1PK12UTIL(1)                   NSS Security Tools                   PK12UTIL(1)
2
3
4

NAME

6       pk12util - Export and import keys and certificate to or from a PKCS #12
7       file and the NSS database
8

SYNOPSIS

10       pk12util [-i p12File|-l p12File|-o p12File] [-c keyCipher]
11                [-C certCipher] [-d directory] [-h tokenname]
12                [-m | --key-len keyLength] [-M hashAlg] [-n certname]
13                [-P dbprefix] [-r] [-v] [--cert-key-len certKeyLength]
14                [-k slotPasswordFile|-K slotPassword]
15                [-w p12filePasswordFile|-W p12filePassword]
16

STATUS

18       This documentation is still work in progress. Please contribute to the
19       initial review in Mozilla NSS bug 836477[1]
20

DESCRIPTION

22       The PKCS #12 utility, pk12util, enables sharing certificates among any
23       server that supports PKCS #12. The tool can import certificates and
24       keys from PKCS #12 files into security databases, export certificates,
25       and list certificates and keys.
26

OPTIONS AND ARGUMENTS

28       Options
29
30       -i p12file
31           Import keys and certificates from a PKCS #12 file into a security
32           database.
33
34       -l p12file
35           List the keys and certificates in PKCS #12 file.
36
37       -o p12file
38           Export keys and certificates from the security database to a PKCS
39           #12 file.
40
41       Arguments
42
43       -c keyCipher
44           Specify the key encryption algorithm.
45
46       -C certCipher
47           Specify the certiticate encryption algorithm.
48
49       -d directory
50           Specify the database directory into which to import to or export
51           from certificates and keys.
52
53           pk12util supports SQLite databases (cert9.db, key4.db, and
54           pkcs11.txt).
55
56       -h tokenname
57           Specify the name of the token to import into or export from.
58
59       -k slotPasswordFile
60           Specify the text file containing the slot's password.
61
62       -K slotPassword
63           Specify the slot's password.
64
65       -m | --key-len keyLength
66           Specify the desired length of the symmetric key to be used to
67           encrypt the private key.
68
69       -M hashAlg
70           Specify the hash algorithm used in the pkcs #12 mac. This algorithm
71           also specifies the HMAC used in the prf when using pkcs #5 v2.
72
73       --cert-key-len certKeyLength
74           Specify the desired length of the symmetric key to be used to
75           encrypt the certificates and other meta-data.
76
77       -n certname
78           Specify the nickname of the cert and private key to export.
79
80           The nickname can also be a PKCS #11 URI. For example, if you have a
81           certificate named "my-server-cert" on the internal certificate
82           store, it can be unambiguously specified as
83           "pkcs11:token=NSS%20Certificate%20DB;object=my-server-cert". For
84           details about the format, see RFC 7512.
85
86       -P prefix
87           Specify the prefix used on the certificate and key databases. This
88           option is provided as a special case. Changing the names of the
89           certificate and key databases is not recommended.
90
91       -r
92           Dumps all of the data in raw (binary) form. This must be saved as a
93           DER file. The default is to return information in a pretty-print
94           ASCII format, which displays the information about the certificates
95           and public keys in the p12 file.
96
97       -v
98           Enable debug logging when importing.
99
100       -w p12filePasswordFile
101           Specify the text file containing the pkcs #12 file password.
102
103       -W p12filePassword
104           Specify the pkcs #12 file password.
105

RETURN CODES

107       •   0 - No error
108
109       •   1 - User Cancelled
110
111       •   2 - Usage error
112
113       •   6 - NLS init error
114
115       •   8 - Certificate DB open error
116
117       •   9 - Key DB open error
118
119       •   10 - File initialization error
120
121       •   11 - Unicode conversion error
122
123       •   12 - Temporary file creation error
124
125       •   13 - PKCS11 get slot error
126
127       •   14 - PKCS12 decoder start error
128
129       •   15 - error read from import file
130
131       •   16 - pkcs12 decode error
132
133       •   17 - pkcs12 decoder verify error
134
135       •   18 - pkcs12 decoder validate bags error
136
137       •   19 - pkcs12 decoder import bags error
138
139       •   20 - key db conversion version 3 to version 2 error
140
141       •   21 - cert db conversion version 7 to version 5 error
142
143       •   22 - cert and key dbs patch error
144
145       •   23 - get default cert db error
146
147       •   24 - find cert by nickname error
148
149       •   25 - create export context error
150
151       •   26 - PKCS12 add password itegrity error
152
153       •   27 - cert and key Safes creation error
154
155       •   28 - PKCS12 add cert and key error
156
157       •   29 - PKCS12 encode error
158

