6 pkcs12 - PKCS#12 file utility
14 [B<-certfile filename>]
38 [B<-password password>]
42 [B<-passout password>]
47 The B<pkcs12> command allows PKCS#12 files (sometimes referred to as
48 PFX files) to be created and parsed. PKCS#12 files are used by several
49 programs including Netscape, MSIE and MS Outlook.
51 =head1 COMMAND OPTIONS
53 There are a lot of options the meaning of some depends of whether a PKCS#12 file
54 is being created or parsed. By default a PKCS#12 file is parsed a PKCS#12
55 file can be created by using the B<-export> option (see below).
57 =head1 PARSING OPTIONS
63 This specifies filename of the PKCS#12 file to be parsed. Standard input is used
66 =item B<-out filename>
68 The filename to write certificates and private keys to, standard output by default.
69 They are all written in PEM format.
71 =item B<-pass password>, B<-passin password>
73 the PKCS#12 file (i.e. input file) password. Since certain utilities like "ps" make
74 the command line visible this option should be used with caution.
76 =item B<-envpass var>, B<-envpassin password>
78 read the PKCS#12 file password from the environment variable B<var>.
80 =item B<-passout password>
82 pass phrase to encrypt any outputed private keys with. Since certain utilities like
83 "ps" make the command line visible this option should be used with caution.
85 =item B<-envpass var>, B<-envpassin password>
87 read the outputed private keys file password from the environment variable B<var>.
91 this option inhibits output of the keys and certificates to the output file version
96 only output client certificates (not CA certificates).
100 only output CA certificates (not client certificates).
104 no certificates at all will be output.
108 no private keys will be output.
112 output additional information about the PKCS#12 file structure, algorithms used and
117 use DES to encrypt private keys before outputting.
121 use triple DES to encrypt private keys before outputting, this is the default.
125 use IDEA to encrypt private keys before outputting.
129 don't encrypt the private keys at all.
133 don't attempt to verify the integrity MAC before reading the file.
137 prompt for separate integrity and encryption passwords: most software
138 always assumes these are the same so this option will render such
139 PKCS#12 files unreadable.
143 =head1 FILE CREATION OPTIONS
149 This option specifies that a PKCS#12 file will be created rather than
152 =item B<-out filename>
154 This specifies filename to write the PKCS#12 file to. Standard output is used
157 =item B<-in filename>
159 The filename to read certificates and private keys from, standard input by default.
160 They must all be in PEM format. The order doesn't matter but one private key and
161 its corresponding certificate should be present. If additional certificates are
162 present they will also be included in the PKCS#12 file.
164 =item B<-inkey filename>
166 file to read private key from. If not present then a private key must be present
169 =item B<-name friendlyname>
171 This specifies the "friendly name" for the certificate and private key. This name
172 is typically displayed in list boxes by software importing the file.
174 =item B<-certfile filename>
176 A filename to read additional certificates from.
178 =item B<-caname friendlyname>
180 This specifies the "friendly name" for other certificates. This option may be
181 used multiple times to specify names for all certificates in the order they
182 appear. Netscape ignores friendly names on other certificates whereas MSIE
185 =item B<-pass password>, B<-passout password>
187 the PKCS#12 file (i.e. output file) password. Since certain utilities like "ps"
188 make the command line visible this option should be used with caution.
190 =item B<-envpass var>, B<-envpassout var>
192 read the PKCS#12 file password from the environment variable B<var>.
194 =item B<-passin password>
196 pass phrase to decrypt the input private key with. Since certain utilities like
197 "ps" make the command line visible this option should be used with caution.
199 =item B<-envpassin password>
201 read the input private key file password from the environment variable B<var>.
205 if this option is present then an attempt is made to include the entire
206 certificate chain of the user certificate. The standard CA store is used
207 for this search. If the search fails it is considered a fatal error.
211 encrypt the certificate using triple DES, this may render the PKCS#12
212 file unreadable by some "export grade" software. By default the private
213 key is encrypted using triple DES and the certificate using 40 bit RC2.
215 =item B<-keypbe alg>, B<-certpbe alg>
217 these options allow the algorithm used to encrypt the private key and
218 certificates to be selected. Although any PKCS#5 v1.5 or PKCS#12 algorithms
219 can be selected it is advisable only to use PKCS#12 algorithms. See the list
220 in the B<NOTES> section for more information.
222 =item B<-keyex|-keysig>
224 specifies that the private key is to be used for key exchange or just signing.
225 This option is only interpreted by MSIE and similar MS software. Normally
226 "export grade" software will only allow 512 bit RSA keys to be used for
227 encryption purposes but arbitrary length keys for signing. The B<-keysig>
228 option marks the key for signing only. Signing only keys can be used for
229 S/MIME signing, authenticode (ActiveX control signing) and SSL client
230 authentication, however due to a bug only MSIE 5.0 and later support
231 the use of signing only keys for SSL client authentication.
233 =item B<-nomaciter>, B<-noiter>
235 these options affect the iteration counts on the MAC and key algorithms.
236 Unless you wish to produce files compatible with MSIE 4.0 you should leave
239 To discourage attacks by using large dictionaries of common passwords the
240 algorithm that derives keys from passwords can have an iteration count applied
241 to it: this causes a certain part of the algorithm to be repeated and slows it
242 down. The MAC is used to check the file integrity but since it will normally
243 have the same password as the keys and certificates it could also be attacked.
244 By default both MAC and encryption iteration counts are set to 2048, using
245 these options the MAC and encryption iteration counts can be set to 1, since
246 this reduces the file security you should not use these options unless you
247 really have to. Most software supports both MAC and key iteration counts.
248 MSIE 4.0 doesn't support MAC iteration counts so it needs the B<-nomaciter>
253 This option is included for compatibility with previous versions, it used
254 to be needed to use MAC iterations counts but they are now used by default.
260 Although there are a large number of options most of them are very rarely
261 used. For PKCS#12 file parsing only B<-in> and B<-out> need to be used
262 for PKCS#12 file creation B<-export> and B<-name> are also used.
264 The B<-keypbe> and B<-certpbe> algorithms allow the precise encryption
265 algorithms for private keys and certificates to be specified. Normally
266 the defaults are fine but occasionally software can't handle triple DES
267 encrypted private keys, then the option B<-keypbe PBE-SHA1-RC2-40> can
268 be used to reduce the private key encryption to 40 bit RC2. A complete
269 description of all algorithms is contained in the B<pkcs8> manual page.
273 Parse a PKCS#12 file and output it to a file:
275 openssl pkcs12 -in file.p12 -out file.pem
277 Output only client certificates to a file:
279 openssl pkcs12 -in file.p12 -clcerts -out file.pem
281 Don't encrypt the private key:
283 openssl pkcs12 -in file.p12 -out file.pem -nodes
285 Print some info about a PKCS#12 file:
287 openssl pkcs12 -in file.p12 -info -noout
289 Create a PKCS#12 file:
291 openssl pkcs12 -export -in file.pem -out file.p12 -name "My Certificate"
293 Include some extra certificates:
295 openssl pkcs12 -export -in file.pem -out file.p12 -name "My Certificate" \
296 -certfile othercerts.pem
300 Some would argue that the PKCS#12 standard is one big bug :-)