openssl-dgst - perform digest operations
openssl dgst|digest
[-digest] [-list] [-help] [-c]
[-d] [-debug] [-hex] [-binary] [-xoflen
length] [-r] [-out filename] [-sign
filename|uri] [-keyform
DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE] [-passin arg]
[-verify filename] [-prverify filename]
[-signature filename] [-sigopt nm:v]
[-hmac key] [-mac alg] [-macopt
nm:v] [-fips-fingerprint] [-engine id]
[-engine_impl id] [-rand files]
[-writerand file] [-provider name]
[-provider-path path] [-provparam
[name:]key=value] [-propquery propq] [file
...]
This command output the message digest of a supplied file or files
in hexadecimal, and also generates and verifies digital signatures using
message digests.
The generic name, openssl dgst, may be used with an option
specifying the algorithm to be used. The default digest is sha256. A
supported digest name may also be used as the sub-command name. To
see the list of supported algorithms, use "openssl
list -digest-algorithms"
- -help
- Print out a usage message.
- -digest
- Specifies name of a supported digest to be used. See option -list
below :
- -list
- Prints out a list of supported message digests.
- -c
- Print out the digest in two digit groups separated by colons, only
relevant if the -hex option is given as well.
- -d, -debug
- Print out BIO debugging information.
- -hex
- Digest is to be output as a hex dump. This is the default case for a
"normal" digest as opposed to a digital signature. See NOTES
below for digital signatures using -hex.
- -binary
- Output the digest or signature in binary form.
- -xoflen
length
- Set the output length for XOF algorithms, such as shake128 and
shake256. This option is not supported for signing operations.
For OpenSSL providers it is required to set this value for
shake algorithms, since the previous default values were only set to
supply half of the maximum security strength.
To ensure the maximum security strength of 128 bits, the
xoflen for shake128 should be set to at least 32 (bytes). For
compatibility with previous versions of OpenSSL, it may be set to 16,
resulting in a security strength of only 64 bits.
To ensure the maximum security strength of 256 bits, the
xoflen for shake256 should be set to at least 64 (bytes). For
compatibility with previous versions of OpenSSL, it may be set to 32,
resulting in a security strength of only 128 bits.
- -r
- Output the digest in the "coreutils" format, including newlines.
Used by programs like sha1sum(1).
- -out
filename
- Filename to output to, or standard output by default.
- -sign
filename|uri
- Digitally sign the digest using the given private key.
Note that for algorithms that only support one-shot signing
(such as Ed25519, ED448, ML-DSA-44, ML-DSA-65 andML-DSA-87) the digest
must not be set. For these algorithms the input is buffered (and not
digested) before signing. For these algorithms, if the input is larger
than 16MB an error will occur.
- -keyform
DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE
- The format of the key to sign with; unspecified by default. See
openssl-format-options(1) for details.
- -sigopt
nm:v
- Pass options to the signature algorithm during sign or verify operations.
Names and values of these options are algorithm-specific and documented in
"Signature parameters" in provider-signature(7).
- -passin
arg
- The private key password source. For more information about the format of
arg see openssl-passphrase-options(1).
- -verify
filename
- Verify the signature using the public key in "filename". The
output is either "Verified OK" or "Verification
Failure".
- -prverify
filename
- Verify the signature using the private key in "filename".
- -signature
filename
- The actual signature to verify.
- -hmac
key
- Create a hashed MAC using "key".
The openssl-mac(1) command should be preferred to using
this command line option.
- -mac alg
- Create MAC (keyed Message Authentication Code). The most popular MAC
algorithm is HMAC (hash-based MAC), but there are other MAC algorithms
which are not based on hash, for instance gost-mac algorithm,
supported by the gost engine. MAC keys and other options should be
set via -macopt parameter.
The openssl-mac(1) command should be preferred to using
this command line option.
- -macopt
nm:v
- Passes options to MAC algorithm, specified by -mac key. Following
options are supported by both by HMAC and gost-mac:
- key:string
- Specifies MAC key as alphanumeric string (use if key contain printable
characters only). String length must conform to any restrictions of the
MAC algorithm for example exactly 32 chars for gost-mac.
- hexkey:string
- Specifies MAC key in hexadecimal form (two hex digits per byte). Key
length must conform to any restrictions of the MAC algorithm for example
exactly 32 chars for gost-mac.
The openssl-mac(1) command should be preferred to using
this command line option.
- -fips-fingerprint
- Compute HMAC using a specific key for certain OpenSSL-FIPS
operations.
- -rand files,
-writerand file
- See "Random State Options" in openssl(1) for
details.
- -engine
id
- See "Engine Options" in openssl(1). This option is
deprecated.
The engine is not used for digests unless the
-engine_impl option is used or it is configured to do so, see
"Engine Configuration Module" in config(5).
- -engine_impl
id
- When used with the -engine option, it specifies to also use engine
id for digest operations.
- -provider
name
- -provider-path
path
- -provparam
[name:]key=value
- -propquery
propq
- See "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7),
and property(7).
- file ...
- File or files to digest. If no files are specified then standard input is
used.
To create a hex-encoded message digest of a file:
openssl dgst -md5 -hex file.txt
or
openssl md5 file.txt
To sign a file using SHA-256 with binary file output:
openssl dgst -sha256 -sign privatekey.pem -out signature.sign file.txt
or
openssl sha256 -sign privatekey.pem -out signature.sign file.txt
To verify a signature:
openssl dgst -sha256 -verify publickey.pem \
-signature signature.sign \
file.txt
The digest mechanisms that are available will depend on the
options used when building OpenSSL. The "openssl list
-digest-algorithms" command can be used to list them.
New or agile applications should use probably use SHA-256. Other
digests, particularly SHA-1 and MD5, are still widely used for
interoperating with existing formats and protocols.
When signing a file, this command will automatically determine the
algorithm (RSA, ECC, etc) to use for signing based on the private key's
ASN.1 info. When verifying signatures, it only handles the RSA, DSA, or
ECDSA signature itself, not the related data to identify the signer and
algorithm used in formats such as x.509, CMS, and S/MIME.
A source of random numbers is required for certain signing
algorithms, in particular ECDSA and DSA.
The signing and verify options should only be used if a single
file is being signed or verified.
Hex signatures cannot be verified using openssl. Instead,
use "xxd -r" or similar program to transform the hex signature
into a binary signature prior to verification.
The openssl-mac(1) command is preferred over the
-hmac, -mac and -macopt command line options.
The default digest was changed from MD5 to SHA256 in OpenSSL
1.1.0. The FIPS-related options were removed in OpenSSL 1.1.0.
The -engine and -engine_impl options were deprecated
in OpenSSL 3.0.
Copyright 2000-2025 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>.