How Can I Get My Certificates in PEM Format?

Information on the PEM format and instructions on how to retrieve PEM-formatted certificates from SSL.com.

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How Can I Download a PEM file from SSL.com?

The simple answer is that most files retrieved from the download table for a certificate in your SSL.com customer account will be in PEM format when you receive them. The only exception is the Microsoft IIS download, which is in PKCS#7/P7B format.

PEM download links
All of these “download” links will provide PEM files

What Is a PEM File?

“PEM” (originally an acronym for “Privacy Enhanced Mail”) is a very common container format for digital certificates and keys that is used by Apache and other web server platforms. A PEM file for an X.509 certificate is simply a text file that includes a Base64 encoding of the certificate text and a plain-text header and footer marking the beginning and end of the certificate:

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIGbzCCBFegAwIBAgIICZftEJ0fB/wwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQELBQAwfDELMAkGA1UE
BhMCVVMxDjAMBgNVBAgMBVRleGFzMRAwDgYDVQQHDAdIb3VzdG9uMRgwFgYDVQQK
DA9TU0wgQ29ycG9yYXRpb24xMTAvBgNVBAMMKFNTTC5jb20gUm9vdCBDZXJ0aWZp
...
Nztr2Isaaz4LpMEo4mGCiGxec5mKr1w8AE9n6D91CvxR5/zL1VU1JCVC7sAtkdki
vnN1/6jEKFJvlUr5/FX04JXeomIjXTI8ciruZ6HIkbtJup1n9Zxvmr9JQcFTsP2c
bRbjaT7JD6MBidAWRCJWClR/5etTZwWwWrRCrzvIHC7WO6rCzwu69a+l7ofCKlWs
y702dmPTKEdEfwhgLx0LxJr/Aw==
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
Note: PEM certificate files downloaded from SSL.com will have the filename extension .crt, but you may also encounter them with the extensions .pem or .cer. Re-naming the file and/or changing its extension will not affect its functionality.

The PEM format is also used to store private keys and certificate signing requests (CSRs):

A PEM-formatted private key will have the extension .key and the header and footer
-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY----- and -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----.

A PEM-formatted CSR will have the extension .csr and the header and footer
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST----- and -----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----.

If you have questions about certificate file formats or anything else related to digital certificates and PKI, don’t hesitate to contact us at Support@SSL.com, call 1-877-SSL-SECURE,  or just use the chat link at the bottom right of this page. You can also find answers to many common support questions in our knowledgebase. And, as always, thank you for choosing SSL.com!
 

 

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