How to Install OpenSSL on Ubuntu

This article will demonstrate how to install OpenSSL on the Ubuntu Linux platform. Most if not all installations of Ubuntu include OpenSSL by default. If you find yourself with an instance of Ubuntu that does not already have OpenSSL installed, then this article is for you. The examples in this article will work on the WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) for Ubuntu if you are using it instead of a complete install of Ubuntu.

OpenSSL provides a tool set of commands that allow you to perform cryptographic operations as well as certificate and key management functions. Additionally, you can test SSL and TLS connections between a server and client.

For a list of available commands visit any of our articles on how to use OpenSSL.

This article will also mention how to upgrade or install the latest version of OpenSSL, version 3. Finally, OpenSSL version 3 is supported in Ubuntu 24.04 by default.

If you’re looking for instructions on how to install OpenSSL on Windows, view our article here.

OpenSSL Installation Steps for Ubuntu

1. Update your package manager cache of updates.

sudo apt update

2. Install OpenSSL

sudo apt install openssl

3. Verify your OpenSSL installation version.

openssl version

The output should be: OpenSSL 1.1.1f 31 Mar 2020 or something similar for your version.

On Ubuntu 24.04 should should see OpenSSL version 3.

$ openssl version
OpenSSL 3.0.13 30 Jan 2024 (Library: OpenSSL 3.0.13 30 Jan 2024)

That’s it, you should now have a working version of OpenSSL on your Ubuntu instance. You can now run any of the OpenSSL commands, documented here. Be sure to check often for updated versions.

While it is possible to install OpenSSL version 3 on older versions of Ubuntu, it’s not required at this point. We recommend waiting for the package managers to catch up with the latest release or upgrade to the latest LTS version of Ubuntu.

Conclusion – How to install OpenSSL in Ubuntu

This article has demonstrated how to install OpenSSL on an Ubuntu machine. Let us know in the comments if you have any questions or would like to see alternate ways of installing or using OpenSSL on Ubuntu.