OPENSSL-S_CLIENT(1SSL) OpenSSL OPENSSL-S_CLIENT(1SSL)
NAME
openssl-s_client - SSL/TLS client program
SYNOPSIS
openssl s_client [-help] [-ssl_config section] [-connect host:port]
[-host hostname] [-port port] [-bind host:port] [-proxy host:port]
[-proxy_user userid] [-proxy_pass arg] [-unix path] [-4] [-6] [-quic]
[-servername name] [-noservername] [-verify depth]
[-verify_return_error] [-verify_quiet] [-verifyCAfile filename]
[-verifyCApath dir] [-verifyCAstore uri] [-cert filename] [-certform
DER|PEM|P12] [-cert_chain filename] [-build_chain] [-CRL filename]
[-CRLform DER|PEM] [-crl_download] [-key filename|uri] [-keyform
DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE] [-pass arg] [-chainCAfile filename] [-chainCApath
directory] [-chainCAstore uri] [-requestCAfile filename]
[-dane_tlsa_domain domain] [-dane_tlsa_rrdata rrdata]
[-dane_ee_no_namechecks] [-reconnect] [-showcerts] [-prexit]
[-no-interactive] [-debug] [-trace] [-nocommands] [-adv]
[-security_debug] [-security_debug_verbose] [-msg] [-timeout] [-mtu
size] [-no_ems] [-keymatexport label] [-keymatexportlen len] [-msgfile
filename] [-nbio_test] [-state] [-nbio] [-crlf] [-ign_eof] [-no_ign_eof]
[-psk_identity identity] [-psk key] [-psk_session file] [-quiet] [-sctp]
[-sctp_label_bug] [-fallback_scsv] [-async] [-maxfraglen len]
[-max_send_frag] [-split_send_frag] [-max_pipelines] [-read_buf]
[-ignore_unexpected_eof] [-no_tx_cert_comp] [-no_rx_cert_comp] [-brief]
[-starttls protocol] [-xmpphost hostname] [-name hostname]
[-tlsextdebug] [-sess_out filename] [-sess_in filename] [-serverinfo
types] [-status] [-alpn protocols] [-nextprotoneg protocols] [-ct]
[-noct] [-ctlogfile] [-keylogfile file] [-early_data file] [-enable_pha]
[-use_srtp value] [-srpuser value] [-srppass value] [-srp_lateuser]
[-srp_moregroups] [-srp_strength number] [-ktls] [-tfo] [-nameopt
option] [-no_ssl3] [-no_tls1] [-no_tls1_1] [-no_tls1_2] [-no_tls1_3]
[-ssl3] [-tls1] [-tls1_1] [-tls1_2] [-tls1_3] [-dtls] [-dtls1]
[-dtls1_2] [-xkey infile] [-xcert file] [-xchain file] [-xchain_build
file] [-xcertform DER|PEM]> [-xkeyform DER|PEM]> [-CAfile file]
[-no-CAfile] [-CApath dir] [-no-CApath] [-CAstore uri] [-no-CAstore]
[-bugs] [-no_comp] [-comp] [-no_ticket] [-serverpref]
[-client_renegotiation] [-legacy_renegotiation] [-no_renegotiation]
[-no_resumption_on_reneg] [-legacy_server_connect]
[-no_legacy_server_connect] [-no_etm] [-allow_no_dhe_kex]
[-prefer_no_dhe_kex] [-prioritize_chacha] [-strict] [-sigalgs algs]
[-client_sigalgs algs] [-groups groups] [-curves curves] [-named_curve
curve] [-cipher ciphers] [-ciphersuites 1.3ciphers] [-min_protocol
minprot] [-max_protocol maxprot] [-record_padding padding]
[-debug_broken_protocol] [-no_middlebox] [-rand files] [-writerand file]
[-provider name] [-provider-path path] [-provparam [name:]key=value]
[-propquery propq] [-engine id] [-ssl_client_engine id]
[-allow_proxy_certs] [-attime timestamp] [-no_check_time]
[-check_ss_sig] [-crl_check] [-crl_check_all] [-explicit_policy]
[-extended_crl] [-ignore_critical] [-inhibit_any] [-inhibit_map]
[-partial_chain] [-policy arg] [-policy_check] [-policy_print] [-purpose
purpose] [-suiteB_128] [-suiteB_128_only] [-suiteB_192] [-trusted_first]
[-no_alt_chains] [-use_deltas] [-auth_level num] [-verify_depth num]
[-verify_email email] [-verify_hostname hostname] [-verify_ip ip]
[-verify_name name] [-x509_strict] [-issuer_checks] [-enable_server_rpk]
[-enable_client_rpk] [host:port]
DESCRIPTION
This command implements a generic SSL/TLS client which connects to a
remote host using SSL/TLS. It is a very useful diagnostic tool for SSL
servers.
OPTIONS
In addition to the options below, this command also supports the common
and client only options documented in the "Supported Command Line
Commands" section of the SSL_CONF_cmd(3) manual page.
-help
Print out a usage message.
-ssl_config section
Use the specified section of the configuration file to configure the
SSL_CTX object.
-connect host:port
This specifies the host and optional port to connect to. It is
possible to select the host and port using the optional target
positional argument instead. If neither this nor the target
positional argument are specified then an attempt is made to connect
to the local host on port 4433. If the host string is an IPv6
address, it must be enclosed in "[" and "]".
-host hostname
Host to connect to; use -connect instead.
-port port
Connect to the specified port; use -connect instead.
-bind host:port
This specifies the host address and or port to bind as the source
for the connection. For Unix-domain sockets the port is ignored and
the host is used as the source socket address. If the host string
is an IPv6 address, it must be enclosed in "[" and "]".
-proxy host:port
When used with the -connect flag, the program uses the host and port
specified with this flag and issues an HTTP CONNECT command to
connect to the desired server. If the host string is an IPv6
address, it must be enclosed in "[" and "]".
-proxy_user userid
When used with the -proxy flag, the program will attempt to
authenticate with the specified proxy using basic (base64)
authentication. NB: Basic authentication is insecure; the
credentials are sent to the proxy in easily reversible base64
encoding before any TLS/SSL session is established. Therefore,
these credentials are easily recovered by anyone able to sniff/trace
the network. Use with caution.
-proxy_pass arg
The proxy password source, used with the -proxy_user flag. For more
information about the format of arg see
openssl-passphrase-options(1).
-unix path
Connect over the specified Unix-domain socket.
-4 Use IPv4 only.
-6 Use IPv6 only.
-quic
Connect using the QUIC protocol. If specified then the -alpn option
must also be provided.
-servername name
Set the TLS SNI (Server Name Indication) extension in the
ClientHello message to the given value. If -servername is not
provided, the TLS SNI extension will be populated with the name
given to -connect if it follows a DNS name format. If -connect is
not provided either, the SNI is set to "localhost". This is the
default since OpenSSL 1.1.1.
Even though SNI should normally be a DNS name and not an IP address,
if -servername is provided then that name will be sent, regardless
of whether it is a DNS name or not.
This option cannot be used in conjunction with -noservername.
-noservername
Suppresses sending of the SNI (Server Name Indication) extension in
the ClientHello message. Cannot be used in conjunction with the
-servername or -dane_tlsa_domain options.
-cert filename
The client certificate to use, if one is requested by the server.
The default is not to use a certificate.
The chain for the client certificate may be specified using
-cert_chain.
-certform DER|PEM|P12
The client certificate file format to use; unspecified by default.
See openssl-format-options(1) for details.
-cert_chain
A file or URI of untrusted certificates to use when attempting to
build the certificate chain related to the certificate specified via
the -cert option. The input can be in PEM, DER, or PKCS#12 format.
-build_chain
Specify whether the application should build the client certificate
chain to be provided to the server.
-CRL filename
CRL file to use to check the server's certificate.
-CRLform DER|PEM
The CRL file format; unspecified by default. See
openssl-format-options(1) for details.
