Export a certificate to a file

Use this procedure to export a community or partner certificate to a file. The procedure for both is similar, except for a community certificate you have the option of exporting the private key as well as the public key. This option does not apply to partner certificates, which only contain public keys.

After exporting a community certificate, you can send the file to your partners by e-mail or other means.

For your partner, export a community certificate that contains your public key. Never give your partner a community certificate that contains your private key.

For yourself for backup purposes, you can export a community certificate that contains your private and public keys. If you do, keep this certificate in a secure place and never give it to anyone.

You might want to export a partner certificate and public key to a file to keep as a backup. If the partner certificate is deleted from the system, you can import the certificate again if needed.

1. In the community or partner area of the user interface, go to the summary page for the community or partner you want.
2. Click Certificates on the navigation graphic at the top of the community or partner summary page to open the certificates page.
3. Click the name of the certificate to export to open the certificate information page.
4. Click Export this certificate to open the certificate export page. A partner certificate export page does not have the option for exporting a private key. (If you are starting from the certificates search page, the path to the export page is different. See Certificates search results page.)

5. Select an export option. If you are exporting a community certificate for use by a partner, note that the DER and PKCS#7 options are functionally the same. However, the one to select depends primarily on what your partner’s trading engine supports.
6. For trading between partners who both use Axway software, we recommend selecting PKCS#7 and the checkbox for including all certificates in the certification path. Although this is the most all-inclusive choice, you can nevertheless choose DER instead with no adverse effects.
7. The following explains the options in more detail. If you trade with partners who use interoperable software, we recommend that you determine whether their software supports DER, PKCS#7 or both.
   • DER encoded binary X.509 (.cer) – Select this option to export a binary file with an extension of cer. The file contains a single binary certificate containing a public key. If your partner’s software only supports DER encoded certificates, select this option.
   • Cryptographic Message Syntax Standard PKCS #7 (.p7b, .p7c) – Select this option to export a file with an extension of p7c. The file can contain all the certificates needed to support trading, if more than one is required. If your partner's software supports a certificate in a PKCS#7 format, this option is recommended over DER. If you select this, you also can select Include all certificates in the certification path if possible. This option includes all certificates in the chain of trust for the certificate. This is the most all-inclusive method for exporting a certificate. However, be aware that your partner's software, if not Axway, might not support the entire certificate path in the p7c file.
   • Personal Information Exchange PKCS #12 (.p12, .pfx) – Select this option to export a community certificate containing the private key, then provide and confirm a password. Caution: You should do this only if you can keep the certificate in a highly secure place. This option is available only for community certificates and not partner certificates. Your user role must have permissions to export private keys.
6. Click Export certificate to display a file download dialog box.
7. Click Save to display the Save As dialog box.
8. Review the file name and path for the file you are exporting. If you want to change the path or name, you can navigate to a new folder or type a new file name.
9. Click Save to export the certificate. The certificate export page reappears.
10. Click Close.
11. If you exported a community certificate for a partner, send the certificate file to the partner by a secure means.

Related topics

• Manage certificates
• Certificates search results page
• Certificates pages
• Add a certificate
• Set up certificates for a community
• Generate self-signed certificates
• Import Entrust certificate
• Import RSA Keon certificate
• Import key pair in certificate file
• Import certificates for partners
• Globally prohibit exporting private keys
• Delete certificate
• Manage certificate revocation lists (CRLs)
• Analyze certificates for errors
• Collect data about certificates