xref: /netbsd-src/crypto/external/bsd/openssl.old/dist/doc/man3/RAND_add.pod (revision 4724848cf0da353df257f730694b7882798e5daf)
1*4724848cSchristos=pod
2*4724848cSchristos
3*4724848cSchristos=head1 NAME
4*4724848cSchristos
5*4724848cSchristosRAND_add, RAND_poll, RAND_seed, RAND_status, RAND_event, RAND_screen,
6*4724848cSchristosRAND_keep_random_devices_open
7*4724848cSchristos- add randomness to the PRNG or get its status
8*4724848cSchristos
9*4724848cSchristos=head1 SYNOPSIS
10*4724848cSchristos
11*4724848cSchristos #include <openssl/rand.h>
12*4724848cSchristos
13*4724848cSchristos int RAND_status(void);
14*4724848cSchristos int RAND_poll();
15*4724848cSchristos
16*4724848cSchristos void RAND_add(const void *buf, int num, double randomness);
17*4724848cSchristos void RAND_seed(const void *buf, int num);
18*4724848cSchristos
19*4724848cSchristos void RAND_keep_random_devices_open(int keep);
20*4724848cSchristos
21*4724848cSchristosDeprecated:
22*4724848cSchristos
23*4724848cSchristos #if OPENSSL_API_COMPAT < 0x10100000L
24*4724848cSchristos int RAND_event(UINT iMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam);
25*4724848cSchristos void RAND_screen(void);
26*4724848cSchristos #endif
27*4724848cSchristos
28*4724848cSchristos=head1 DESCRIPTION
29*4724848cSchristos
30*4724848cSchristosThese functions can be used to seed the random generator and to check its
31*4724848cSchristosseeded state.
32*4724848cSchristosIn general, manual (re-)seeding of the default OpenSSL random generator
33*4724848cSchristos(L<RAND_OpenSSL(3)>) is not necessary (but allowed), since it does (re-)seed
34*4724848cSchristositself automatically using trusted system entropy sources.
35*4724848cSchristosThis holds unless the default RAND_METHOD has been replaced or OpenSSL was
36*4724848cSchristosbuilt with automatic reseeding disabled, see L<RAND(7)> for more details.
37*4724848cSchristos
38*4724848cSchristosRAND_status() indicates whether or not the random generator has been sufficiently
39*4724848cSchristosseeded. If not, functions such as L<RAND_bytes(3)> will fail.
40*4724848cSchristos
41*4724848cSchristosRAND_poll() uses the system's capabilities to seed the random generator using
42*4724848cSchristosrandom input obtained from polling various trusted entropy sources.
43*4724848cSchristosThe default choice of the entropy source can be modified at build time,
44*4724848cSchristossee L<RAND(7)> for more details.
45*4724848cSchristos
46*4724848cSchristosRAND_add() mixes the B<num> bytes at B<buf> into the internal state
47*4724848cSchristosof the random generator.
48*4724848cSchristosThis function will not normally be needed, as mentioned above.
49*4724848cSchristosThe B<randomness> argument is an estimate of how much randomness is
50*4724848cSchristoscontained in
51*4724848cSchristosB<buf>, in bytes, and should be a number between zero and B<num>.
52*4724848cSchristosDetails about sources of randomness and how to estimate their randomness
53*4724848cSchristoscan be found in the literature; for example [NIST SP 800-90B].
54*4724848cSchristosThe content of B<buf> cannot be recovered from subsequent random generator output.
55*4724848cSchristosApplications that intend to save and restore random state in an external file
56*4724848cSchristosshould consider using L<RAND_load_file(3)> instead.
57*4724848cSchristos
58*4724848cSchristosRAND_seed() is equivalent to RAND_add() with B<randomness> set to B<num>.
59*4724848cSchristos
60*4724848cSchristosRAND_keep_random_devices_open() is used to control file descriptor
61*4724848cSchristosusage by the random seed sources. Some seed sources maintain open file
62*4724848cSchristosdescriptors by default, which allows such sources to operate in a
63*4724848cSchristoschroot(2) jail without the associated device nodes being available. When
64*4724848cSchristosthe B<keep> argument is zero, this call disables the retention of file
65*4724848cSchristosdescriptors. Conversely, a nonzero argument enables the retention of
66*4724848cSchristosfile descriptors. This function is usually called during initialization
67*4724848cSchristosand it takes effect immediately.
68*4724848cSchristos
69*4724848cSchristosRAND_event() and RAND_screen() are equivalent to RAND_poll() and exist
70*4724848cSchristosfor compatibility reasons only. See HISTORY section below.
71*4724848cSchristos
72*4724848cSchristos=head1 RETURN VALUES
73*4724848cSchristos
74*4724848cSchristosRAND_status() returns 1 if the random generator has been seeded
75*4724848cSchristoswith enough data, 0 otherwise.
76*4724848cSchristos
77*4724848cSchristosRAND_poll() returns 1 if it generated seed data, 0 otherwise.
78*4724848cSchristos
79*4724848cSchristosRAND_event() returns RAND_status().
80*4724848cSchristos
81*4724848cSchristosThe other functions do not return values.
82*4724848cSchristos
83*4724848cSchristos=head1 SEE ALSO
84*4724848cSchristos
85*4724848cSchristosL<RAND_bytes(3)>,
86*4724848cSchristosL<RAND_egd(3)>,
87*4724848cSchristosL<RAND_load_file(3)>,
88*4724848cSchristosL<RAND(7)>
89*4724848cSchristos
90*4724848cSchristos=head1 HISTORY
91*4724848cSchristos
92*4724848cSchristosRAND_event() and RAND_screen() were deprecated in OpenSSL 1.1.0 and should
93*4724848cSchristosnot be used.
94*4724848cSchristos
95*4724848cSchristos=head1 COPYRIGHT
96*4724848cSchristos
97*4724848cSchristosCopyright 2000-2020 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
98*4724848cSchristos
99*4724848cSchristosLicensed under the OpenSSL license (the "License").  You may not use
100*4724848cSchristosthis file except in compliance with the License.  You can obtain a copy
101*4724848cSchristosin the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
102*4724848cSchristosL<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
103*4724848cSchristos
104*4724848cSchristos=cut
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