ossl-guide-libssl-introduction.7ossl 6.7 KB

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  57. .IX Title "OSSL-GUIDE-LIBSSL-INTRODUCTION 7ossl"
  58. .TH OSSL-GUIDE-LIBSSL-INTRODUCTION 7ossl 2025-01-17 3.4.0 OpenSSL
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  62. .nh
  63. .SH NAME
  64. ossl\-guide\-libssl\-introduction, ssl
  65. \&\- OpenSSL Guide: An introduction to libssl
  66. .SH INTRODUCTION
  67. .IX Header "INTRODUCTION"
  68. The OpenSSL \f(CW\*(C`libssl\*(C'\fR library provides implementations of several secure network
  69. communications protocols. Specifically it provides SSL/TLS (SSLv3, TLSv1,
  70. TLSv1.1, TLSv1.2 and TLSv1.3), DTLS (DTLSv1 and DTLSv1.2) and QUIC (client side
  71. only). The library depends on \f(CW\*(C`libcrypto\*(C'\fR for its underlying cryptographic
  72. operations (see \fBossl\-guide\-libcrypto\-introduction\fR\|(7)).
  73. .PP
  74. The set of APIs supplied by \f(CW\*(C`libssl\*(C'\fR is common across all of these different
  75. network protocols, so a developer familiar with writing applications using one
  76. of these protocols should be able to transition to using another with relative
  77. ease.
  78. .PP
  79. An application written to use \f(CW\*(C`libssl\*(C'\fR will include the \fI<openssl/ssl.h>\fR
  80. header file and will typically use two main data structures, i.e. \fBSSL\fR and
  81. \&\fBSSL_CTX\fR.
  82. .PP
  83. An \fBSSL\fR object is used to represent a connection to a remote peer. Once a
  84. connection with a remote peer has been established data can be exchanged with
  85. that peer.
  86. .PP
  87. When using DTLS any data that is exchanged uses "datagram" semantics, i.e.
  88. the packets of data can be delivered in any order, and they are not guaranteed
  89. to arrive at all. In this case the \fBSSL\fR object used for the connection is also
  90. used for exchanging data with the peer.
  91. .PP
  92. Both TLS and QUIC support the concept of a "stream" of data. Data sent via a
  93. stream is guaranteed to be delivered in order without any data loss. A stream
  94. can be uni\- or bi-directional.
  95. .PP
  96. SSL/TLS only supports one stream of data per connection and it is always
  97. bi-directional. In this case the \fBSSL\fR object used for the connection also
  98. represents that stream. See \fBossl\-guide\-tls\-introduction\fR\|(7) for more
  99. information.
  100. .PP
  101. The QUIC protocol can support multiple streams per connection and they can be
  102. uni\- or bi-directional. In this case an \fBSSL\fR object can represent the
  103. underlying connection, or a stream, or both. Where multiple streams are in use
  104. a separate \fBSSL\fR object is used for each one. See
  105. \&\fBossl\-guide\-quic\-introduction\fR\|(7) for more information.
  106. .PP
  107. An \fBSSL_CTX\fR object is used to create the \fBSSL\fR object for the underlying
  108. connection. A single \fBSSL_CTX\fR object can be used to create many connections
  109. (each represented by a separate \fBSSL\fR object). Many API functions in libssl
  110. exist in two forms: one that takes an \fBSSL_CTX\fR and one that takes an \fBSSL\fR.
  111. Typically settings that you apply to the \fBSSL_CTX\fR will then be inherited by
  112. any \fBSSL\fR object that you create from it. Alternatively you can apply settings
  113. directly to the \fBSSL\fR object without affecting other \fBSSL\fR objects. Note that
  114. you should not normally make changes to an \fBSSL_CTX\fR after the first \fBSSL\fR
  115. object has been created from it.
  116. .SH "DATA STRUCTURES"
  117. .IX Header "DATA STRUCTURES"
  118. As well as \fBSSL_CTX\fR and \fBSSL\fR there are a number of other data structures
  119. that an application may need to use. They are summarised below.
  120. .IP "\fBSSL_METHOD\fR (SSL Method)" 4
  121. .IX Item "SSL_METHOD (SSL Method)"
  122. This structure is used to indicate the kind of connection you want to make, e.g.
  123. whether it is to represent the client or the server, and whether it is to use
  124. SSL/TLS, DTLS or QUIC (client only). It is passed as a parameter when creating
  125. the \fBSSL_CTX\fR.
  126. .IP "\fBSSL_SESSION\fR (SSL Session)" 4
  127. .IX Item "SSL_SESSION (SSL Session)"
  128. After establishing a connection with a peer the agreed cryptographic material
  129. can be reused to create future connections with the same peer more rapidly. The
  130. set of data used for such a future connection establishment attempt is collected
  131. together into an \fBSSL_SESSION\fR object. A single successful connection with a
  132. peer may generate zero or more such \fBSSL_SESSION\fR objects for use in future
  133. connection attempts.
  134. .IP "\fBSSL_CIPHER\fR (SSL Cipher)" 4
  135. .IX Item "SSL_CIPHER (SSL Cipher)"
  136. During connection establishment the client and server agree upon cryptographic
  137. algorithms they are going to use for encryption and other uses. A single set
  138. of cryptographic algorithms that are to be used together is known as a
  139. ciphersuite. Such a set is represented by an \fBSSL_CIPHER\fR object.
  140. .Sp
  141. The set of available ciphersuites that can be used are configured in the
  142. \&\fBSSL_CTX\fR or \fBSSL\fR.
  143. .SH "FURTHER READING"
  144. .IX Header "FURTHER READING"
  145. See \fBossl\-guide\-tls\-introduction\fR\|(7) for an introduction to the SSL/TLS
  146. protocol and \fBossl\-guide\-quic\-introduction\fR\|(7) for an introduction to QUIC.
  147. .PP
  148. See \fBossl\-guide\-libcrypto\-introduction\fR\|(7) for an introduction to \f(CW\*(C`libcrypto\*(C'\fR.
  149. .SH "SEE ALSO"
  150. .IX Header "SEE ALSO"
  151. \&\fBossl\-guide\-libcrypto\-introduction\fR\|(7), \fBossl\-guide\-tls\-introduction\fR\|(7),
  152. \&\fBossl\-guide\-quic\-introduction\fR\|(7)
  153. .SH COPYRIGHT
  154. .IX Header "COPYRIGHT"
  155. Copyright 2000\-2023 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
  156. .PP
  157. Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use
  158. this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
  159. in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
  160. <https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.