OpenSSL 3.5.6 (7 Apr 2026)
Copyright (c) 1998-2026 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All rights reserved.

This installation package was created by Catalyst Development for use with
our SocketTools suite of Internet components for Windows. For more information
about SocketTools, visit https://sockettools.com

This software is provided free of charge and you do not have to own a license
for SocketTools to use OpenSSL toolkit. For more information about the
OpenSSL license, review the License.txt file included with this distribution.

The OpenSSL toolkit can be useful for generating keys, certificate signining
requests (CSRs) and creating certificates. It can also be used as an external
testing tool to get information about secure connections.

Please note that we cannot provide technical support for the use of OpenSSL.
If you want to contribute to the OpenSSL project, report a security bug or
review open issues, visit https://www.openssl.org/community/

This is a compiled redistribution of the OpenSSL toolkit for the Windows
platform. The minimum supported version of Windows is Windows 7 SP1. This build
is statically linked using source code from https://github.com/openssl/openssl

OpenSSL is cryptography software and as such, its use may be restricted
depending on any applicable laws in your country that govern encryption.
You alone are responsible for knowing your legal rights and obligations.
If you have any legal questions or concerns about using OpenSSL, please
consult a lawyer.

During the installation process, you can specify where you want to install the
executable, libraries and support files. The default installation location on
legacy 32-bit Windows platforms is:

C:\Program Files\OpenSSL

When installed on 64-bit Windows, OpenSSL will run under WoW64 and the files
will be copied to the folder for 32-bit applications:

C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenSSL

When installing the complete package, 32-bit and 64-bit executables and
libraries will be installed. Both debug and release builds of the libraries
are included and they are built for static compilation; they will not
require the Visual C runtime library.

The build project uses the default options, with the exception that the
OPENSSL_CONF location is the common application folder, rather than the default
common files folder. This is where the configuration file openssl.cnf can
be found. On Windows 7 and later versions, this folder location is:

C:\ProgramData\OpenSSL

The OpenSSL documentation is formatted as HTML versions of UNIX "man" pages
and we have combined them into Microsoft Compiled HTML Help format which is
generally easier to use on Windows. Keep in mind that the documentation is
created during the build process and although functional, it is fairly basic
in its layout and presentation. You can find the online version of the OpenSSL
documentation and FAQ at https://www.openssl.org/docs/
