Rsa 2048 Key Generation Online
Posted : admin On 19.04.2020While Encrypting a File with a Password from the Command Line using OpenSSLis very useful in its own right, the real power of the OpenSSL library is itsability to support the use of public key cryptograph for encrypting orvalidating data in an unattended manner (where the password is not required toencrypt) is done with public keys.
The Commands to Run
RSA encryption usually is only used for messages that fit into one block. A 1024-bit RSA key invocation can encrypt a message up to 117 bytes, and results in a 128-byte value; A 2048-bit RSA key invocation can encrypt a message up to 245 bytes. The technical answer is actually 'no, because SHA-256 with RSA-2048 Encryption is not a certificate hashing algorithm.However, SHA-256 is a perfectly good secure hashing algorithm and quite suitable for use on certificates, and 2048-bit RSA is a good signing algorithm (signing is not the same as encrypting).Using 2048-bit RSA with SHA-256 is a secure signing scheme for a certificate. 300 bytes (2400 bits!) is incredibly overkill in all situations, no matter how big the private key is. All you would ever need is 256 bits, and even that is more than enough for the average private key (which is about as secure as a 112 bit symmetric key, at least for RSA 2048).
Generate a 2048 bit RSA Key
- Note: You can add comments for the key within the generated file to improve the organization of your keys. To add a comment, add the -C parameter to the command to generate the key. For instance, $ ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048 -C 'my IBM Commerce on Cloud public key'.
- That generates a 2048-bit RSA key pair, encrypts them with a password you provide and writes them to a file. You need to next extract the public key file. You will use this, for instance, on your web server to encrypt content so that it can only be read with the private key.
- Generate 4098 Bit Key Generate 4096 Bit DSA Key. RSA is very old and popular asymmetric encryption algorithm. It is used most of the systems by default. There are some alternatives to RSA like DSA. We can not generate 4096 bit DSA keys because it algorithm do not supports. Generate 2048 Bit Key. The default key size for the ssh-keygen is 2048.
- Online RSA key generation: RSA (Rivest, Shamir and Adleman) is an asymmetric (or public-key) cryptosystem which is often used in combination with a symmetric cryptosystem such as AES (Advanced Encryption Standard).
You can generate a public and private RSA key pair like this:
openssl genrsa -des3 -out private.pem 2048
That generates a 2048-bit RSA key pair, encrypts them with a password you provideand writes them to a file. You need to next extract the public key file. You willuse this, for instance, on your web server to encrypt content so that it canonly be read with the private key.
Export the RSA Public Key to a File
This is a command that is
openssl rsa -in private.pem -outform PEM -pubout -out public.pem
The -pubout
flag is really important. Be sure to include it.
Next open the public.pem
and ensure that it starts with-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
. This is how you know that this file is thepublic key of the pair and not a private key.
To check the file from the command line you can use the less
command, like this:
less public.pem
Do Not Run This, it Exports the Private Key
A previous version of the post gave this example in error.
openssl rsa -in private.pem -out private_unencrypted.pem -outform PEM
The error is that the -pubout
Ansible user module generate_ssh_key. was dropped from the end of the command.That changes the meaning of the command from that of exporting the public keyto exporting the private key outside of its encrypted wrapper. Inspecting theoutput file, in this case private_unencrypted.pem
clearly shows that the keyis a RSA private key as it starts with -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
.
Visually Inspect Your Key Files
It is important to visually inspect you private and public key files to makesure that they are what you expect. OpenSSL will clearly explain the nature ofthe key block with a -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
or -----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
.
You can use less to inspect each of your two files in turn:
less private.pem
to verify that it starts with a-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
less public.pem
to verify that it starts with a-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
The next section shows a full example of what each key file should look like.
The Generated Key Files
The generated files are base64-encoded encryption keys in plain text format.If you select a password for your private key, its file will be encrypted withyour password. Be sure to remember this password or the key pair becomes useless.
The private.pem file looks something like this:
The public key, public.pem, file looks like:
Protecting Your Keys
Depending on the nature of the information you will protect, it’s important tokeep the private key backed up and secret. The public key can be distributedanywhere or embedded in your web application scripts, such as in your PHP,Ruby, or other scripts. Again, backup your keys!
Remember, if the key goes away the data encrypted to it is gone. Keeping aprinted copy of the key material in a sealed envelope in a bank safety depositbox is a good way to protect important keys against loss due to fire or harddrive failure.
Oh, and one last thing.
If you, dear reader, were planning any funny business with the private key that I have just published here. Know that they were made especially for this series of blog posts. I do not use them for anything else.
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