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.

Answer 1

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.