


cer file and the privateĮach certificate in the PEM file is enclosed between the - BEGINĬERTIFICATE- and -END CERTIFICATE- statements. Intermediate certificate are in a separate. It might also be possible that the server certificate and Of the server certificate, the intermediate certificate and the private key inĪ single file. PEM files contain ASCII (or Base64) encoding data and the certificate filesĬan be in. ForĮxample, Apache and other similar servers require SSL certificates to be in PEM, which stands for privacy-enhanced mail, is the most popular containerįormat used by certificate authorities (CAs) to issue SSL certificates. So, let’s get more familiar with each of these formats by looking at each certificate file format individually. For example, if you have a PKCS7 file but need it to be a PEM file certificate, you’ll need to convert it before you can use it.īut before you can do that, you must understand each certificate file extension or format to deal with them. So, if you have an SSL certificate in one certificate file extension format and your server requires it to be in another, you must convert the certificate to the format that your server needs. at the same time, different servers require.different certificate authorities issue.While this may not seem like a big deal, the thing that makes it complicated Such as a PKCS7 certificate or a DER certificate - based on their encoding and Issued with different certificate file extensions or in different file formats. You read that right: SSL certificates can be issued in various formats such as CER,ĬRT, DER, PEM, P7B, P7S, PFX, P12, etc. One of the reasonsīehind this is the different formats in which SSL certificates are issued. Highly confusing for someone who is new to the industry. There’s no doubt that the world of SSL certificates can be Confused about different SSL formats? Here’s what to know about the most common certificate file extensions
