This article describes how to convert a certificate that is received from the Certificate Authority (CA) in PKCS #7 format to PEM format.

Background

This is an alternative method of converting a PKCS #7 Certificates to PEM format, rather than using Open SSL, which sometimes might not work correctly. You receive a certificate from the CA in PKCS #7 [Crypto Graphic message syntax standard] format. The file extension for the certificate is .p7b.

Instructions

To convert a certificate from PKCS #7 to PEM format, complete the following procedure:

1. After you receive the certificate from the CA, double-click on the certificate to open it.
   When you open the certificate, it appears as shown in the following screen shot:

   

2. Locate the path of the certificate on your computer and double-click on the certificate again to open it.

   

   

3. Select the Details tab.

4. Click Copy to File.

   

5. Click Next in the Certificate Export Wizard window.

   

6. Select the Base-64 encoded x.509 (.CER) option. This converts the certificate to PEM format.

7. Click Next.

   

8. Click Browse and select a location to store the converted PEM

9. Click Next.

   

10. Click Finish.

    

    After converting the certificate to PEM format, the certificate has an extension .cer.

11. To verify if the certificate is in PEM format, change the extension to .txt or .doc. The file must start with the line “ BEGIN CERTIFICATE”, as shown in the following screen shot: