Implementing PKI in a Heterogeneous Environment A Primer on Digital Certificate And Key Formats

This document will discuss the various file formats for both X.509 digital certificates and encryption keys. It will also bring to light potential issues one would face when implementing a public key infrastructure (PKI) in a nonheterogeneous environment. In particular, the focus is specifically on the topic of binary and PEM encoded digital certificates and the Public Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS) file formats. Further, the discussion will also include some hard learned lessons on the nuances of supporting and implementing diverse systems that utilize digital certificates. As we'll see, required digital certificate file formats will vary from application to application. Although a light overview of PKI and digital certificates will be provided, this document assumes the reader has some familiarity with the secure sockets layer (SSL) handshake and how digital certificates are utilized within a public key infrastructure.