-crl_download
Download CRL from distribution points in the certificate. Note that
this option is ignored if -crl_check option is not provided. Note
that the maximum size of CRL is limited by X509_CRL_load_http(3)
function.
-key filename|uri
The client private key to use. If not specified then the
certificate file will be used to read also the key.
-keyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE
The key format; unspecified by default. See
openssl-format-options(1) for details.
-pass arg
the private key and certificate file password source. For more
information about the format of arg see
openssl-passphrase-options(1).
-verify depth
The verify depth to use. This specifies the maximum length of the
server certificate chain and turns on server certificate
verification. Unless the -verify_return_error option is given, the
verify operation continues after errors so all the problems with a
certificate chain can be seen. As a side effect the connection will
never fail due to a server certificate verify failure.
By default, validation of server certificates and their chain is
done w.r.t. the (D)TLS Server ("sslserver") purpose. For details
see "Certificate Extensions" in openssl-verification-options(1).
-verify_return_error
Turns on server certificate verification, like with -verify, but
returns verification errors instead of continuing. This will
typically abort the handshake with a fatal error.
-verify_quiet
Limit verify output to only errors.
-verifyCAfile filename
A file in PEM format containing trusted certificates to use for
verifying the server's certificate.
-verifyCApath dir
A directory containing trusted certificates to use for verifying the
server's certificate. This directory must be in "hash format", see
openssl-verify(1) for more information.
-verifyCAstore uri
The URI of a store containing trusted certificates to use for
verifying the server's certificate.
-chainCAfile file
A file in PEM format containing trusted certificates to use when
attempting to build the client certificate chain.
-chainCApath directory
A directory containing trusted certificates to use for building the
client certificate chain provided to the server. This directory
must be in "hash format", see openssl-verify(1) for more
information.
-chainCAstore uri
The URI of a store containing trusted certificates to use when
attempting to build the client certificate chain. The URI may
indicate a single certificate, as well as a collection of them.
With URIs in the "file:" scheme, this acts as -chainCAfile or
-chainCApath, depending on if the URI indicates a directory or a
single file. See ossl_store-file(7) for more information on the
"file:" scheme.
-requestCAfile file
A file containing a list of certificates whose subject names will be
sent to the server in the certificate_authorities extension. Only
supported for TLS 1.3
-dane_tlsa_domain domain
Enable RFC6698/RFC7671 DANE TLSA authentication and specify the TLSA
base domain which becomes the default SNI hint and the primary
reference identifier for hostname checks. This must be used in
combination with at least one instance of the -dane_tlsa_rrdata
option below.
When DANE authentication succeeds, the diagnostic output will
include the lowest (closest to 0) depth at which a TLSA record
authenticated a chain certificate. When that TLSA record is a "2 1
0" trust anchor public key that signed (rather than matched) the
top-most certificate of the chain, the result is reported as "TA
public key verified". Otherwise, either the TLSA record "matched TA
certificate" at a positive depth or else "matched EE certificate" at
depth 0.
-dane_tlsa_rrdata rrdata
Use one or more times to specify the RRDATA fields of the DANE TLSA
RRset associated with the target service. The rrdata value is
specified in "presentation form", that is four whitespace separated
fields that specify the usage, selector, matching type and
associated data, with the last of these encoded in hexadecimal.
Optional whitespace is ignored in the associated data field. For
example:
$ openssl s_client -brief -starttls smtp \
-connect smtp.example.com:25 \
-dane_tlsa_domain smtp.example.com \
-dane_tlsa_rrdata "2 1 1
B111DD8A1C2091A89BD4FD60C57F0716CCE50FEEFF8137CDBEE0326E 02CF362B" \
-dane_tlsa_rrdata "2 1 1
60B87575447DCBA2A36B7D11AC09FB24A9DB406FEE12D2CC90180517 616E8A18"
...
Verification: OK
Verified peername: smtp.example.com
DANE TLSA 2 1 1 ...ee12d2cc90180517616e8a18 matched TA certificate at depth 1
...
