This page shows how to automatically build OpenSSL with GitHub Actions.

GitHub Actions is GitHub's CI/CD platform:

• Directly integrated in GitHub
• Free for public repositories
• YAML-based configuration

Create the file .github/workflows/build-openssl.yml:

# OpenSSL Build Workflow
name: Build OpenSSL 3.6
 
# When to build?
on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]           # On push to main
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]           # On pull requests
  workflow_dispatch:             # Start manually
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 2 * * 0'          # Every Sunday 2:00 AM

jobs:
  # ============================================
  # Windows x64 Build
  # ============================================
  build-windows:
    runs-on: windows-latest

    steps:
      # 1. Checkout repository
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          submodules: true
 
      # 2. Install Perl
      - name: Install Strawberry Perl
        run: choco install strawberryperl -y
 
      # 3. Install NASM
      - name: Install NASM
        run: choco install nasm -y
 
      # 4. Build
      - name: Build OpenSSL
        shell: cmd
        run: |
          call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars64.bat"
          set PATH=C:\Strawberry\perl\bin;C:\Program Files\NASM;%PATH%
          cd src
          perl Configure VC-WIN64A --prefix=%GITHUB_WORKSPACE%\bin
          nmake
          nmake install_sw

      # 5. Verify version
      - name: Verify Build
        run: |
          bin\bin\openssl.exe version -a
          bin\bin\openssl.exe list -signature-algorithms | findstr mldsa

      # 6. Upload artifact
      - name: Upload Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: openssl-3.6.0-win-x64
          path: bin/
          retention-days: 30
 
  # ============================================
  # Linux x64 Build
  # ============================================
  build-linux:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install Dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-get update
          sudo apt-get install -y build-essential perl nasm

      - name: Build OpenSSL
        run: |
          cd src
          ./Configure linux-x86_64 --prefix=$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/linux-build
          make -j$(nproc)
          make install

      - name: Verify Build
        run: |
          linux-build/bin/openssl version -a

      - name: Upload Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: openssl-3.6.0-linux-x64
          path: linux-build/
          retention-days: 30

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]      # Only main branch
    paths:
      - 'src/**'            # Only if src/ changed
  workflow_dispatch:        # Manually in GitHub UI

jobs:
  job-name:
    runs-on: windows-latest   # or ubuntu-latest
    needs: [other-jobs]       # Dependencies
    if: github.event_name == 'push'  # Condition

steps:
  - name: Descriptive Name
    uses: action/name@v4      # Pre-built action
    with:
      parameter: value

  - name: Shell Command
    run: echo "Hello"
    shell: bash               # or cmd, pwsh

If you publish private builds:

Repository → Settings → Secrets → New secret

• NUGET_API_KEY - Your NuGet key
• AZURE_STORAGE_KEY - For blob upload

- name: Publish NuGet
  run: dotnet nuget push *.nupkg --api-key ${{ secrets.NUGET_API_KEY }}
  env:
    NUGET_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.NUGET_API_KEY }}

Automatically create release on tag:

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'    # e.g. v3.6.0

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
      # ... Build steps ...

      - name: Create Release
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
        with:
          files: |
            openssl-3.6.0-win-x64.zip
            openssl-3.6.0-linux-x64.tar.gz
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Multiple configurations at once:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [windows-latest, ubuntu-latest]
        include:
          - os: windows-latest
            target: VC-WIN64A
          - os: ubuntu-latest
            target: linux-x86_64

    steps:
      - name: Configure
        run: perl Configure ${{ matrix.target }}

1. Go to „Actions“ tab in GitHub
2. Select the workflow
3. Click „Run workflow“
4. Select branch
5. Click „Run workflow“

Visual Studio environment not loaded:

- name: Build
  shell: cmd
  run: |
    call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars64.bat"
    nmake

Use cache:

- name: Cache OpenSSL Build
  uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: src/
    key: openssl-${{ hashFiles('src/VERSION') }}

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Wolfgang van der Stille @ EMSR DATA d.o.o. - Post-Quantum Cryptography Professional