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-rw-r--r--crypto/openssl/FAQ57
1 files changed, 54 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/crypto/openssl/FAQ b/crypto/openssl/FAQ
index 3b69d8b..ad75299 100644
--- a/crypto/openssl/FAQ
+++ b/crypto/openssl/FAQ
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ OpenSSL - Frequently Asked Questions
* Why does the OpenSSL compilation fail on Alpha Tru64 Unix?
* Why does the OpenSSL compilation fail with "ar: command not found"?
* Why does the OpenSSL compilation fail on Win32 with VC++?
+* What is special about OpenSSL on Redhat?
+* Why does the OpenSSL test suite fail on MacOS X?
[PROG] Questions about programming with OpenSSL
@@ -59,7 +61,7 @@ OpenSSL - Frequently Asked Questions
* Which is the current version of OpenSSL?
The current version is available from <URL: http://www.openssl.org>.
-OpenSSL 0.9.6d was released on 9 May, 2002.
+OpenSSL 0.9.6e was released on 30 May, 2002.
In addition to the current stable release, you can also access daily
snapshots of the OpenSSL development version at <URL:
@@ -215,8 +217,11 @@ For Solaris 2.6, Tim Nibbe <tnibbe@sprint.net> and others have suggested
installing the SUNski package from Sun patch 105710-01 (Sparc) which
adds a /dev/random device and make sure it gets used, usually through
$RANDFILE. There are probably similar patches for the other Solaris
-versions. However, be warned that /dev/random is usually a blocking
-device, which may have some effects on OpenSSL.
+versions. An official statement from Sun with respect to /dev/random
+support can be found at
+ http://sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/retrieve.pl?doc=fsrdb/27606&zone_32=SUNWski
+However, be warned that /dev/random is usually a blocking device, which
+may have some effects on OpenSSL.
* Why do I get an "unable to write 'random state'" error message?
@@ -451,6 +456,52 @@ under 'Program Files'). This needs to be done prior to running NMAKE,
and the changes are only valid for the current DOS session.
+* What is special about OpenSSL on Redhat?
+
+Red Hat Linux (release 7.0 and later) include a preinstalled limited
+version of OpenSSL. For patent reasons, support for IDEA, RC5 and MDC2
+is disabled in this version. The same may apply to other Linux distributions.
+Users may therefore wish to install more or all of the features left out.
+
+To do this you MUST ensure that you do not overwrite the openssl that is in
+/usr/bin on your Red Hat machine. Several packages depend on this file,
+including sendmail and ssh. /usr/local/bin is a good alternative choice. The
+libraries that come with Red Hat 7.0 onwards have different names and so are
+not affected. (eg For Red Hat 7.2 they are /lib/libssl.so.0.9.6b and
+/lib/libcrypto.so.0.9.6b with symlinks /lib/libssl.so.2 and
+/lib/libcrypto.so.2 respectively).
+
+Please note that we have been advised by Red Hat attempting to recompile the
+openssl rpm with all the cryptography enabled will not work. All other
+packages depend on the original Red Hat supplied openssl package. It is also
+worth noting that due to the way Red Hat supplies its packages, updates to
+openssl on each distribution never change the package version, only the
+build number. For example, on Red Hat 7.1, the latest openssl package has
+version number 0.9.6 and build number 9 even though it contains all the
+relevant updates in packages up to and including 0.9.6b.
+
+A possible way around this is to persuade Red Hat to produce a non-US
+version of Red Hat Linux.
+
+FYI: Patent numbers and expiry dates of US patents:
+MDC-2: 4,908,861 13/03/2007
+IDEA: 5,214,703 25/05/2010
+RC5: 5,724,428 03/03/2015
+
+
+* Why does the OpenSSL test suite fail on MacOS X?
+
+If the failure happens when running 'make test' and the RC4 test fails,
+it's very probable that you have OpenSSL 0.9.6b delivered with the
+operating system (you can find out by running '/usr/bin/openssl version')
+and that you were trying to build OpenSSL 0.9.6d. The problem is that
+the loader ('ld') in MacOS X has a misfeature that's quite difficult to
+go around and has linked the programs "openssl" and the test programs
+with /usr/lib/libcrypto.dylib and /usr/lib/libssl.dylib instead of the
+libraries you just built.
+Look in the file PROBLEMS for a more detailed explanation and for possible
+solutions.
+
[PROG] ========================================================================
* Is OpenSSL thread-safe?
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