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.
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-----
.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-----.