Installation guide for OpenSSL 3.6 and .NET Runtime 8.0.

# Check OpenSSL version
openssl version
# Expected: OpenSSL 3.6.0 or higher
 
# If present but too old:
which openssl    # Linux/macOS
where openssl    # Windows

OpenSSL 3.6.0+ is required for ML-DSA¹⁾ and ML-KEM²⁾.

Option 1: Pre-compiled Binaries (recommended)

Download from: Shining Light Productions

• Select: Win64 OpenSSL v3.6.x (Full, not Light)
• Installation: C:\Program Files\OpenSSL

Option 2: Configure PATH

# Run as Administrator
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(
    "Path",
    $env:Path + ";C:\Program Files\OpenSSL\bin",
    "Machine")
 
# Verify (open new PowerShell)
openssl version

Option 3: Set environment variable

# Set permanently
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("OPENSSL_PATH", "C:\Program Files\OpenSSL\bin", "Machine")
 
# Or temporarily in current session
$env:OPENSSL_PATH = "C:\Program Files\OpenSSL\bin"

Ubuntu/Debian (if OpenSSL 3.6+ in repos):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install openssl libssl-dev
 
# Check version
openssl version

Compile from source (if repos too old):

# Dependencies
sudo apt install build-essential checkinstall zlib1g-dev
 
# Download and build
cd /usr/local/src
sudo wget https://www.openssl.org/source/openssl-3.6.0.tar.gz
sudo tar -xzf openssl-3.6.0.tar.gz
cd openssl-3.6.0
 
sudo ./config --prefix=/usr/local/openssl --openssldir=/usr/local/openssl shared zlib
sudo make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install
 
# Create symlinks
sudo ln -sf /usr/local/openssl/bin/openssl /usr/local/bin/openssl
sudo ln -sf /usr/local/openssl/lib64/libssl.so.3 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
sudo ln -sf /usr/local/openssl/lib64/libcrypto.so.3 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
 
# Update ldconfig
echo "/usr/local/openssl/lib64" | sudo tee /etc/ld.so.conf.d/openssl.conf
sudo ldconfig
 
# Verify
openssl version

# Homebrew
brew install openssl@3
 
# Export path
export OPENSSL_PATH=$(brew --prefix openssl@3)/lib
export PATH="$(brew --prefix openssl@3)/bin:$PATH"
 
# Make permanent (in ~/.zshrc or ~/.bash_profile)
echo 'export OPENSSL_PATH=$(brew --prefix openssl@3)/lib' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export PATH="$(brew --prefix openssl@3)/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
 
# Verify
openssl version

# Check installed runtimes
dotnet --list-runtimes
 
# If not present: Download from
# https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet/8.0
# Select ".NET Runtime 8.0.x" (not SDK, unless for development)
 
# Verify after installation
dotnet --list-runtimes | Select-String "Microsoft.NETCore.App 8"

# Ubuntu/Debian
wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/22.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb -O packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb
rm packages-microsoft-prod.deb
 
sudo apt update
sudo apt install dotnet-runtime-8.0
 
# Verify
dotnet --list-runtimes | grep "Microsoft.NETCore.App 8"

# Homebrew
brew install dotnet@8
 
# Or download from https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet/8.0
 
# Verify
dotnet --list-runtimes | grep "Microsoft.NETCore.App 8"

Run these commands to verify the installation:

# 1. OpenSSL version and build info
openssl version -a
 
# 2. PQ signatures available?
openssl list -signature-algorithms | grep -i "ml-dsa"
# Expected output: ML-DSA-44, ML-DSA-65, ML-DSA-87
 
# 3. PQ-KEM available?
openssl list -kem-algorithms | grep -i "ml-kem"
# Expected output: ML-KEM-512, ML-KEM-768, ML-KEM-1024
 
# 4. List providers
openssl list -providers
# Expected: default, base (and optionally: fips)
 
# 5. .NET Runtime
dotnet --list-runtimes
# Expected: Microsoft.NETCore.App 8.x.x

Expected output for OpenSSL 3.6:

OpenSSL 3.6.0 7 Nov 2024
built on: ...
OPENSSLDIR: "/usr/local/openssl"

• Configuration – Environment variables, FIPS mode
• Operations – Health checks, certificates
• Troubleshooting – Common installation errors

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