I also wanted to use OpenSSL on Windows 10. An easy way to do it without running into the risk of installing unknown software from 3rd party websites and risking viruses, is by using the openssl.exe that comes inside your Git for Windows installation. In my case, I found the OpenSSL executable in the following location of the Git for Windows installation.

C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\openssl.exe

If you also want instructions on how to use OpenSSL to generate and use certificates, here is a write-up on my blog. The step by step instructions first explain how to use Microsoft Windows Default Tool and also OpenSSL and explains the difference between them.

Answer from Kaushik Ghosh on Stack Overflow
Discussions

How do I install OpenSSL on Windows?
try working retail version of Windows 11 pro keys from Hype-stkey on Google legit More on reddit.com
๐ŸŒ r/openssl
16
6
May 25, 2023
Where to find Windows 10 installer For OpenSSL?
I found that the Shining Light Productions web site is referenced by OpenSSL WIKI page : wiki.openssl.org , so I think that I will use it More on reddit.com
๐ŸŒ r/openssl
6
5
August 30, 2023
Enabling legacy provider in OpenSSL for Windows
The additional tools that are installed with git on Windows are meant to be run inside the MSYS2 environment (started via bash) not natively in Windows. When the installer offers to extend default PATH you get - AFAIK - options similar to this list: a) no change b) add C:\Program Files\Git\bin c) add C:\Program Files\Git\bin AND C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin When last is selected there is a warning, that this could cause issues. Your challenge is one example, what can happen. Does it work when you reset the openssl.cnf inside git to the original one and run: "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe" -c "openssl list -provider legacy -providers" For me this works - out of the box - and provides this output: Providers: legacy name: OpenSSL Legacy Provider version: 3.2.1 status: active One warning: When you run into more issues, also double check which runtime environment has which environment variables set. E.g. :: for windows set OPENSSL :: for git MSYS2 "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe" -c "env | grep ^OPENSSL" If you miss that such a variable is set, you can get crazy, why changes in openssl.cnf do not seem to work, because the last one wins: config environment variable command line option More on reddit.com
๐ŸŒ r/openssl
13
4
March 23, 2024
How To Get Started Using OpenSSL With PowerShell
Respectfully, all references to PowerShell could be removed from that article and it would be almost identical. It's just an article on the basics of OpenSSL (which is totally fine, btw). The only PowerShell specific thing the author does is add environment variables to the PowerShell profile which would be better set at at the registry level so they work in other shells as well. Don't get me wrong. OpenSSL is a fantastic tool and everyone who has ever needed to touch certs should have at least a passing familiarity with it. I'm just disappointed that an article with "Using OpenSSL With PowerShell" in the title doesn't have more...ya know...PowerShell. I was hoping for a module that wrapped the openssl binaries and allowed for more PowerShell'y style invocation of common stuff or parsed results into objects and such. It's also worth mentioning that most of the stuff you used to need OpenSSL for can actually be done with pure PowerShell these days. It's not as easy, for sure. But it's possible. And the limitations largely revolve around the version of .NET, and PowerShell you're on. More on reddit.com
๐ŸŒ r/PowerShell
4
61
June 9, 2020
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May 25, 2023 -

Hello,

So far I've been using OpenSSL on Windows via the OpenSSL that comes bundled with XAMPP.

But what if I want to install OpenSSL myself on Windows? I could not find a way to do it directly from the official OpenSSL source.

That's because I want the newest OpenSSL version 3 instead of 1.1.1 that comes with XAMPP

How can I do it?

Thanks

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Top answer
1 of 2
4

I hope someone can advise me what have I been missing in order to generate the certificate.

You attempted to run OpenSSL prompt commands within a Command Prompt. You need to run OpenSSL within a Command Prompt in order to start the required OpenSSL prompt.

This required step was clearly indicated in the tutorial you linked to.

Open a command prompt and type openssl to get OpenSSL prompt. Then run version command on OpenSSL proper to view installed OpenSSL version.

Source: How To Install OpenSSL on Windows

Based on the information provided in the question body, and the fact you are getting 'version' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.` it means you are not launching OpenSSL. I have provided a screenshot that explains what you should be doing exactly.

Even going into the bin area where openSSL.exe reside, it is no good still C:\Program Files\OpenSSL-Win64\bin>openssl req -x509 -out localhost.crt -keyout localhost.key \ req: Use -help for summary.

You need to run OpenSSL.exe before you run this command.

Issue the command exactly as it appears in the above screenshot. If you did not choose to include the OpenSSL \bin directory then you should reinstall OpenSSL.

In order for this OpenSSL command to work, -subj '/CN=localhost' -extensions EXT -config, you must have defiend the OPENSSL_CONF PATH system variable. There is a way to avoid creating the system variable but that isn't within the scope of this answer.

2 of 2
-1

Same question was asked on StackOverflow and the solution is quite simple.

You probably have Git installed on your machine, so you can simply run openssl on the Git Bash.