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 suffi-
       cient 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 generation 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.



0.9.7c                     2002-09-25             RAND_bytes(3)
