Why can't I enter a PEM Pass Phrase in the prompt?

Question

I am trying to install an SSL certificate on my WAMP server.

W:\wamp\bin\apache\apache2.2.22\bin>echo %OPENSSL_CONF%
w:\wamp\bin\apache\apache2.2.22\conf\openssl.cnf

W:\wamp\bin\apache\apache2.2.22\bin>openssl req -x509 -new -out my.root.ca.crt -
keyout my.root.ca.key -days 3650
Loading 'screen' into random state - done
Generating a 1024 bit RSA private key
....++++++
........++++++
writing new private key to 'my.root.ca.key'
Enter PEM pass phrase:

Enter PEM pass phrase is where I am stuck. It won't let me type anything. And also, am I supposed to come up with my own pass phrase and tell this program to use that, or am I supposed to have a pre-determined pass phrase set by... well... apache, openssl, wamp, etc.

Solution

The keystrokes are recorded but nothing is echoed back to the screen. Type the passphrase you want and press enter. You'll be prompted to re-enter the same string to confirm.

Comments

[ravi yarlagadda]

Try typing something and hitting enter? It's not popping up * characters as you type but it should still be getting your input.

[bahamat]

It's a standard design paradigm for terminals. It wasn't until many years after this design was standardized that GUIs started printing asterisks or bullets instead of the password characters.