openssl/doc/man3/RAND_load_file.pod

=pod

=head1 NAME

RAND_load_file, RAND_write_file, RAND_file_name - PRNG seed file

=head1 SYNOPSIS

 #include <openssl/rand.h>

 const char *RAND_file_name(char *buf, size_t num);

 int RAND_load_file(const char *filename, long max_bytes);

 int RAND_write_file(const char *filename);

=head1 DESCRIPTION

RAND_file_name() generates a default path for the random seed
file. B<buf> points to a buffer of size B<num> in which to store the
filename.

On all systems, if the environment variable B<RANDFILE> is set, its
value will be used as the seed file name.

Otherwise, the file is called ".rnd", found in platform dependent locations:

=over 4

=item On Windows (in order of preference)

%HOME%, %USERPROFILE%, %SYSTEMROOT%, C:\

=item On VMS

SYS$LOGIN:

=item On all other systems

$HOME

=back

If C<$HOME> (on non-Windows and non-VMS system) is not set either, or
B<num> is too small for the path name, an error occurs.

RAND_load_file() reads a number of bytes from file B<filename> and
adds them to the PRNG. If B<max_bytes> is non-negative,
up to B<max_bytes> are read;
if B<max_bytes> is -1, the complete file is read.

RAND_write_file() writes a number of random bytes (currently 1024) to
file B<filename> which can be used to initialize the PRNG by calling
RAND_load_file() in a later session.

=head1 RETURN VALUES

RAND_load_file() returns the number of bytes read.

RAND_write_file() returns the number of bytes written, and -1 if the
bytes written were generated without appropriate seed.

RAND_file_name() returns a pointer to B<buf> on success, and NULL on
error.

=head1 SEE ALSO

L<RAND_bytes(3)>, L<RAND_add(3)>, L<RAND_cleanup(3)>

=head1 COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2000-2016 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.

Licensed under the OpenSSL license (the "License").  You may not use
this file except in compliance with the License.  You can obtain a copy
in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.

=cut