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Random(3pm) User Contributed Perl Documentation Random(3pm)

NAME

Crypt::OpenSSL::RSA - RSA encoding and decoding, using the openSSL libraries
Crypt::OpenSSL::Random - Routines for accessing the OpenSSL pseudo-random number generator

SYNOPSIS

  use Crypt::OpenSSL::Random;
  Crypt::OpenSSL::Random::random_seed($good_random_data);
  Crypt::OpenSSL::Random::random_egd("/tmp/entropy");
  Crypt::OpenSSL::Random::random_status() or
    die "Unable to sufficiently seed the random number generator".
  my $ten_good_random_bytes = Crypt::OpenSSL::Random::random_bytes(10);
  my $ten_ok_random_bytes = Crypt::OpenSSL::Random::random_pseudo_bytes(10);

DESCRIPTION

Crypt::OpenSSL::Random provides the ability to seed and query the OpenSSL library's pseudo-random number generator

EXPORT

None by default.

Static Methods

random_bytes
This function, returns a specified number of cryptographically strong pseudo-random bytes from the PRNG. If the PRNG has not been seeded with enough randomness to ensure an unpredictable byte sequence, then a false value is returned.
random_pseudo_bytes
This function, is similar to c<random_bytes>, but the resulting sequence of bytes are not necessarily unpredictable. They can be used for non-cryptographic purposes and for certain purposes in cryptographic protocols, but usually not for key generation etc.
random_seed
This function seeds the PRNG with a supplied string of bytes. It returns true if the PRNG has sufficient seeding. Note: calling this function with non-random bytes is of limited value at best!
random_egd
This function seeds the PRNG with data from the specified entropy gathering daemon. Returns the number of bytes read from the daemon on succes, or -1 if not enough bytes were read, or if the connection to the daemon failed.
random_status
This function returns true if the PRNG has sufficient seeding.

BUGS

Because of the internal workings of OpenSSL's random library, the pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) accessed by Crypt::OpenSSL::Random will be different than the one accessed by any other perl module. Hence, to use a module such as Crypt::OpenSSL::Random, you will need to seed the PRNG used there from one used here. This class is still advantageous, however, as it centralizes other methods, such as random_egd, in one place.

AUTHOR

Ian Robertson, iroberts@cpan.com

SEE ALSO

perl(1), rand(3), RAND_add(3), RAND_egd(3), RAND_bytes(3).

POD ERRORS

Hey! The above document had some coding errors, which are explained below:
Around line 62:
'=item' outside of any '=over'
Around line 93:
You forgot a '=back' before '=head1'
2007-05-20 perl v5.14.2