-dane_ee_no_namechecks
This disables server name checks when authenticating via DANE-EE(3)
TLSA records. For some applications, primarily web browsers, it is
not safe to disable name checks due to "unknown key share" attacks,
in which a malicious server can convince a client that a connection
to a victim server is instead a secure connection to the malicious
server. The malicious server may then be able to violate cross-
origin scripting restrictions. Thus, despite the text of RFC7671,
name checks are by default enabled for DANE-EE(3) TLSA records, and
can be disabled in applications where it is safe to do so. In
particular, SMTP and XMPP clients should set this option as SRV and
MX records already make it possible for a remote domain to redirect
client connections to any server of its choice, and in any case SMTP
and XMPP clients do not execute scripts downloaded from remote
servers.
-reconnect
Reconnects to the same server 5 times using the same session ID,
this can be used as a test that session caching is working.
-showcerts
Displays the server certificate list as sent by the server: it only
consists of certificates the server has sent (in the order the
server has sent them). It is not a verified chain.
-prexit
Print session information when the program exits. This will always
attempt to print out information even if the connection fails.
Normally information will only be printed out once if the connection
succeeds. This option is useful because the cipher in use may be
renegotiated or the connection may fail because a client certificate
is required or is requested only after an attempt is made to access
a certain URL. Note: the output produced by this option is not
always accurate because a connection might never have been
established.
-no-interactive
This flag can be used to run the client in a non-interactive mode.
-state
Prints out the SSL session states.
-debug
Print extensive debugging information including a hex dump of all
traffic.
-nocommands
Do not use interactive command letters.
-adv
Use advanced command mode.
-security_debug
Enable security debug messages.
-security_debug_verbose
Output more security debug output.
-msg
Show protocol messages.
-timeout
Enable send/receive timeout on DTLS connections.
-mtu size
Set MTU of the link layer to the specified size.
-no_ems
Disable Extended master secret negotiation.
-keymatexport label
Export keying material using the specified label.
-keymatexportlen len
Export the specified number of bytes of keying material; default is
20.
Show all protocol messages with hex dump.
-trace
Show verbose trace output of protocol messages.
-msgfile filename
File to send output of -msg or -trace to, default standard output.
-nbio_test
Tests nonblocking I/O
-nbio
Turns on nonblocking I/O
-crlf
This option translated a line feed from the terminal into CR+LF as
required by some servers.
-ign_eof
Inhibit shutting down the connection when end of file is reached in
the input. This implicitly turns on -nocommands as well.
-quiet
Inhibit printing of session and certificate information. This
implicitly turns on -ign_eof and -nocommands as well.
-no_ign_eof
Shut down the connection when end of file is reached in the input.
Can be used to override the implicit -ign_eof after -quiet.
-psk_identity identity
Use the PSK identity identity when using a PSK cipher suite. The
default value is "Client_identity" (without the quotes).
-psk key
Use the PSK key key when using a PSK cipher suite. The key is given
as a hexadecimal number without leading 0x, for example -psk
1a2b3c4d. This option must be provided in order to use a PSK
cipher.
-psk_session file
Use the pem encoded SSL_SESSION data stored in file as the basis of
a PSK. Note that this will only work if TLSv1.3 is negotiated.
-sctp
Use SCTP for the transport protocol instead of UDP in DTLS. Must be
used in conjunction with -dtls, -dtls1 or -dtls1_2. This option is
only available where OpenSSL has support for SCTP enabled.
-sctp_label_bug
Use the incorrect behaviour of older OpenSSL implementations when
computing endpoint-pair shared secrets for DTLS/SCTP. This allows
communication with older broken implementations but breaks
interoperability with correct implementations. Must be used in
conjunction with -sctp. This option is only available where OpenSSL
has support for SCTP enabled.
-fallback_scsv
Send TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV in the ClientHello.
-async
Switch on asynchronous mode. Cryptographic operations will be
performed asynchronously. This will only have an effect if an
asynchronous capable engine is also used via the -engine option. For
test purposes the dummy async engine (dasync) can be used (if
available).
