SSL Certificates in PEM Format

PEM is the most common format for X.509 certificates, CSRs, and cryptographic keys.

A PEM file is a text file containing one or more items in Base64 ASCII encoding, each with plain-text headers and footers (e.g., -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- and -----END CERTIFICATE-----).

A single PEM file could contain an end-entity certificate, a private key, or multiple certificates forming a complete chain of trust. Most certificate files will beare in PEM format.

PEM fileFile nameName extensionsExtensions

PEM files can usuallytypically have the .crt, .pem, .cer, and .key extensions (for private keys), but you canmay also see them with different extensions. For example, the CA bundle file has the .ca-bundle extension.

ConvertConverting SSL Certificates

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