How can I correctly install OpenSSL Windows to generate certificates?

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Both methods are great, but if you need a lightweight, portable setup for OpenSSL Windows (like on a USB drive or a specific folder), manually extracting OpenSSL works well. Here’s how:

  1. Download OpenSSL from Shining Light Productions.
  2. Extract the files to C:\OpenSSL-Win64\.
  3. Add OpenSSL to the system PATH manually:
  • Open System Properties → Advanced → Environment Variables.
  • Edit the PATH variable and add C:\OpenSSL-Win64\bin.
  1. Set up the OpenSSL configuration:
setx OPENSSL_CONF "C:\OpenSSL-Win64\bin\openssl.cfg"
  1. Finally, check if it’s working:
openssl version

This is especially useful when you don’t want to install OpenSSL system-wide but still need it accessible for certain tasks.