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.
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.
p12 is an alternate extension for what is generally referred to as a "PFX file", it's the combined format that holds the private key and certificate and is the format most modern signing utilities use. If you have a . p12 file that you exported from Firefox or Safari just rename the . p12 extension to .
A pkcs12 keystore is commonly used for both S/MIME User Certificates and SSL/TLS Server Certificates. The keystore may contain both private keys and their corresponding certificates with or without a complete chain. The keystore's purpose is to store the credential of an identity, being a person, client, or server.
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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