javax.crypto.KeyGenerator - Generating Secret Keys

This section provides a quick introduction of the secret key generation class, javax.crypto.KeyGenerator.

To generate secret keys, I need to learn the javax.crypto.KeyGenerator class.

javax.crypto.KeyGenerator is an abstract class providing a link to implementation classes of secret key generation algorithms provided by various security package providers. Major methods in the KeyGenerator class:

getInstance() - Returns a KeyGenerator object of the specified algorithm from the implementation of the specified provider. If provider is not specified, the default implementation is used. This is a static method.

init() - Initializes this key generator with the specified key size.

generateKey() - Generates a key and returns it as a SecretKey object.

getAlgorithm() - Returns the algorithm name of this generator.

getProvider() - Returns the provider as a Provider object of this generator.

Steps of generating a secret key of a given algorithm are:

      KeyGenerator kg = KeyGenerator.getInstance(algorithm);
      kg.init(keySize);
      SecretKey ky = kg.generateKey();

See next sections for a sample program on how to use the KeyGenerator class.

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Secret Key Generation and Management

 javax.crypto.SecretKey - The Secret Key Interface

javax.crypto.KeyGenerator - Generating Secret Keys

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