\fBpk12util\fR, enables sharing certificates among any server that supports PKCS #12\&. The tool can import certificates and keys from PKCS #12 files into security databases, export certificates, and list certificates and keys\&.
The nickname can also be a PKCS #11 URI\&. For example, if you have a certificate named "my\-server\-cert" on the internal certificate store, it can be unambiguously specified as "pkcs11:token=NSS%20Certificate%20DB;object=my\-server\-cert"\&. For details about the format, see RFC 7512\&.
Specify the prefix used on the certificate and key databases\&. This option is provided as a special case\&. Changing the names of the certificate and key databases is not recommended\&.
.RE
.PP
\-r
.RS4
Dumps all of the data in raw (binary) form\&. This must be saved as a DER file\&. The default is to return information in a pretty\-print ASCII format, which displays the information about the certificates and public keys in the p12 file\&.
.RE
.PP
\-v
.RS4
Enable debug logging when importing\&.
.RE
.PP
\-w p12filePasswordFile
.RS4
Specify the text file containing the pkcs #12 file password\&.
.RE
.PP
\-W p12filePassword
.RS4
Specify the pkcs #12 file password\&.
.RE
.SH"RETURN CODES"
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
0 \- No error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
1 \- User Cancelled
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
2 \- Usage error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
6 \- NLS init error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
8 \- Certificate DB open error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
9 \- Key DB open error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
10 \- File initialization error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
11 \- Unicode conversion error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
12 \- Temporary file creation error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
13 \- PKCS11 get slot error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
14 \- PKCS12 decoder start error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
15 \- error read from import file
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
16 \- pkcs12 decode error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
17 \- pkcs12 decoder verify error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
18 \- pkcs12 decoder validate bags error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
19 \- pkcs12 decoder import bags error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
20 \- key db conversion version 3 to version 2 error
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
21 \- cert db conversion version 7 to version 5 error
command to export certificates and keys requires both the name of the certificate to extract from the database (\fB\-n\fR) and the PKCS #12\-formatted output file to write to\&. There are optional parameters that can be used to encrypt the file to protect the certificate material\&.
file are not human\-readable\&. The certificates and keys in the file can be printed (listed) in a human\-readable pretty\-print format that shows information for every certificate and any public keys in the
For example, this prints the default ASCII output:
.sp
.ifn\{\
.RS4
.\}
.nf
# pk12util \-l certs\&.p12
Enter password for PKCS12 file:
Key(shrouded):
Friendly Name: Thawte Freemail Member\*(Aqs Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd\&. ID
Encryption algorithm: PKCS #12 V2 PBE With SHA\-1 And 3KEY Triple DES\-CBC
Parameters:
Salt:
45:2e:6a:a0:03:4d:7b:a1:63:3c:15:ea:67:37:62:1f
Iteration Count: 1 (0x1)
Certificate:
Data:
Version: 3 (0x2)
Serial Number: 13 (0xd)
Signature Algorithm: PKCS #1 SHA\-1 With RSA Encryption
Issuer: "E=personal\-freemail@thawte\&.com,CN=Thawte Personal Freemail C
A,OU=Certification Services Division,O=Thawte Consulting,L=Cape T
own,ST=Western Cape,C=ZA"
.fi
.ifn\{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
Alternatively, the
\fB\-r\fR
prints the certificates and then exports them into separate DER binary files\&. This allows the certificates to be fed to another application that supports
\&.p12
files\&. Each certificate is written to a sequentially\-number file, beginning with
file0001\&.der
and continuing through
file000N\&.der, incrementing the number for every certificate:
.sp
.ifn\{\
.RS4
.\}
.nf
pk12util \-l test\&.p12 \-r
Enter password for PKCS12 file:
Key(shrouded):
Friendly Name: Thawte Freemail Member\*(Aqs Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd\&. ID
Encryption algorithm: PKCS #12 V2 PBE With SHA\-1 And 3KEY Triple DES\-CBC
Parameters:
Salt:
45:2e:6a:a0:03:4d:7b:a1:63:3c:15:ea:67:37:62:1f
Iteration Count: 1 (0x1)
Certificate Friendly Name: Thawte Personal Freemail Issuing CA \- Thawte Consulting
PKCS #12 provides for not only the protection of the private keys but also the certificate and meta\-data associated with the keys\&. Password\-based encryption is used to protect private keys on export to a PKCS #12 file and, optionally, the associated certificates\&. If no algorithm is specified, the tool defaults to using PKCS #12 SHA\-1 and 3\-key triple DES for private key encryption\&. When not in FIPS mode, PKCS #12 SHA\-1 and 40\-bit RC4 is used for certificate encryption\&. When in FIPS mode, there is no certificate encryption\&. If certificate encryption is not wanted, specify
With PKCS #12, the crypto provider may be the soft token module or an external hardware module\&. If the cryptographic module does not support the requested algorithm, then the next best fit will be selected (usually the default)\&. If no suitable replacement for the desired algorithm can be found, the tool returns the error
\fIno security module can perform the requested operation\fR\&.
