OPENSSL-DGST(1ossl) OpenSSL OPENSSL-DGST(1ossl) NAME openssl-dgst - perform digest operations SYNOPSIS openssl dgst|digest [-digest] [-list] [-help] [-c] [-d] [-debug] [-hex] [-binary] [-xoflen length] [-r] [-out filename] [-sign filename|uri] [-key- form DER|PEM|P12] [-passin arg] [-verify filename] [-prverify filename] [-signature filename] [-sigopt nm:v] [-hmac key] [-hmac-env var] [-hmac-stdin] [-mac alg] [-macopt nm:v] [-fips-fingerprint] [-rand files] [-writerand file] [-provider name] [-provider-path path] [-provparam [name:]key=value] [-propquery propq] [file ...] DESCRIPTION This command output the message digest of a supplied file or files in hexa- decimal, 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 sup- ported algorithms, use "openssl list -digest-algorithms" OPTIONS -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 rel- evant if the -hex option is given as well. -d, -debug Print out BIO debugging information. -hexDigest 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 algo- rithms, 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 secu- rity 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 secu- rity 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 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 opera- tions. 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". Cannot be used together with -mac option. If multiple -hmac, -hmac-env or -hmac-stdin options are specified, the last one is applied. The openssl-mac(1) command should be preferred to using this command line option. -hmac-env var Create a hashed MAC using a key from the environment variable "var". Cannot be used together with -mac option. If multiple -hmac, -hmac-env or -hmac-stdin options are specified, the last one is applied. The openssl-mac(1) command should be preferred to using this command line option. -hmac-stdin Create a hashed MAC using a key obtained from the standard input. Only the first line from stdin is read, and the \0 character also terminates the key. Cannot be used together with -mac option. If multiple -hmac, -hmac-env or -hmac-stdin options are specified, the last one is applied. 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 a digest algorithm, for instance the gost-mac algorithm, supported by the gostprov provider. MAC keys and other op- tions should be set via -macopt parameter. Cannot be used together with -hmac, -hmac-env and -hmac-stdin. 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 op- tions are supported by both by HMAC and gost-mac: key:string Specifies MAC key as alphanumeric string (use if key contain print- able characters only). String length must conform to any restric- tions 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. keyenv:var Read the MAC key as an alphanumeric string from the environment variable (use if the key contains printable characters only). The the key length must conform to any restrictions of the MAC algo- rithm. A key must be specified for every MAC algorithm. keyenvhex:var Read the MAC key in hexadecimal form (two hex digits per byte) from the environment variable. The key length must conform to any re- strictions of the MAC algorithm. A key must be specified for every MAC algorithm. keyfile:filename Read the MAC key from the specified file. The key is read as binary data. The key length must conform to any restrictions of the MAC algorithm. A key must be specified for every MAC algorithm. keystdin Read the MAC key from the standard input. Only the first line from stdin is read, and the \0 character also terminates the key. The key length must conform to any restrictions of the MAC algorithm. A key must be specified for every MAC algorithm. If multiple MAC key options are specified, the last one is applied. 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. -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. EXAMPLES 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 NOTES 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 algo- rithm (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 be- ing 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. SEE ALSO openssl-mac(1) HISTORY 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 removed in OpenSSL 4.0. The -hmac-env and -hmac-stdin options were added in OpenSSL 4.0. COPYRIGHT 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>. 4.0.2 2026-08-25 OPENSSL-DGST(1ossl)
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | EXAMPLES | NOTES | SEE ALSO | HISTORY | COPYRIGHT
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