openssl_pkey_new

(PHP 4 >= 4.2.0, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

openssl_pkey_new — Generates a new private key

Description

openssl_pkey_new(?array $options = null): OpenSSLAsymmetricKey|false

openssl_pkey_new() generates a new private key. How to obtain the public component of the key is shown in an example below.

Note: You need to have a valid openssl.cnf installed for this function to operate correctly. See the notes under the installation section for more information.

Parameters

options: You can finetune the key generation (such as specifying the number of bits) using options. See openssl_csr_new() for more information about options.

Return Values

Returns an OpenSSLAsymmetricKey instance for the pkey on success, or false on error.

Changelog

Version	Description
8.0.0	On success, this function returns an OpenSSLAsymmetricKey instance now; previously, a resource of type `OpenSSL key` was returned.
7.1.0	The `curve_name` key of the `options` parameter was added to make it possible to create EC keys based on Elliptic Curve algorithms.

Examples

Example #1 Obtain the public key from a private key

<?php

$private_key = openssl_pkey_new();

$public_key_pem = openssl_pkey_get_details($private_key)['key'];
echo $public_key_pem, PHP_EOL;

$public_key = openssl_pkey_get_public($public_key_pem);
var_dump($public_key);

?>

The above example will output something similar to:

// Output prior to PHP 8.0.0; note, the function returns a resource
-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAwknBFEherZe74BiRjTFA
hqwZ1SK7brwq7C/afnLXKhRR7jnrpfM0ypC46q8xz5UZswenZakJ7kd5fls+r4Bv
3P8XsKYLTh2m1GiWQhV1g77cNIN4qNWh70PiDO3fB2446o1LBgToQYuRZS5YQRfJ
rVD0ysgtVcCU9tjaey28HlgApOpYFTaaKPj2MBmEYpMC+kG2HhL12GfpHUi2eiXI
dXT2WskWHWvUrmQ7fJIfI92JlDokV62DH/q1oiedLs9OPNb0rL1aAmYdzaVN6XNH
x/o4Lh125v2vAPV9E3fZCDc/HDEUaahpjanMiCQEgEDp5Hr+CRkvERT5/ydN+p08
5wIDAQAB
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----

resource(6) of type (OpenSSL key)

// Output as of PHP 8.0.0; note, the function returns an object
-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAwknBFEherZe74BiRjTFA
hqwZ1SK7brwq7C/afnLXKhRR7jnrpfM0ypC46q8xz5UZswenZakJ7kd5fls+r4Bv
3P8XsKYLTh2m1GiWQhV1g77cNIN4qNWh70PiDO3fB2446o1LBgToQYuRZS5YQRfJ
rVD0ysgtVcCU9tjaey28HlgApOpYFTaaKPj2MBmEYpMC+kG2HhL12GfpHUi2eiXI
dXT2WskWHWvUrmQ7fJIfI92JlDokV62DH/q1oiedLs9OPNb0rL1aAmYdzaVN6XNH
x/o4Lh125v2vAPV9E3fZCDc/HDEUaahpjanMiCQEgEDp5Hr+CRkvERT5/ydN+p08
5wIDAQAB
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----

object(OpenSSLAsymmetricKey)#2 (0) {
}

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User Contributed Notes 7 notes

down

dirt at awoms dot com ¶

11 years ago

Working example:

$config = array(
    "digest_alg" => "sha512",
    "private_key_bits" => 4096,
    "private_key_type" => OPENSSL_KEYTYPE_RSA,
);
    
// Create the private and public key
$res = openssl_pkey_new($config);

// Extract the private key from $res to $privKey
openssl_pkey_export($res, $privKey);

// Extract the public key from $res to $pubKey
$pubKey = openssl_pkey_get_details($res);
$pubKey = $pubKey["key"];

$data = 'plaintext data goes here';

// Encrypt the data to $encrypted using the public key
openssl_public_encrypt($data, $encrypted, $pubKey);

// Decrypt the data using the private key and store the results in $decrypted
openssl_private_decrypt($encrypted, $decrypted, $privKey);

echo $decrypted;

down

gomez dot alejandre at gmail dot com ¶

5 years ago

Not forget the $configArgs for windows users :D, or the method throws a error with the primary key

//write your configurations :D
$configargs = array(
  "config" => "C:/xampp/php/extras/openssl/openssl.cnf",
  'private_key_bits'=> 2048,
  'default_md' => "sha256",
);

// Create the keypair
$res=openssl_pkey_new($configargs);
// Get private key
openssl_pkey_export($res, $privKey,NULL,$configargs);

and it's for all methods ._ .

a full implementation example here.

https://gist.github.com/DuckHunter213/269a0efd17e709f7f1f177ae7da46ad1

this error take me 3 full days you'r welcome :)

down

scott at brynen dot com ¶

9 years ago

If you try and generate a new key using openssl_pkey_new(), and need to specify the size of the key, the key MUST be type-bound to integer

// works
$keysize = 1024;
$ssl = openssl_pkey_new (array('private_key_bits' => $keysize));

// fails
$keysize = "1024";
$ssl = openssl_pkey_new (array('private_key_bits' => $keysize));

// works (force to int)
$keysize = "1024";
$ssl = openssl_pkey_new (array('private_key_bits' => (int)$keysize));

down

Andrew ¶

2 years ago

It's not documented here but you can also create ECC keys from existing key parameters (e.g. from JWK):

<?php
$key = openssl_pkey_new([
    'ec' => [
        'curve_name' => 'prime256v1',
        'x' => $someXValue,
        'y' => $someYValue,
        'd' => $someDValue
    ]
]);
?>

You can just provide x/y if it's a public key, or you can just provide d if it's a private key.

down

Brad ¶

16 years ago

It's easier than all that, if you just want the keys:

<?php
// Create the keypair
$res=openssl_pkey_new();

// Get private key
openssl_pkey_export($res, $privkey);

// Get public key
$pubkey=openssl_pkey_get_details($res);
$pubkey=$pubkey["key"];
?>

down

Jan ¶

5 years ago

In case this function returns false, then check your openssl.cnf and make sure that in the [req] section of this file the entry default_bits is not commented out.

down

-1

dodginess at yahoo dot com ¶

7 years ago

If you're using openssl_pkey_new() in conjunction with openssl_csr_new() and want to change the CSR digest algorithm as well as specify a custom key size, the configuration override should be defined once and sent to both functions:

<?php
$config = array(
    'digest_alg' => 'sha1',
    'private_key_bits' => 2048,
    'private_key_type' => OPENSSL_KEYTYPE_RSA,
);

$privkey = openssl_pkey_new($config);

$csr = openssl_csr_new($dn, $privkey, $config);
?>

Although openssl_pkey_new() will accept the 'digest_alg' argument it won't use it, and setting the value has no effect unless you also set this value for openssl_csr_new(). The reason for this is that the $config array is acting as a drop-in replacement for the values found in the openssl.cnf file, so it must contain all of the override values that you need even if the function they're being sent to won't use them.

Also, if you change the 'digest_alg' to something like 'sha256' and still get an MD5 signed CSR check your openssl.cnf file to see whether the digest algorithm you want to use is actually supported.

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