Use and utility of .p12 certificate/file

certificate private-key public-key
Pallab picture Pallab · Oct 26, 2013 · Viewed 32.4k times · Source

What is the utility of .p12 file/certificate? I am not getting any correct definition when searching the internet:

  • In one site I got "it stores server side certificates along with intermediate certificates and private key in one file. Its mostly used in Windows Machine"

  • In another site i got "it binds a organizations public key with its name.

My question is whether its public key or private key which is included in the .p12 certificate.

Answer

damienfrancois picture damienfrancois · Oct 26, 2013

The .p12 contains both the private and the public key, and also information about the owner (name, email address, etc. ) all being certified by a third party. With such certificate, a user can identify himself and authenticate himself to any organization trusting the third party.

You should be able to see the content of the p12 file with 

openssl pkcs12 -info -in filename.p12

provided openssl is installed in your system.

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