-maxfraglen len
Enable Maximum Fragment Length Negotiation; allowed values are 512,
1024, 2048, and 4096.
-max_send_frag int
The maximum size of data fragment to send. See
SSL_CTX_set_max_send_fragment(3) for further information.
-split_send_frag int
The size used to split data for encrypt pipelines. If more data is
written in one go than this value then it will be split into
multiple pipelines, up to the maximum number of pipelines defined by
max_pipelines. This only has an effect if a suitable cipher suite
has been negotiated, an engine that supports pipelining has been
loaded, and max_pipelines is greater than 1. See
SSL_CTX_set_split_send_fragment(3) for further information.
-max_pipelines int
The maximum number of encrypt/decrypt pipelines to be used. This
will only have an effect if an engine has been loaded that supports
pipelining (e.g. the dasync engine) and a suitable cipher suite has
been negotiated. The default value is 1. See
SSL_CTX_set_max_pipelines(3) for further information.
-read_buf int
The default read buffer size to be used for connections. This will
only have an effect if the buffer size is larger than the size that
would otherwise be used and pipelining is in use (see
SSL_CTX_set_default_read_buffer_len(3) for further information).
-ignore_unexpected_eof
Some TLS implementations do not send the mandatory close_notify
alert on shutdown. If the application tries to wait for the
close_notify alert but the peer closes the connection without
sending it, an error is generated. When this option is enabled the
peer does not need to send the close_notify alert and a closed
connection will be treated as if the close_notify alert was
received. For more information on shutting down a connection, see
SSL_shutdown(3).
-no_tx_cert_comp
Disables support for sending TLSv1.3 compressed certificates.
-no_rx_cert_comp
Disables support for receiving TLSv1.3 compressed certificate.
-brief
Only provide a brief summary of connection parameters instead of the
normal verbose output.
-starttls protocol
Send the protocol-specific message(s) to switch to TLS for
communication. protocol is a keyword for the intended protocol.
Currently, the only supported keywords are "smtp", "pop3", "imap",
"ftp", "xmpp", "xmpp-server", "irc", "postgres", "mysql", "lmtp",
"nntp", "sieve" and "ldap".
-xmpphost hostname
This option, when used with "-starttls xmpp" or "-starttls xmpp-
server", specifies the host for the "to" attribute of the stream
element. If this option is not specified, then the host specified
with "-connect" will be used.
This option is an alias of the -name option for "xmpp" and "xmpp-
server".
-name hostname
This option is used to specify hostname information for various
protocols used with -starttls option. Currently only "xmpp", "xmpp-
server", "smtp" and "lmtp" can utilize this -name option.
If this option is used with "-starttls xmpp" or "-starttls xmpp-
server", if specifies the host for the "to" attribute of the stream
element. If this option is not specified, then the host specified
with "-connect" will be used.
If this option is used with "-starttls lmtp" or "-starttls smtp", it
specifies the name to use in the "LMTP LHLO" or "SMTP EHLO" message,
respectively. If this option is not specified, then
"mail.example.com" will be used.
-tlsextdebug
Print out a hex dump of any TLS extensions received from the server.
-sess_out filename
Output SSL session to filename.
-sess_in filename
Load SSL session from filename. The client will attempt to resume a
connection from this session.
-serverinfo types
A list of comma-separated TLS Extension Types (numbers between 0 and
65535). Each type will be sent as an empty ClientHello TLS
Extension. The server's response (if any) will be encoded and
displayed as a PEM file.
-status
Sends a certificate status request to the server (OCSP stapling).
The server response (if any) is printed out.
-alpn protocols, -nextprotoneg protocols
These flags enable the Enable the Application-Layer Protocol
Negotiation or Next Protocol Negotiation (NPN) extension,
respectively. ALPN is the IETF standard and replaces NPN. The
protocols list is a comma-separated list of protocol names that the
client should advertise support for. The list should contain the
most desirable protocols first. Protocol names are printable ASCII
strings, for example "http/1.1" or "spdy/3". An empty list of
protocols is treated specially and will cause the client to
advertise support for the TLS extension but disconnect just after
receiving ServerHello with a list of server supported protocols.