EXAMPLES

160       Importing Keys and Certificates
161
162       The most basic usage of pk12util for importing a certificate or key is
163       the PKCS #12 input file (-i) and some way to specify the security
164       database being accessed (either -d for a directory or -h for a token).
165
166       pk12util -i p12File [-h tokenname] [-v] [-d directory] [-P dbprefix]
167       [-k slotPasswordFile|-K slotPassword] [-w p12filePasswordFile|-W
168       p12filePassword]
169
170       For example:
171
172           # pk12util -i /tmp/cert-files/users.p12 -d /home/my/sharednssdb
173
174           Enter a password which will be used to encrypt your keys.
175           The password should be at least 8 characters long,
176           and should contain at least one non-alphabetic character.
177
178           Enter new password:
179           Re-enter password:
180           Enter password for PKCS12 file:
181           pk12util: PKCS12 IMPORT SUCCESSFUL
182
183       Exporting Keys and Certificates
184
185       Using the pk12util command to export certificates and keys requires
186       both the name of the certificate to extract from the database (-n) and
187       the PKCS #12-formatted output file to write to. There are optional
188       parameters that can be used to encrypt the file to protect the
189       certificate material.
190
191       pk12util -o p12File -n certname [-c keyCipher] [-C certCipher]
192       [-m|--key_len keyLen] [-n|--cert_key_len certKeyLen] [-d directory] [-P
193       dbprefix] [-k slotPasswordFile|-K slotPassword] [-w
194       p12filePasswordFile|-W p12filePassword]
195
196       For example:
197
198           # pk12util -o certs.p12 -n Server-Cert -d /home/my/sharednssdb
199           Enter password for PKCS12 file:
200           Re-enter password:
201
202       Listing Keys and Certificates
203
204       The information in a .p12 file are not human-readable. The certificates
205       and keys in the file can be printed (listed) in a human-readable
206       pretty-print format that shows information for every certificate and
207       any public keys in the .p12 file.
208
209       pk12util -l p12File [-h tokenname] [-r] [-d directory] [-P dbprefix]
210       [-k slotPasswordFile|-K slotPassword] [-w p12filePasswordFile|-W
211       p12filePassword]
212
213       For example, this prints the default ASCII output:
214
215           # pk12util -l certs.p12
216
217           Enter password for PKCS12 file:
218           Key(shrouded):
219               Friendly Name: Thawte Freemail Member's Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd. ID
220
221               Encryption algorithm: PKCS #12 V2 PBE With SHA-1 And 3KEY Triple DES-CBC
222                   Parameters:
223                       Salt:
224                           45:2e:6a:a0:03:4d:7b:a1:63:3c:15:ea:67:37:62:1f
225                       Iteration Count: 1 (0x1)
226           Certificate:
227               Data:
228                   Version: 3 (0x2)
229                   Serial Number: 13 (0xd)
230                   Signature Algorithm: PKCS #1 SHA-1 With RSA Encryption
231                   Issuer: "E=personal-freemail@thawte.com,CN=Thawte Personal Freemail C
232                       A,OU=Certification Services Division,O=Thawte Consulting,L=Cape T
233                       own,ST=Western Cape,C=ZA"
234
235
236       Alternatively, the -r prints the certificates and then exports them
237       into separate DER binary files. This allows the certificates to be fed
238       to another application that supports .p12 files. Each certificate is
239       written to a sequentially-number file, beginning with file0001.der and
240       continuing through file000N.der, incrementing the number for every
241       certificate:
242
243           pk12util -l test.p12 -r
244           Enter password for PKCS12 file:
245           Key(shrouded):
246               Friendly Name: Thawte Freemail Member's Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd. ID
247
248               Encryption algorithm: PKCS #12 V2 PBE With SHA-1 And 3KEY Triple DES-CBC
249                   Parameters:
250                       Salt:
251                           45:2e:6a:a0:03:4d:7b:a1:63:3c:15:ea:67:37:62:1f
252                       Iteration Count: 1 (0x1)
253           Certificate    Friendly Name: Thawte Personal Freemail Issuing CA - Thawte Consulting
254
255           Certificate    Friendly Name: Thawte Freemail Member's Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd. ID
256
257

