PK12UTIL(1) NSS Security Tools PK12UTIL(1)
NAME
pk12util - Export and import keys and certificate to or from a PKCS #12 file and the NSS database
SYNOPSIS
pk12util [-i p12File|-l p12File|-o p12File] [-d [sql:]directory] [-h tokenname] [-P dbprefix] [-r] [-v]
[-k slotPasswordFile|-K slotPassword] [-w p12filePasswordFile|-W p12filePassword]
STATUS
This documentation is still work in progress. Please contribute to the initial review in Mozilla NSS bug
836477[1]
DESCRIPTION
The PKCS #12 utility, pk12util, 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.
OPTIONS AND ARGUMENTS
Options
-i p12file
Import keys and certificates from a PKCS#12 file into a security database.
-l p12file
List the keys and certificates in PKCS#12 file.
-o p12file
Export keys and certificates from the security database to a PKCS#12 file.
Arguments
-c keyCipher
Specify the key encryption algorithm.
-C certCipher
Specify the key cert (overall package) encryption algorithm.
-d [sql:]directory
Specify the database directory into which to import to or export from certificates and keys.
pk12util supports two types of databases: the legacy security databases (cert8.db, key3.db, and secmod.db)
and new SQLite databases (cert9.db, key4.db, and pkcs11.txt). If the prefix sql: is not used, then the
tool assumes that the given databases are in the old format.
-h tokenname
Specify the name of the token to import into or export from.
-k slotPasswordFile
Specify the text file containing the slot's password.
-K slotPassword
Specify the slot's password.
-m | --key-len keyLength
Specify the desired length of the symmetric key to be used to encrypt the private key.
-n | --cert-key-len certKeyLength
information in a pretty-print ASCII format, which displays the information about the certificates and
public keys in the p12 file.
-v
Enable debug logging when importing.
-w p12filePasswordFile
Specify the text file containing the pkcs #12 file password.
-W p12filePassword
Specify the pkcs #12 file password.
RETURN CODES
· 0 - No error
· 1 - User Cancelled
· 2 - Usage error
· 6 - NLS init error
· 8 - Certificate DB open error
· 9 - Key DB open error
· 10 - File initialization error
· 11 - Unicode conversion error
· 12 - Temporary file creation error
· 13 - PKCS11 get slot error
· 14 - PKCS12 decoder start error
· 15 - error read from import file
· 16 - pkcs12 decode error
· 17 - pkcs12 decoder verify error
· 18 - pkcs12 decoder validate bags error
· 19 - pkcs12 decoder import bags error
· 20 - key db conversion version 3 to version 2 error
· 21 - cert db conversion version 7 to version 5 error
· 22 - cert and key dbs patch error
· 23 - get default cert db error
· 24 - find cert by nickname error
Importing Keys and Certificates
The most basic usage of pk12util for importing a certificate or key is the PKCS#12 input file (-i) and some
way to specify the security database being accessed (either -d for a directory or -h for a token).
pk12util -i p12File [-h tokenname] [-v] [-d [sql:]directory] [-P dbprefix] [-k slotPasswordFile|-K
slotPassword] [-w p12filePasswordFile|-W p12filePassword]
For example:
# pk12util -i /tmp/cert-files/users.p12 -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb
Enter a password which will be used to encrypt your keys.
The password should be at least 8 characters long,
and should contain at least one non-alphabetic character.
Enter new password:
Re-enter password:
Enter password for PKCS12 file:
pk12util: PKCS12 IMPORT SUCCESSFUL
Exporting Keys and Certificates
Using the pk12util command to export certificates and keys requires both the name of the certificate to
extract from the database (-n) 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.
pk12util -o p12File -n certname [-c keyCipher] [-C certCipher] [-m|--key_len keyLen] [-n|--cert_key_len
certKeyLen] [-d [sql:]directory] [-P dbprefix] [-k slotPasswordFile|-K slotPassword] [-w
p12filePasswordFile|-W p12filePassword]
For example:
# pk12util -o certs.p12 -n Server-Cert -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb
Enter password for PKCS12 file:
Re-enter password:
Listing Keys and Certificates
The information in a .p12 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 .p12 file.
pk12util -l p12File [-h tokenname] [-r] [-d [sql:]directory] [-P dbprefix] [-k slotPasswordFile|-K
slotPassword] [-w p12filePasswordFile|-W p12filePassword]
For example, this prints the default ASCII output:
# pk12util -l certs.p12
Enter password for PKCS12 file:
Key(shrouded):
Friendly Name: Thawte Freemail Member's Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd. ID
own,ST=Western Cape,C=ZA"
Alternatively, the -r 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:
pk12util -l test.p12 -r
Enter password for PKCS12 file:
Key(shrouded):
Friendly Name: Thawte Freemail Member's 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
Certificate Friendly Name: Thawte Freemail Member's Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd. ID
PASSWORD ENCRYPTION
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 entire package. If no algorithm is specified, the tool defaults to using PKCS12 V2
PBE with SHA1 and 3KEY Triple DES-cbc for private key encryption. PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 40 Bit RC4 is
the default for the overall package encryption when not in FIPS mode. When in FIPS mode, there is no package
encryption.
The private key is always protected with strong encryption by default.
Several types of ciphers are supported.
Symmetric CBC ciphers for PKCS#5 V2
· DES-CBC
· RC2-CBC
· RC5-CBCPad
· DES-EDE3-CBC (the default for key encryption)
· AES-128-CBC
· AES-192-CBC
· AES-256-CBC
· CAMELLIA-128-CBC
· CAMELLIA-192-CBC
· PKCS #12 PBE with Sha1 and 40 Bit RC2 CBC
· PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 128 Bit RC4
· PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 40 Bit RC4 (the default for non-FIPS mode)
· PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 3KEY Triple DES-cbc
· PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 2KEY Triple DES-cbc
· PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 128 Bit RC2 CBC
· PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 40 Bit RC2 CBC
PKCS#5 PBE ciphers
· PKCS #5 Password Based Encryption with MD2 and DES CBC
· PKCS #5 Password Based Encryption with MD5 and DES CBC
· PKCS #5 Password Based Encryption with SHA1 and DES CBC
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 no security module can perform the requested operation.
NSS DATABASE TYPES
NSS originally used BerkeleyDB databases to store security information. The last versions of these legacy
databases are:
· cert8.db for certificates
· key3.db for keys
· secmod.db for PKCS #11 module information
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.
In 2009, NSS introduced a new set of databases that are SQLite databases rather than BerkleyDB. These new
databases provide more accessibility and performance:
· cert9.db for certificates
· key4.db for keys
· pkcs11.txt, which is listing of all of the PKCS #11 modules contained in a new subdirectory in the
security databases directory
Because the SQLite databases are designed to be shared, these are the shared database type. The shared
This line can be set added to the ~/.bashrc file to make the change permanent.
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:
· https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto
For an engineering draft on the changes in the shared NSS databases, see the NSS project wiki:
· https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB
SEE ALSO
certutil (1)
modutil (1)
The NSS wiki has information on the new database design and how to configure applications to use it.
· https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto
· https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
For information about NSS and other tools related to NSS (like JSS), check out the NSS project wiki at
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. The NSS site relates directly to NSS code changes and
releases.
Mailing lists: https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-crypto
IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki
AUTHORS
The NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape, Red Hat, Sun, Oracle, Mozilla, and
Google.
Authors: Elio Maldonado <[email protected]>, Deon Lackey <[email protected]>.
LICENSE
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/.
NOTES
1. Mozilla NSS bug 836477
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=836477
nss-tools 5 June 2014 PK12UTIL(1)
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