randpool.dat (Was Re: [Dev] Profile directory changes landed, location of __repository__ etc. changed)

[Heikki Toivonen]

Grant Baillie wrote:
> On Jan 28, 2005, at 6:28 PM, Heikki Toivonen wrote:
>> randpool.dat is a small file containing some random bits that is needed
>> for crypto operations. Read on startup, written on exit. Normally it is
>> not a big deal if it cannot be read or written.
>
> On Mac OS/Linux, shouldn't we be using /dev/random (or /dev/urandom) for
> random bits?

We are. That's where OpenSSL get's entropy on systems that have
/dev/random, and on Windows it uses CryptoAPI. But stock systems that
don't have much uptime don't have that much of entropy in them, so
adding a little from randpool.dat is just a backup.

One caveat: need to double check that loading the randpool.dat only adds
to the internal entropy pool and does not replace it.

--
   Heikki Toivonen

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