---
name: "libressl-PKCS12_create"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "libressl"
version: "4.4.0-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/libressl-PKCS12_create"
---

# libressl-PKCS12\_create(3)

create a PKCS#12 structure

## NAME

**PKCS12\_create** – create a PKCS#12 structure

## SYNOPSIS

Crypto Library (libcrypto, -lcrypto)

**#include \<openssl/pkcs12.h\>**

*PKCS12* *\**\

**PKCS12\_create**(*const char \*pass*, *const char \*name*, *EVP\_PKEY \*pkey*, *X509 \*cert*, *STACK\_OF(X509) \*ca*, *int nid\_key*, *int nid\_cert*, *int iter*, *int mac\_iter*, *int keytype*);

## DESCRIPTION

**PKCS12\_create**() creates a PKCS#12 structure.

*pass* is the passphrase to use. *name* is the **friendlyName** to use for the supplied certificate and key. *pkey* is the private key to include in the structure and *cert* its corresponding certificates. *ca* is an optional set of certificates to also include in the structure. *pkey*, *cert*, or both can be NULL to indicate that no key or certificate is required.

*nid\_key* and *nid\_cert* are the encryption algorithms that should be used for the key and certificate, respectively. If either *nid\_key* or *nid\_cert* is set to -1, no encryption will be used.

*iter* is the encryption algorithm iteration count to use and *mac\_iter* is the MAC iteration count to use. If *mac\_iter* is set to -1, the MAC will be omitted entirely.

*keytype* is the type of key.

The parameters *nid\_key*, *nid\_cert*, *iter*, *mac\_iter*, and *keytype* can all be set to zero and sensible defaults will be used.

These defaults are: 40-bit RC2 encryption for certificates, triple DES encryption for private keys, a key iteration count of PKCS12\_DEFAULT\_ITER (currently 2048) and a MAC iteration count of 1.

The default MAC iteration count is 1 in order to retain compatibility with old software which did not interpret MAC iteration counts. If such compatibility is not required then *mac\_iter* should be set to PKCS12\_DEFAULT\_ITER.

*keytype* adds a flag to the store private key. This is a non-standard extension that is only currently interpreted by MSIE. If set to zero, the flag is omitted; if set to KEY\_SIG, the key can be used for signing only; and if set to KEY\_EX, it can be used for signing and encryption. This option was useful for old export grade software which could use signing only keys of arbitrary size but had restrictions on the permissible sizes of keys which could be used for encryption.

If a certificate contains an **alias** or **keyid** then this will be used for the corresponding **friendlyName** or **localKeyID** in the PKCS12 structure.

## RETURN VALUES

**PKCS12\_create**() returns a valid *PKCS12* structure or NULL if an error occurred.

## SEE ALSO

[crypto(3)](/crypto/3.md), d2i\_PKCS12(3), PKCS12\_new(3), PKCS12\_newpass(3), PKCS12\_parse(3), PKCS12\_SAFEBAG\_new(3), X509\_keyid\_set1(3)

## HISTORY

**PKCS12\_create**() first appeared in OpenSSL 0.9.3 and has been available since OpenBSD 2.6.

Before OpenSSL 0.9.8, neither *pkey* nor *cert* were allowed to be NULL, and a value of -1 was not allowed for *nid\_key*, *nid\_cert*, and *mac\_iter*.