SSL certificate format details and conversion

Generally speaking, mainstream Web service software is usually based on two basic cryptographic libraries: OpenSSL and Java.

1. Web service software such as Tomcat, WebLogic, and JBoss generally use the cryptographic library provided by Java. Generate a certificate file in the Java Keystore (JKS) format using the Keytool tool in the Java Development Kit (JDK) toolkit.
2. Web service software such as Apache and Nginx generally use the cryptographic library provided by the OpenSSL tool to generate certificate files in PEM, KEY, CRT and other formats.
3. IBM’s Web service products, such as Websphere and IBM Http Server (IHS), generally use the iKeyman tool that comes with IBM products to generate certificate files in KDB format.
4. The Internet Information Services (IIS) service in Microsoft Windows Server uses the Windows built-in certificate library to generate a certificate file in PFX format.

Determine whether the certificate file is in text or binary format

1. *.DER or *.CER file: Such certificate files are in binary format and contain only certificate information but not private keys.
2. *.CRT file: Such certificate files can be in binary format or text format, usually in text format, and have the same functions as *.DER and *.CER certificate files.
3. *.PEM file: Such certificate files are usually in text format and can store certificates or private keys, or both. If a *.PEM file only contains a private key, it is usually replaced by a *.KEY file.
4. *.PFX or *.P12 file: Such certificate files are in binary format, contain both the certificate and the private key, and are usually password protected.
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Different server deployment certificates require SSL certificates in different formats. Based on the current common server environment, we provide you with convenient and fast certificate format conversion, supporting PEM, P12, and JKS.

Certificate format conversion tool : https://myssl.com/cert_convert_wasm.html