The flag -nextprotoneg cannot be specified if -tls1_3 is used.
-ct, -noct
Use one of these two options to control whether Certificate
Transparency (CT) is enabled (-ct) or disabled (-noct). If CT is
enabled, signed certificate timestamps (SCTs) will be requested from
the server and reported at handshake completion.
Enabling CT also enables OCSP stapling, as this is one possible
delivery method for SCTs.
-ctlogfile
A file containing a list of known Certificate Transparency logs. See
SSL_CTX_set_ctlog_list_file(3) for the expected file format.
-keylogfile file
Appends TLS secrets to the specified keylog file such that external
programs (like Wireshark) can decrypt TLS connections.
-early_data file
Reads the contents of the specified file and attempts to send it as
early data to the server. This will only work with resumed sessions
that support early data and when the server accepts the early data.
-enable_pha
For TLSv1.3 only, send the Post-Handshake Authentication extension.
This will happen whether or not a certificate has been provided via
-cert.
-use_srtp value
Offer SRTP key management, where value is a colon-separated profile
list.
-srpuser value
Set the SRP username to the specified value. This option is
deprecated.
-srppass value
Set the SRP password to the specified value. This option is
deprecated.
-srp_lateuser
SRP username for the second ClientHello message. This option is
deprecated.
-srp_moregroups This option is deprecated.
Tolerate other than the known g and N values.
-srp_strength number
Set the minimal acceptable length, in bits, for N. This option is
deprecated.
-ktls
Enable Kernel TLS for sending and receiving. This option was
introduced in OpenSSL 3.2.0. Kernel TLS is off by default as of
OpenSSL 3.2.0.
-tfo
Enable creation of connections via TCP fast open (RFC7413).
-no_ssl3, -no_tls1, -no_tls1_1, -no_tls1_2, -no_tls1_3, -ssl3, -tls1,
-tls1_1, -tls1_2, -tls1_3
See "TLS Version Options" in openssl(1).
-dtls, -dtls1, -dtls1_2
These specify the use of DTLS instead of TLS. See "TLS Version
Options" in openssl(1).
-nameopt option
This specifies how the subject or issuer names are displayed. See
openssl-namedisplay-options(1) for details.
-xkey infile, -xcert file, -xchain file, -xchain_build file, -xcertform
DER|PEM, -xkeyform DER|PEM
Set extended certificate verification options. See "Extended
Verification Options" in openssl-verification-options(1) for
details.
-CAfile file, -no-CAfile, -CApath dir, -no-CApath, -CAstore uri,
-no-CAstore
See "Trusted Certificate Options" in openssl-verification-options(1)
for details.
-bugs, -comp, -no_comp, -no_ticket, -serverpref, -client_renegotiation,
-legacy_renegotiation, -no_renegotiation, -no_resumption_on_reneg,
-legacy_server_connect, -no_legacy_server_connect, -no_etm
-allow_no_dhe_kex, -prefer_no_dhe_kex, -prioritize_chacha, -strict,
-sigalgs algs, -client_sigalgs algs, -groups groups, -curves curves,
-named_curve curve, -cipher ciphers, -ciphersuites 1.3ciphers,
-min_protocol minprot, -max_protocol maxprot, -record_padding padding,
-debug_broken_protocol, -no_middlebox
See "SUPPORTED COMMAND LINE COMMANDS" in SSL_CONF_cmd(3) for
details.
-rand files, -writerand file
See "Random State Options" in openssl(1) for details.
-provider name
-provider-path path
-provparam [name:]key=value
-propquery propq
See "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7).
-engine id
See "Engine Options" in openssl(1). This option is deprecated.
-ssl_client_engine id
Specify engine to be used for client certificate operations.
