpenSSL commands accept password arguments, typically using -passin and -passout for input and output
       passwords respectively. These allow the password to be obtained from a variety of sources. Both of these options take
       a single argument whose format is described below. If no password argument is given and a password is required then
       the user is prompted to enter one: this will typically be read from the current terminal with echoing turned off.

       Note that character encoding may be relevant, please see passphrase-encoding(7).

OPTIONS
   Pass Phrase Option Arguments
       Pass phrase arguments can be formatted as follows.

       pass:password
	   The	actual	password  is  password.	 Since the password is visible to utilities (like 'ps' under Unix) this form
	   should only be used where security is not important.

       env:var
	   Obtain the password from the environment variable var. Since the environment of other  processes  is	 visible  on
	   certain platforms (e.g. ps under certain Unix OSes) this option should be used with caution.

       file:pathname
	   Reads the password from the specified file pathname, which can be a regular file, device, or named pipe. Only the
	   first line, up to the newline character, is read from the stream.

	   If the same pathname argument is supplied to both -passin and -passout arguments, the first line will be used for
	   the input password, and the next line will be used for the output password.

       fd:number
	   Reads  the password from the file descriptor number. This can be useful for sending data via a pipe, for example.
	   The same line handling as described for file: applies to passwords read from file descriptors.

	   fd: is not supported on Windows.

       stdin
	   Reads the password from standard input. The same line handling as described for file: applies to  passwords	read
	   from standard input.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright 2000-2024 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
       .

3.5.5							 2026-01-27			    OPENSSL-PASSPHRASE-OPTIONS(1SSL)