<s>
In	O
cryptography	O
,	O
PKCS	O
#12	O
defines	O
an	O
archive	B-Application
file	I-Application
format	I-Application
for	O
storing	O
many	O
cryptography	O
objects	O
as	O
a	O
single	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
commonly	O
used	O
to	O
bundle	O
a	O
private	B-Application
key	I-Application
with	O
its	O
X.509	O
certificate	O
or	O
to	O
bundle	O
all	O
the	O
members	O
of	O
a	O
chain	O
of	O
trust	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
few	O
SafeBags	O
are	O
predefined	O
to	O
store	O
certificates	O
,	O
private	B-Application
keys	I-Application
and	O
CRLs	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
PKCS	O
#12	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
family	O
of	O
standards	O
called	O
Public-Key	B-Application
Cryptography	I-Application
Standards	O
(	O
PKCS	O
)	O
published	O
by	O
RSA	O
Laboratories	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
filename	O
extension	O
for	O
PKCS	O
#12	O
files	O
is	O
.p12	B-General_Concept
or	O
.pfx	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
files	O
can	O
be	O
created	O
,	O
parsed	O
and	O
read	O
out	O
with	O
the	O
OpenSSL	B-Language
pkcs12	B-General_Concept
command	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PKCS	O
#12	O
is	O
the	O
successor	O
to	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
"	O
PFX	B-General_Concept
"	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
however	O
,	O
the	O
terms	O
"	O
PKCS	O
#12	O
file	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
PFX	B-General_Concept
file	O
"	O
are	O
sometimes	O
used	O
interchangeably	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PFX	B-General_Concept
format	O
has	O
been	O
criticised	O
for	O
being	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
complex	O
cryptographic	O
protocols	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
But	O
in	O
practice	O
it	O
is	O
normally	O
used	O
to	O
store	O
just	O
one	O
private	B-Application
key	I-Application
and	O
its	O
associated	O
certificate	O
chain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PKCS	O
#12	O
files	O
are	O
usually	O
created	O
using	O
OpenSSL	B-Language
,	O
which	O
only	O
supports	O
a	O
single	O
private	B-Application
key	I-Application
from	O
the	O
command	O
line	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
simpler	O
,	O
alternative	O
format	O
to	O
PKCS	O
#12	O
is	O
PEM	B-Protocol
which	O
just	O
lists	O
the	O
certificates	O
and	O
possibly	O
private	B-Application
keys	I-Application
as	O
Base	O
64	O
strings	O
in	O
a	O
text	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GnuTLS	B-Application
's	O
certtool	O
may	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
PKCS	O
#12	O
files	O
including	O
certificates	O
,	O
keys	O
,	O
and	O
CA	O
certificates	O
via	O
--to-p12	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
beware	O
that	O
for	O
interchangeability	O
with	O
other	O
software	O
,	O
if	O
the	O
sources	O
are	O
in	O
PEM	B-Protocol
Base64	B-Protocol
text	O
,	O
then	O
--outder	O
should	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