-allow_proxy_certs, -attime, -no_check_time, -check_ss_sig, -crl_check,
-crl_check_all, -explicit_policy, -extended_crl, -ignore_critical,
-inhibit_any, -inhibit_map, -no_alt_chains, -partial_chain, -policy,
-policy_check, -policy_print, -purpose, -suiteB_128, -suiteB_128_only,
-suiteB_192, -trusted_first, -use_deltas, -auth_level, -verify_depth,
-verify_email, -verify_hostname, -verify_ip, -verify_name, -x509_strict
-issuer_checks
Set various options of certificate chain verification. See
"Verification Options" in openssl-verification-options(1) for
details.
Verification errors are displayed, for debugging, but the command
will proceed unless the -verify_return_error option is used.
-enable_server_rpk
Enable support for receiving raw public keys (RFC7250) from the
server. Use of X.509 certificates by the server becomes optional,
and servers that support raw public keys may elect to use them.
Servers that don't support raw public keys or prefer to use X.509
certificates can still elect to send X.509 certificates as usual.
-enable_client_rpk
Enable support for sending raw public keys (RFC7250) to the server.
A raw public key will be sent by the client, if solicited by the
server, provided a suitable key and public certificate pair is
configured. Some servers may nevertheless not request any client
credentials, or may request a certificate.
host:port
Rather than providing -connect, the target host and optional port
may be provided as a single positional argument after all options.
If neither this nor -connect are provided, falls back to attempting
to connect to localhost on port 4433. If the host string is an IPv6
address, it must be enclosed in "[" and "]".
CONNECTED COMMANDS (BASIC)
If a connection is established with an SSL/TLS server then any data
received from the server is displayed and any key presses will be sent
to the server. If end of file is reached then the connection will be
closed down.
When used interactively (which means neither -quiet nor -ign_eof have
been given), and neither of -adv or -nocommands are given then "Basic"
command mode is entered. In this mode certain commands are recognized
which perform special operations. These commands are a letter which must
appear at the start of a line. All further data after the initial letter
on the line is ignored. The commands are listed below.
Q End the current SSL connection and exit.
R Renegotiate the SSL session (TLSv1.2 and below only).
C Attempt to reconnect to the server using a resumption handshake.
k Send a key update message to the server (TLSv1.3 only)
K Send a key update message to the server and request one back
(TLSv1.3 only)
CONNECTED COMMANDS (ADVANCED)
If -adv has been given then "advanced" command mode is entered. As with
basic mode, if a connection is established with an SSL/TLS server then
any data received from the server is displayed and any key presses will
be sent to the server. If end of file is reached then the connection
will be closed down.
Special commands can be supplied by enclosing them in braces, e.g.
"{help}" or "{quit}". These commands can appear anywhere in the text
entered into s_client, but they are not sent to the server. Some
commands can take an argument by ending the command name with ":" and
then providing the argument, e.g. "{keyup:req}". Some commands are only
available when certain protocol versions have been negotiated.
If a newline appears at the end of a line entered into s_client then
this is also sent to the server. If a command appears on a line on its
own with no other text on the same line, then the newline is suppressed
and not sent to the server.
The following commands are recognised.
help
Prints out summary help text about the available commands.
quit
Close the connection to the peer
reconnect
Reconnect to the peer and attempt a resumption handshake
keyup
Send a Key Update message. TLSv1.3 only. This command takes an
optional argument. If the argument "req" is supplied then the peer
is also requested to update its keys. Otherwise if "noreq" is
supplied the peer is not requested to update its keys. The default
is "req".
reneg
Initiate a renegotiation with the server. (D)TLSv1.2 or below only.
fin Indicate FIN on the current stream. QUIC only. Once FIN has been
sent any further text entered for this stream is ignored.
NOTES
This command can be used to debug SSL servers. To connect to an SSL HTTP
server the command:
openssl s_client -connect servername:443
would typically be used (https uses port 443). If the connection
succeeds then an HTTP command can be given such as "GET /" to retrieve a
web page.
If the handshake fails then there are several possible causes, if it is
nothing obvious like no client certificate then the -bugs, -ssl3, -tls1,
-no_ssl3, -no_tls1 options can be tried in case it is a buggy server. In
particular you should play with these options before submitting a bug
report to an OpenSSL mailing list.