.SH"NSS DATABASE TYPES"
.PP
NSS originally used BerkeleyDB databases to store security information\&. The last versions of these
\fIlegacy\fR
databases are:
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
cert8\&.db for certificates
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
key3\&.db for keys
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
secmod\&.db for PKCS #11 module information
.RE
.PP
BerkeleyDB has performance limitations, though, which prevent it from being easily used by multiple applications simultaneously\&. NSS has some flexibility that allows applications to use their own, independent database engine while keeping a shared database and working around the access issues\&. Still, NSS requires more flexibility to provide a truly shared security database\&.
.PP
In 2009, NSS introduced a new set of databases that are SQLite databases rather than BerkleyDB\&. These new databases provide more accessibility and performance:
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
cert9\&.db for certificates
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
key4\&.db for keys
.RE
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
pkcs11\&.txt, which is listing of all of the PKCS #11 modules contained in a new subdirectory in the security databases directory
.RE
.PP
Because the SQLite databases are designed to be shared, these are the
\fIshared\fR
database type\&. The shared database type is preferred; the legacy format is included for backward compatibility\&.
.PP
By default, the tools (\fBcertutil\fR,
\fBpk12util\fR,
\fBmodutil\fR) assume that the given security databases follow the more common legacy type\&. Using the SQLite databases must be manually specified by using the
\fBsql:\fR
prefix with the given security directory\&. For example:
To set the shared database type as the default type for the tools, set the
\fBNSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE\fR
environment variable to
\fBsql\fR:
.sp
.ifn\{\
.RS4
.\}
.nf
export NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE="sql"
.fi
.ifn\{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
This line can be set added to the
~/\&.bashrc
file to make the change permanent\&.
.PP
Most applications do not use the shared database by default, but they can be configured to use them\&. For example, this how\-to article covers how to configure Firefox and Thunderbird to use the new shared NSS databases:
.sp
.RS4
.ien\{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el\{\
.sp-1
.IP\(bu2.3
.\}
https://wiki\&.mozilla\&.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto
.RE
.PP
For an engineering draft on the changes in the shared NSS databases, see the NSS project wiki:
has changed over time, while importing files exported with older versions of NSS is still supported\&.
.PP
Until the 3\&.30 release,
\fBpk12util\fR
used the UTF\-16 encoding for the PKCS #5 password\-based encryption schemes, while the recommendation is to encode passwords in UTF\-8 if the used encryption scheme is defined outside of the PKCS #12 standard\&.
.PP
Until the 3\&.31 release, even when
\fB"AES\-128\-CBC"\fR
or
\fB"AES\-192\-CBC"\fR
is given from the command line,
\fBpk12util\fR
always used 256\-bit AES as the underlying encryption scheme\&.
.PP
For historical reasons,
\fBpk12util\fR
accepts password\-based encryption schemes not listed in this document\&. However, those schemes are not officially supported and may have issues in interoperability with other tools\&.
Licensed under the Mozilla Public License, v\&. 2\&.0\&. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla\&.org/MPL/2\&.0/\&.
