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

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'

perl v5.16.3							    2007-05-20								 Random(3)