MirBSD manpage: RAND_bytes(3), RAND_pseudo_bytes(3)

RAND_BYTES(3)                OpenSSL                RAND_BYTES(3)

NAME

     RAND_bytes, RAND_pseudo_bytes - generate random data

SYNOPSIS

      #include <openssl/rand.h>

      int RAND_bytes(unsigned char *buf, int num);

      int RAND_pseudo_bytes(unsigned char *buf, int num);

DESCRIPTION

     RAND_bytes() puts num cryptographically strong pseudo-random
     bytes into buf. An error occurs if the PRNG has not been
     seeded with enough randomness to ensure an unpredictable
     byte sequence.

     RAND_pseudo_bytes() puts num pseudo-random bytes into buf.
     Pseudo-random byte sequences generated by
     RAND_pseudo_bytes() will be unique if they are of sufficient
     length, but are not necessarily unpredictable. They can be
     used for non-cryptographic purposes and for certain purposes
     in cryptographic protocols, but usually not for key genera-
     tion etc.

RETURN VALUES

     RAND_bytes() returns 1 on success, 0 otherwise. The error
     code can be obtained by ERR_get_error(3).
     RAND_pseudo_bytes() returns 1 if the bytes generated are
     cryptographically strong, 0 otherwise. Both functions return
     -1 if they are not supported by the current RAND method.

SEE ALSO

     rand(3), ERR_get_error(3), RAND_add(3)

HISTORY

     RAND_bytes() is available in all versions of SSLeay and
     OpenSSL.  It has a return value since OpenSSL 0.9.5.
     RAND_pseudo_bytes() was added in OpenSSL 0.9.5.

MirBSD #10-current         2005-02-05                           1