---
title: Converting PEM certificates to a different format
description: If needed, you can convert PEM certificates to a different format, such as PFX or PKCS#7.
component: pingone
page_id: pingone:settings:p1_convertcertificate
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingone/settings/p1_convertcertificate.html
revdate: January 9, 2023
section_ids:
  before-you-begin: Before you begin
  about-this-task: About this task
  steps: Steps
  choose-from: Choose from:
---

# Converting PEM certificates to a different format

If needed, you can convert PEM certificates to a different format, such as PFX or PKCS#7.

## Before you begin

You must have:

* The original private key that was used for the certificate

* A PEM (`.pem`, `.crt`, `.cer`) file

* OpenSSL

## About this task

Certificates are commonly issued as PFX files, with the extension `.pfx` or `.p12`. If you have a certificate in another format, you can convert it to PFX and import it to PingOne.

The PKCS#7 or P7B format is stored in Base64 ASCII format and has a file extension of `.p7b` or `.p7c`. A P7B file contains certificates but not the private key.

## Steps

1. Open a terminal window.

2. Run the command for the conversion you want to perform:

   ### Choose from:

   * PEM to PFX:

     ```
     openssl pkcs12 -export -out certificate.pfx -inkey privateKey.key -in certificate.crt -certfile more.crt
     ```

     | Syntax                         | Description                                                                                           |
     | ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
     | `openssl`                      | The command for executing OpenSSL.                                                                    |
     | `pkcs12`                       | The file utility for PKCS#12 files in OpenSSL.                                                        |
     | `-export -out certificate.pfx` | Exports and saves the PFX file as `certificate.pfx.`                                                  |
     | `-inkey privateKey.key`        | Uses the private key file `privateKey.key` as the private key to combine with the certificate.        |
     | `-in certificate.crt`          | Uses `certificate.crt` as the certificate to combine with the private key.                            |
     | `-certfile more.crt`           | (Optional) Use this option if you have more than one certificate you want to include in the PFX file. |

   * PEM to PKCS#7:

     ```
     openssl crl2pkcs7 -nocrl -certfile certificate.crt -out certificate.p7b -outform DER
     ```

     | Syntax                      | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
     | --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
     | `openssl`                   | The command for executing OpenSSL.                                                                                                                                                                                       |
     | `crl2pkcs7`                 | The file utility for PKCS#7 files in OpenSSL.                                                                                                                                                                            |
     | `-nocrl`                    | Specifies to not include a certificate revocation list (CRL) in the output file and to not read a CRL from the input file.                                                                                               |
     | `-certfile certificate.crt` | Specifies a filename containing one or more certificates in PEM format. All certificates in the file are added to the PKCS#7 structure. You can use this option more than once to read certificates from multiple files. |
     | `-out certificate.p7b`      | Outputs the file as `certificate.p7b`.                                                                                                                                                                                   |
     | `-outform DER`              | Specifies the PKCS#7 structure output format. The distinguished encoding rules (DER) format is a DER-encoded CRL structure.                                                                                              |