PASSWORD ENCRYPTION

259       PKCS #12 provides for not only the protection of the private keys but
260       also the certificate and meta-data associated with the keys.
261       Password-based encryption is used to protect private keys on export to
262       a PKCS #12 file and, optionally, the associated certificates. If no
263       algorithm is specified, the tool defaults to using PKCS #12 SHA-1 and
264       3-key triple DES for private key encryption. When not in FIPS mode,
265       PKCS #12 SHA-1 and 40-bit RC4 is used for certificate encryption. When
266       in FIPS mode, there is no certificate encryption. If certificate
267       encryption is not wanted, specify "NONE" as the argument of the -C
268       option.
269
270       The private key is always protected with strong encryption by default.
271
272       Several types of ciphers are supported.
273
274       PKCS #5 password-based encryption
275
276           •   PBES2 with AES-CBC-Pad as underlying encryption scheme
277               ("AES-128-CBC", "AES-192-CBC", and "AES-256-CBC")
278
279       PKCS #12 password-based encryption
280
281           •   SHA-1 and 128-bit RC4 ("PKCS #12 V2 PBE With SHA-1 And 128 Bit
282               RC4" or "RC4")
283
284           •   SHA-1 and 40-bit RC4 ("PKCS #12 V2 PBE With SHA-1 And 40 Bit
285               RC4") (used by default for certificate encryption in non-FIPS
286               mode)
287
288           •   SHA-1 and 3-key triple-DES ("PKCS #12 V2 PBE With SHA-1 And
289               3KEY Triple DES-CBC" or "DES-EDE3-CBC")
290
291           •   SHA-1 and 128-bit RC2 ("PKCS #12 V2 PBE With SHA-1 And 128 Bit
292               RC2 CBC" or "RC2-CBC")
293
294           •   SHA-1 and 40-bit RC2 ("PKCS #12 V2 PBE With SHA-1 And 40 Bit
295               RC2 CBC")
296
297       With PKCS #12, the crypto provider may be the soft token module or an
298       external hardware module. If the cryptographic module does not support
299       the requested algorithm, then the next best fit will be selected
300       (usually the default). If no suitable replacement for the desired
301       algorithm can be found, the tool returns the error no security module
302       can perform the requested operation.
303

NSS DATABASE TYPES

305       NSS originally used BerkeleyDB databases to store security information.
306       The last versions of these legacy databases are:
307
308       •   cert8.db for certificates
309
310       •   key3.db for keys
311
312       •   secmod.db for PKCS #11 module information
313
314       BerkeleyDB has performance limitations, though, which prevent it from
315       being easily used by multiple applications simultaneously. NSS has some
316       flexibility that allows applications to use their own, independent
317       database engine while keeping a shared database and working around the
318       access issues. Still, NSS requires more flexibility to provide a truly
319       shared security database.
320
321       In 2009, NSS introduced a new set of databases that are SQLite
322       databases rather than BerkleyDB. These new databases provide more
323       accessibility and performance:
324
325       •   cert9.db for certificates
326
327       •   key4.db for keys
328
329       •   pkcs11.txt, which is listing of all of the PKCS #11 modules
330           contained in a new subdirectory in the security databases directory
331
332       Because the SQLite databases are designed to be shared, these are the
333       shared database type. The shared database type is preferred; the legacy
334       format is included for backward compatibility.
335
336       By default, the tools (certutil, pk12util, modutil) assume that the
337       given security databases use the SQLite type.
338
339https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto
340
341       For an engineering draft on the changes in the shared NSS databases,
342       see the NSS project wiki:
343
344https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB
345

COMPATIBILITY NOTES

347       The exporting behavior of pk12util has changed over time, while
348       importing files exported with older versions of NSS is still supported.
349
350       Until the 3.30 release, pk12util used the UTF-16 encoding for the PKCS
351       #5 password-based encryption schemes, while the recommendation is to
352       encode passwords in UTF-8 if the used encryption scheme is defined
353       outside of the PKCS #12 standard.
354
355       Until the 3.31 release, even when "AES-128-CBC" or "AES-192-CBC" is
356       given from the command line, pk12util always used 256-bit AES as the
357       underlying encryption scheme.
358
359       For historical reasons, pk12util accepts password-based encryption
360       schemes not listed in this document. However, those schemes are not
361       officially supported and may have issues in interoperability with other
362       tools.
363

SEE ALSO

365       certutil (1)
366
367       modutil (1)
368
369       The NSS wiki has information on the new database design and how to
370       configure applications to use it.
371
372https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto
373
374https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB
375

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

377       For information about NSS and other tools related to NSS (like JSS),
378       check out the NSS project wiki at
379       http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. The NSS site relates
380       directly to NSS code changes and releases.
381
382       Mailing lists: https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-crypto
383
384       IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki
385

AUTHORS

387       The NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape,
388       Red Hat, Sun, Oracle, Mozilla, and Google.
389
390       Authors: Elio Maldonado <emaldona@redhat.com>, Deon Lackey
391       <dlackey@redhat.com>.
392

LICENSE

394       Licensed under the Mozilla Public License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL
395       was not distributed with this file, You can obtain one at
396       http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
397

NOTES

399        1. Mozilla NSS bug 836477
400           https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=836477
401
402
403
404nss-tools                       26 October 2023                    PK12UTIL(1)
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