- NAME
- SYNOPSIS
- DESCRIPTION
- RETURN VALUE
- BUGS
- SEE ALSO
- HISTORY

# NAME

DSA_generate_parameters_ex, DSA_generate_parameters - generate DSA parameters

# SYNOPSIS

     #include <openssl/dsa.h>

     int DSA_generate_parameters_ex(DSA *dsa, int bits,
                    const unsigned char *seed,int seed_len,
                    int *counter_ret, unsigned long *h_ret, BN_GENCB *cb);

Deprecated:

     DSA *DSA_generate_parameters(int bits, unsigned char *seed,
                    int seed_len, int *counter_ret, unsigned long *h_ret,
                    void (*callback)(int, int, void *), void *cb_arg);

# DESCRIPTION

`DSA_generate_parameters_ex()` generates primes p and q and a generator g for use in the DSA and stores the result in dsa.

bits is the length of the prime to be generated; the DSS allows a maximum of 1024 bits.

If seed is NULL or seed_len < 20, the primes will be generated at random. Otherwise, the seed is used to generate them. If the given seed does not yield a prime q, a new random seed is chosen.

`DSA_generate_parameters_ex()` places the iteration count in *counter_ret and a counter used for finding a generator in *h_ret, unless these are NULL.

A callback function may be used to provide feedback about the progress of the key generation. If cb is not NULL, it will be called as shown below. For information on the BN_GENCB structure and the BN_GENCB_call function discussed below, refer to BN_generate_prime.

- When a candidate for q is generated, BN_GENCB_call(cb, 0, m++) is called (m is 0 for the first candidate).

- When a candidate for q has passed a test by trial division, BN_GENCB_call(cb, 1, -1) is called. While a candidate for q is tested by Miller-Rabin primality tests, BN_GENCB_call(cb, 1, i) is called in the outer loop (once for each witness that confirms that the candidate may be prime); i is the loop counter (starting at 0).

- When a prime q has been found, BN_GENCB_call(cb, 2, 0) and BN_GENCB_call(cb, 3, 0) are called.

- Before a candidate for p (other than the first) is generated and tested, BN_GENCB_call(cb, 0, counter) is called.

- When a candidate for p has passed the test by trial division, BN_GENCB_call(cb, 1, -1) is called. While it is tested by the Miller-Rabin primality test, BN_GENCB_call(cb, 1, i) is called in the outer loop (once for each witness that confirms that the candidate may be prime). i is the loop counter (starting at 0).

- When p has been found, BN_GENCB_call(cb, 2, 1) is called.

- When the generator has been found, BN_GENCB_call(cb, 3, 1) is called.

`DSA_generate_parameters()` (deprecated) works in much the same way as for DSA_generate_parameters_ex, except that no dsa parameter is passed and instead a newly allocated DSA structure is returned. Additionally ``old style'' callbacks are used instead of the newer BN_GENCB based approach. Refer to BN_generate_prime for further information.

# RETURN VALUE

`DSA_generate_parameters_ex()` returns a 1 on success, or 0 otherwise.

`DSA_generate_parameters()` returns a pointer to the DSA structure, or NULL if the parameter generation fails.

The error codes can be obtained by ERR_get_error.

# BUGS

Seed lengths > 20 are not supported.

# SEE ALSO

dsa, ERR_get_error, rand, DSA_free, BN_generate_prime

# HISTORY

`DSA_generate_parameters()` appeared in SSLeay 0.8. The cb_arg argument was added in SSLeay 0.9.0. In versions up to OpenSSL 0.9.4, callback(1, ...) was called in the inner loop of the Miller-Rabin test whenever it reached the squaring step (the parameters to callback did not reveal how many witnesses had been tested); since OpenSSL 0.9.5, callback(1, ...) is called as in BN_is_prime(3), i.e. once for each witness. =cut