A frequent problem when attempting to get client certificates working is
that a web client complains it has no certificates or gives an empty
list to choose from. This is normally because the server is not sending
the clients certificate authority in its "acceptable CA list" when it
requests a certificate. By using this command, the CA list can be viewed
and checked. However, some servers only request client authentication
after a specific URL is requested. To obtain the list in this case it is
necessary to use the -prexit option and send an HTTP request for an
appropriate page.
If a certificate is specified on the command line using the -cert option
it will not be used unless the server specifically requests a client
certificate. Therefore, merely including a client certificate on the
command line is no guarantee that the certificate works.
If there are problems verifying a server certificate then the -showcerts
option can be used to show all the certificates sent by the server.
This command is a test tool and is designed to continue the handshake
after any certificate verification errors. As a result it will accept
any certificate chain (trusted or not) sent by the peer. Non-test
applications should not do this as it makes them vulnerable to a MITM
attack. This behaviour can be changed by with the -verify_return_error
option: any verify errors are then returned aborting the handshake.
The -bind option may be useful if the server or a firewall requires
connections to come from some particular address and or port.
Note on Non-Interactive Use
When s_client is run in a non-interactive environment (e.g., a cron job
or a script without a valid stdin), it may close the connection
prematurely, especially with TLS 1.3. To prevent this, you can use the
-ign_eof flag, which keeps s_client running even after reaching EOF from
stdin.
For example:
openssl s_client -connect <server address>:443 -tls1_3
-sess_out /path/to/tls_session_params_file
-ign_eof </dev/null
However, relying solely on -ign_eof can lead to issues if the server
keeps the connection open, expecting the client to close first. In such
cases, the client may hang indefinitely. This behavior is not uncommon,
particularly with protocols where the server waits for a graceful
disconnect from the client.
For example, when connecting to an SMTP server, the session may pause if
the server expects a QUIT command before closing:
$ openssl s_client -brief -ign_eof -starttls smtp
-connect <server address>:25 </dev/null
CONNECTION ESTABLISHED
Protocol version: TLSv1.3
Ciphersuite: TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
...
250 CHUNKING
[long pause]
To avoid such hangs, it's better to use an application-level command to
initiate a clean disconnect. For SMTP, you can send a QUIT command:
printf 'QUIT\r\n' | openssl s_client -connect <server address>:25
-starttls smtp -brief -ign_eof
Similarly, for HTTP/1.1 connections, including a `Connection: close`
header ensures the server closes the connection after responding:
printf 'GET / HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: <server address>\r\nConnection: close\r\n\r\n'
| openssl s_client -connect <server address>:443 -brief
These approaches help manage the connection closure gracefully and
prevent hangs caused by the server waiting for the client to initiate
the disconnect.
BUGS
Because this program has a lot of options and also because some of the
techniques used are rather old, the C source for this command is rather
hard to read and not a model of how things should be done. A typical
SSL client program would be much simpler.
The -prexit option is a bit of a hack. We should really report
information whenever a session is renegotiated.
SEE ALSO
openssl(1), openssl-sess_id(1), openssl-s_server(1), openssl-ciphers(1),
SSL_CONF_cmd(3), SSL_CTX_set_max_send_fragment(3),
SSL_CTX_set_split_send_fragment(3), SSL_CTX_set_max_pipelines(3),
ossl_store-file(7)
HISTORY
The -no_alt_chains option was added in OpenSSL 1.1.0. The -name option
was added in OpenSSL 1.1.1.
The -certform option has become obsolete in OpenSSL 3.0.0 and has no
effect.
The -engine option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.
The -enable_client_rpk, -enable_server_rpk, -no_rx_cert_comp,
-no_tx_cert_comp, and -tfo options were added in OpenSSL 3.2.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2000-2025 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (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
<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
3.5.4 2025-09-30 OPENSSL-S_CLIENT(1SSL)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Tue Dec 16 04:07:10 CET 2025.