Install gmssl with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• gmssl

Project history

The public GitHub repository was created in 2014. The README describes GmSSL as a domestic commercial cryptography open-source library independently developed by Peking University, covering national cryptographic algorithms, standards, secure communication protocols, mainstream operating systems and processors, cryptographic keys, and cryptographic cards.

The 3.x series was a major rewrite. The README states that GmSSL 3 reduced memory needs and binary size, removed the OpenSSL-compatible API from the core, adopted CMake, targeted embedded environments, and added a separate OpenSSL compatibility layer for applications such as Nginx.

GmSSL releases show a 3.0.0 release in 2022, 3.1.x releases in 2023, and 3.2.0 in 2026. The README's changelog for 3.1.1 onward includes TLS 1.3 work, TLCP support, post-quantum algorithms, command-line options for cryptographic operations, performance improvements, and removal of broken algorithms such as RC4 and MD5.

Adoption history

GmSSL's adoption is tied to compliance and interoperability needs around Chinese national cryptographic standards. Its README emphasizes SM algorithms, TLCP, RFC 8998 TLS 1.3 cipher suites, hardware interfaces such as SDF and SKF, and language bindings for Java, PHP, Go, Python, Rust, and Node.js.

Homebrew packaging gives macOS and Unix-like developers a convenient way to test the gmssl CLI and library without building the full CMake project manually. The GitHub repository's large star and fork counts also indicate broader interest than a single-vendor compliance sample.

How it is used

Practitioners build GmSSL with CMake, install the gmssl command-line tool and libgmssl, and use it to exercise SM-family algorithms, certificate workflows, digital envelopes, TLS/TLCP protocol support, and benchmark tests.

Application developers use the C library or language bindings when they need Chinese commercial cryptography support in services, embedded systems, mobile platforms, or compatibility layers for existing OpenSSL-oriented software.

Why package nerds care

GmSSL is package-significant because cryptographic standards support is hard to vendor casually. A package-managed build gives users a repeatable toolkit for SM2, SM3, SM4, SM9, TLCP, and TLS experiments without treating a security-sensitive C library as a one-off source checkout.

It also shows a common packaging tension in crypto: users want a familiar OpenSSL-like CLI surface, but the project deliberately changed APIs in GmSSL 3 and moved OpenSSL compatibility into a separate layer.

Timeline

• 2014: Public GitHub repository created.
• 2018: GMBrowser v0.1 release published in the repository release stream.
• 2022: GmSSL 3.0.0 released.
• 2023: GmSSL 3.1.x releases published.
• 2026: GmSSL 3.2.0 released.

Related projects

• OpenSSL is related through the compatibility-layer discussion in the README.
• GmSSL-Java, GmSSL-PHP, GmSSL-Go, GmSSL-Python, gmssl-rs, and GmSSL-Nodejs provide language bindings around the core library.
• SoftSDF is a related software SDF module for development and testing.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/guanzhi/GmSSL
• https://github.com/guanzhi/GmSSL
• https://github.com/guanzhi/GmSSL/releases