PKCS12_CREATE(3) | Library Functions Manual | PKCS12_CREATE(3)

# NAME

`PKCS12_create` — create a PKCS#12 structure

# SYNOPSIS

library “libcrypto”
`#include <openssl/pkcs12.h>`

PKCS12 *
`PKCS12_create`(const char *pass, const char *name, EVP_PKEY *pkey, X509 *cert, STACK_OF(X509) *ca, int nid_key, int nid_cert, int iter, int mac_iter, int keytype);

# DESCRIPTION

`PKCS12_create`() creates a PKCS#12 structure.

pass is the passphrase to use. name is the friendlyName to use for the supplied certificate and key. pkey is the private key to include in the structure and cert its corresponding certificates. ca is an optional set of certificates to also include in the structure. pkey, cert, or both can be `NULL` to indicate that no key or certificate is required.

nid_key and nid_cert are the encryption algorithms that should be used for the key and certificate, respectively. If either nid_key or nid_cert is set to -1, no encryption will be used.

iter is the encryption algorithm iteration count to use and mac_iter is the MAC iteration count to use. If mac_iter is set to -1, the MAC will be omitted entirely.

keytype is the type of key.

The parameters nid_key, nid_cert, iter, mac_iter, and keytype can all be set to zero and sensible defaults will be used.

These defaults are: 40-bit RC2 encryption for certificates, triple DES encryption for private keys, a key iteration count of PKCS12_DEFAULT_ITER (currently 2048) and a MAC iteration count of 1.

The default MAC iteration count is 1 in order to retain compatibility with old software which did not interpret MAC iteration counts. If such compatibility is not required then mac_iter should be set to PKCS12_DEFAULT_ITER.

keytype adds a flag to the store private key. This is a non-standard extension that is only currently interpreted by MSIE. If set to zero, the flag is omitted; if set to `KEY_SIG`, the key can be used for signing only; and if set to `KEY_EX`, it can be used for signing and encryption. This option was useful for old export grade software which could use signing only keys of arbitrary size but had restrictions on the permissible sizes of keys which could be used for encryption.

If a certificate contains an alias or keyid then this will be used for the corresponding friendlyName or localKeyID in the PKCS12 structure.

# RETURN VALUES

`PKCS12_create`() returns a valid PKCS12 structure or `NULL` if an error occurred.

# SEE ALSO

crypto(3), d2i_PKCS12(3), PKCS12_new(3), PKCS12_newpass(3), PKCS12_parse(3), PKCS12_SAFEBAG_new(3), X509_keyid_set1(3)

# HISTORY

`PKCS12_create`() first appeared in OpenSSL 0.9.3 and has been available since OpenBSD 2.6.

Before OpenSSL 0.9.8, neither pkey nor cert were allowed to be `NULL`, and a value of -1 was not allowed for nid_key, nid_cert, and mac_iter.

June 8, 2025 | Debian